Santa Monica Airport, 26 May, 2002
"Garage Sale"
This RM Auction was held in conjunction with the Ferrari Club of America National Meet
in Los Angeles, and was predominantly a "Garage Sale" of the Richard Freshman
Collection. The venue was the Barker Hangar at Santa Monica Airport, a short distance
(by LA standards) from the event headquarters at the Century Plaza Hotel in Century City.
There were nearly a hundred lots of various Ferrari parts both used and NOS (New Old
Stock) that covered a wide spectrum of items. These ranged from a 166/212/225 inlet
manifold with Weber carburettor, through 250 LM hub carriers, a set of 250 GTO pistons,
various 250 GT gearboxes, to sundry items like lamp lenses, gauges and ashtrays.
There were also five engines from the sixties period in various conditions, including a
250 GT SWB unit # 3615GT. Apart from the Ferrari element there was also a broad
selection of Bugatti, Jaguar and Porsce items, together with a variety of parts from other
marques like Abarth, Chevron and Siata. As these parts were offered without reserve,
bidding was brisk and virtually everything went to a new home.
"One Careful Owner!"
For the restoration enthusiast there were five "project cars" in need of a good helping of
TLC (Tender Loving Care), although in reality some were probably more viable as donor
cars for replica projects (perish the thought), due to the economics of the restoration
cost. One of the worst in terms of overall condition was described as a 250 GT Boano,
chassis # 0837GT in the catalogue, but which was in fact an Ellena model, and from
subsequent investigation seems to be chassis number 0755GT, at least this ties up
with the engine's numero interno. The other cars were a 250 GT Pinin Farina coupe, a
pair of 250 GTEs and a 330 GT 2+2.
"Drive Away"
Amongst the cars on offer that you could "Drive Away" was an Alfa Romeo 8C 2300
Monza Corsa Spider, chassis # 2211095, from the Richard Freshman Collection,
although it did not reach its reserve. Another was the 1933 Miller-Stevens 255
Indianapolis Car that was the winner of the 1936 Indianapolis 500 race. In the post war
spectrum the cars included an attractive Alfa Romeo TZ1, chassis # 7500096, a Porsche
356 Carrera GS/GT Speedster, a Maserati Ghibli SS, chassis # AM115/49/2491, a trio of
Jaguar "E" Types and the various Ferrari models listed. If you wanted a real high flying
driving experience, then there was always the 1942 Mitsubishi "Zero" fighter plane, one
of only three such models still capable of flying.
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