Newsletter 25: SCHECKTER ……… YOU KNOW THE NAME !!

By Dee Munro2021-08-02Comments Off

Scheckter is probably the most famous name in South African motorsport.
It’s also pretty well known internationally, due obviously, to Jody winning the Formula 1 World Championship, but also the contributions made by the other members of this motor racing dynasty.

JODY SCHECKTER

Jody Scheckter is, so far, the one and only South African Formula 1 champion.

Born on the 29th of January 1950 in East London, his motorsport journey began due to his family ties with cars. His father had a Renault dealership in which he worked and had his first taste behind the wheel. After trying bikes, cars came in and became the option for the South African speedster.
Jody won the South African Formula Ford Series at age 20. This earned him a trip to England and a taste of the European categories.
His speed gave him the chance to make his Formula 1 debut in the last race of 1972, with McLaren. He qualified eighth for the United States Grand Prix, in the Ford-powered M19A, and finished ninth. Though he was fast, his driving skills were a little erratic and earned him the nickname, “Sideways Scheckter.”
In 1973, he won the SCCA L&M Championship, an American Sports Car Championship. Subsequently, McLaren gave him more shots at Formula 1 events, but his participation proved to be tumultuous.
He qualified third for his home race, the 1973 South African Grand Prix, in just his second F1 start. However, engine troubles left him in only ninth place.
Jody moved to Ferrari in 1979. After his first winless year since 1973, Scheckter took the Ferrari 312T4 and made the best of it.
The Flat 12 engine was efficient, the Ground Effect on the car was on point and Jody had the experience to compete for the main goal, the championship. After two tough South American rounds in Argentina and Brazil, Ferrari soon became the team to beat. Consecutive 1-2 finishes in South Africa and the US Grand Prix West, both led by Gilles Villeneuve, meant Ferrari was on course for the title.
At the Italian Grand Prix, Scheckter led a 1-2 for Ferrari which sealed both the Drivers’ title for him and the Constructors’ Championship for the team. Villeneuve and Scheckter had a cordial season and the race at Italy finished off a perfect season for Ferrari.
Sadly Jody retired from Formula 1 in 1980 having achieved the championship, he had nothing else to prove and was ready to enter other sorts of competitions: the business world. He had tremendous success in business in his post-racing life.

Scheckter’s title in 1979 was the last for a Ferrari driver until Michael Schumacher’s first championship with the team in 2000.

IAN SCHECKTER

Ian is the elder brother of F1 World champion Jody.
Ian also raced in the Formula 1 World Championship, recording 20 entries, between 1974 and 1977.
Ian was very successful in his home country, taking Formula Atlantic South African Championship titles four times in a row from 1976 to 1979, and then again in 1983 and 1984.
He’s one of three six-time champions in the South African premier open-wheel competition, along with John Love and Dave Charlton.
Ian made his debut in the South African Formula 1 Championship in 1973, for Team Gunston. In his rookie season, he was on the podium twice, finishing fourth in the points. He also made few starts in sports car races in a Chevron B26-Cosworth, sharing a car with John Watson. They retired at Kyalami 9 Hours and won the Cape Town round of the South African Springbok Trophy Series.
In March 1974, Ian made his debut in the Formula 1 World Championship with Team Gunston.

In 1974, Ian finished second in the South African F1 Championship, scoring five wins, one victory less than champion Dave Charlton.
1975 saw Ian again come runner up to Dave Charlton who captured his sixth championship trophy.
In March 1974, Ian made his debut in the Formula 1 World Championship with Team Gunston. Starting 22nd on the grid, he finished 13th, two laps behind race winner Carlos Reutemann in a Brabham.
In the 1975 Formula 1 World Championship season, Ian competed for Lexington Racing.
Later in the season, he joined Williams Racing for two events – Swedish Grand Prix and Dutch Grand Prix. He retired at Scandinavian Raceway and finished 12th at Zandvoort.
In 1976, the South African Formula 1 Championship was dismissed and the Formula Atlantic became the national premier series. Ian scored six wins and took his first championship title, stopping the reign of Dave Charlton.
Following his fourth championship-winning season in the Formula Atlantic in 1979, Ian returned in 1983 with Team Gunston. He won thirteen races and captured his fifth title. A year later, he won eleven races to take his sixth title.

THOMAS SCHECKTER

Thomas was born in Monte Carlo to Jody and then-wife Pamela.
He started racing karts in South Africa at the age of 11 and it did not take long for the young driver to reach the podium. He had his first taste of a major championship as a teenager when he captured the South African Kart Championship in 1995. In 1996 he ventured on to the main circuit in the South African Formula Vee series and soon after he was in the South African Formula Ford Series where he posted two wins.
He had proven his speed in South African motorsports and was then off to Europe the following year where he entered the British Formula Vauxhall Junior series.
Thomas earned third in the championship with one victory and one pole. He was also named series “Rookie of the Year.”
In 1999, Thomas won the Formula Opel Euroseries Championship with a record eight victories and eight poles, and in the process broke all the winning records previously set by Mika Ha kkinen, Rubens Barrichello, and David Coulthard. That success landed him a drive that same year in the last two races of the Formula Nissan Championship which Fernando Alonso had dominated that whole season. Even though Thomas was with a new team for this brief stint in Formula Nissan, he captured a win, two poles, and a second-place position.

Thomas moved on to the Formula 3 Series in 2000, and in his rookie year, he was the runner-up in the British Formula 3 Championship with two victories and two pole positions, while contending again with drivers such as Takuma Sato, Anto nio Pizzonia, and Narain Karthikeyan. He also had time to race in the prestigious Marlboro Masters F3 race at Zandvoort where he took the third podium position.
Thomas was signed as a test/reserve driver by Jaguar for the 2001 Formula 1 season.
Thomas raced in the Indy car series from 2002, with various teams including Eddie Cheever’s Red Bull Cheever Racing, Target Ganassi Racing, Patrick Dempsey’s Vision Racing, and Dale Coyne Racing.
Thomas now works at his father Jody’s Lavestoke Organic Farm in England.

JAKI SCHECKTER

Jaki is the son of Ian and the nephew to Jody Scheckter.

Former South African Formula Ford and US Barber Dodge Pro Series champion,
Jaki has joined the Ferris Cars team.

Jaki is probably best known for being the nephew to South African Formula 1 World Champion Jody and son of multiple South African champion Ian, but Jaki is a South African legend in his own right, with accolades from winning the 1992 Formula Ford SA Championship, at 18 years of age to, beating Juan Pablo Montoya in the Barber Dodge Championships in the USA, in 1994.
Alas, a lack of funding inhibited Jaki from a career in the Indy Lights Series despite having secured an engine deal.
Jaki will be joining us to assist with sales and marketing, and will be integral in a venture we are launching soon ………. Watch this space!

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Newsletter 24: FERRARI, THE FUTURE, WHAT TO EXPECT!

By Dee Munro2021-07-05Comments Off

These are interesting and exceptional times for all supercar manufacturers.
The political and public persecution of small-volume carmakers with ignorant, broad-brush legislation, threatens to destroy the things we most value about these types of cars. Forcing a company like Ferrari to produce electric cars is pointless and will do absolutely nothing to assist in saving the planet. For one thing, companies like Ferrari only make 10,000 vehicles a year, and 95% of them are, at most, driven a couple of times a month. It is therefore mindless and moronic to force Ferrari, and other small-volume supercar manufacturers, to adhere to EV (Electric Vehicle) regulation.
To put this into perspective, one single cruise liner will produce 10,000 times more harmful greenhouse gases than the entire yearly output of Ferrari, when was the last time anyone heard of the government putting the thumbscrews on the cruise line industry?

CURRENT FERRARI LINEUP

Ferrari splits its models into four separate categories:

What can we expect from Ferrari in the short to medium future?

We recently heard about the 812 Competizione and Aperta, these being the “hot” versions of the 812 and 812 GTS. Rumours abound, as they usually do, that these will be the last of the naturally aspirated V12’s to be produced, but then Ferrari has said that a few times in the past!
Last week, Ferrari announced the 296 GTB, a 3 litre, V6 Hybrid boasting over 800Bhp, the first V6 Ferrari since the 246SP, launched in 1961.

Most of us thought the 296 would be the replacement for the F8 Tributo, but in actual fact, will sit alongside in the model range. The powertrain of the 296 will, of course, replace all the current V8’s and become the standard for new models.

Scheduled for 2022, Ferrari will be launching their “FUV” – Ferrari Utility Vehicle. It’ll be called the Purosangue, which means thoroughbred in Italian. Most Tifosi want to run away and weep at the thought of this vehicle, but it is coming!
Whilst most of us are appalled at the thought of this car, we can at least understand the need for it. People laughed and scoffed at Porsche when they released the Cayenne and then the Macan, but these cars account for over 50% of the company’s sales, and that means more money coming in to spend on other special models. So, let’s not be too hard on the Purosangue, rather than looking at it as an affront to everything we love about Ferrari, we should actually look at it as the cash cow that will enable the company to develop all the cool cars to come.

The above are the new cars we know about, but let’s take an educated guess as to what might be coming in the medium future.
Ferrari’s proven formula would dictate that there will probably be a “hot” version of the F8 Tributo, a Speciale if you like. It would make sense, as the F8 is Ferrari’s swan song and what better way to say goodbye to the V8 era than with a super special version.
Ferrari has stated that there will be a number of Icona models being released in the next few years.
Rumours are also around of ………. wait for it …………. an F40 tribute, yes you read correctly, an F40 tribute. What an absolutely amazing prospect that would be! Of course, you would have to have purchased the first Icona model in order to be eligible for this one!

As if the F40 tribute isn’t exciting enough, when the Icona division was launched to a select group of VIPs, the rumour was that Ferrari would be producing a manual tribute to the 250 GTO.

And now we get to something extremely exciting, – the LaFerrari replacement.
Yes, that’s right, it’s been nearly 10 years since the LaFerrari was launched, and we are expecting to see another super high-end, ridiculously fast Ferrari hypercar in the next 2 years.
2022 is Ferrari’s 75th anniversary, but, there’s an awful lot going on in that year; – so, we can bet that this new LaFerrari replacement will not arrive until at least 2023, or possibly 24.
It will not be fully electric and instead, it will use an evolution of the SF90’s hybrid system, with a V12 generating over 1100 brake horsepower, still be a limited production car, and possibly numbered, so it will be the most exciting Ferrari that’s arrived for nearly a decade.

A few years ago, the possibility of a fully electric Ferrari would have been the stuff of a mad man’s dreams, it was never a possibility, and it was never going to happen, but at the recent AGM, temporary CEO John Elkann, announced that in fact there would be a brand new all-electric Ferrari launched in 2025.
This creates some real problems for Ferrari, not least, the Ferrari sound, which is a bit like the Detroit sound, but a bit louder and more shrieky. The way a Ferrari sounds is sometimes as important if not more so than the way it handles and how fast it goes; – and the march of electricity will rob all of us of the soundtrack of these wonderful cars. Yes, the sound could be synthesized as it is in the Lexus LFA, but honestly, who wants that?

But there is some good news… the LaFerrari and the SF90 powertrain shows that Ferrari can successfully embrace hybridization and electrification. – These are bonkers fast technological marvels, that bring F1 gizmos to the road, and no one can really argue that they aren’t proper Ferrari’s.
The Roma and the forthcoming “hot” Roma’s are usable daily with less emphasis on outright speed and sound, it’s a stealth Ferrari, and one that you won’t care about the mileage. You could hybrid or electrify the Roma, and no one would bat an eyelid.
And the Purosangue, love it or hate it, it’s coming, and it’s coming hard. If you don’t mind the GTC 4 Lusso, then you’re probably more than halfway to accepting the “sang” into your life, and it probably won’t be the huge SUV that we all thought it would be.
So there we are then, a reasonably detailed look at the future of Ferrari.
What can we take away from this?
Well first of all Ferrari is increasing its production to over 10,000 units a year. Get used to it! Over the next 5 years, we’ll see a steady increase to at least 15,000 units.
Second, an all-electric Ferrari is coming in 2025.
Third, Ferrari has no idea how to combat the loss of the Ferrari sound when electric cars come along.
Fourth, there are plenty of exciting models on the way, not least, the new A12 Competizione and the new Icona.
Fifth, V8 cars will be replaced with V6 hybrids, it’s already happening.
And finally, sixth, one would expect synthetic fuel to allow us all to drive our classic Ferrari’s in the future.
With the market at the bottom of the curve, there has never been a better time to pick up a classic Ferrari, in the reasonably secure knowledge that it will increase in value, and you’ll be able to drive and enjoy it for many years to come.

This article was made possible with the kind permission of:
Damian Butt from The Car Guys.
To see the complete video, “The Future of Ferrari,” watch below, and do yourself a favour, and subscribe to their YouTube channel.

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Newsletter 23: FERRARI ICONS: PININFARINA

By Dee Munro2021-06-28Comments Off

The launch of the Ferrari 812 Superfast marks the end of the era of Ferraris designed by Pininfarina.
Pininfarina is a design house, founded in Turin in 1930.
They first did coachbuilding work for Ferrari in 1951 and continued to design almost every Ferrari, well into the 21st century.
Ferrari made use of other coachbuilders in the 1950s and 1960s, but by the 1970s, Pininfarina was responsible for every Ferrari road car except for the 308 GT4, which was penned by Bertone.
Eight years ago, however, Ferrari established its own in-house design studio, Centro Stile Ferrari. Centro Stile Ferrari worked in conjunction with Pininfarina for the first few years, however, the La Ferrari, launched during that period, was an entirely in-house Ferrari design.
The California, 458, and FF both featured Pininfarina styling, and as a consequence, were adorned with the Pininfarina badges. Their successors, the California T, 488, and GTC4 Lusso, however, do not have Pininfarina badges, even though the California T was launched with the tagline, “Penned by the Ferrari Styling Centre in collaboration with Pininfarina.”
This was not the case with the GTC4 Lusso or 488, as they were completely designed in-house.
That left the F12 Berlinetta as the only Ferrari on sale, at the time, designed by Pininfarina.

Of course, all of Ferrari’s current line-up features Pininfarina influence, since all of its cars are heavily updated versions of models originally styled by the Turin design house. Still, this is a significant moment in the historic story of the world’s most revered auto manufacturer.

Indian automaker Mahindra, bought Pininfarina back in 2015. Since then, Pininfarina has focused on designing interiors for self-driving cars and innovating electrified powertrains, while continuing to do commissioned one-off cars.

Together, Ferrari and Pininfarina created some of the most beautiful cars of all time. Ferrari will surely continue to do good work, and it’ll be interesting to see what the future holds for Pininfarina, but we really hope this isn’t the end of the road for the famed partnership.

Lucky winner Thamaray Francis in a Ferrari

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Fathers Day Competition

By Dee Munro2021-06-28Comments Off

Congratulations to Thamaray Francis, who won a GP Store hamper worth R5000 in our Fathers Day competition. She collected her winnings from Ferris, along with her husband Jay and kids.

News

GOAT Coffee

By Dee Munro2021-06-21Comments Off

Ferris Cars are proud to announce that we have teamed up with GOAT Coffee.
Hand blended every time GOAT provides the finest coffee from the finest beans available.
So, if you’re looking for the finest cars and the finest coffee ……….. look no further!
Pop in and sample the delights of GOAT!

The GOAT story

From berry to cup, at GOAT we pride ourselves in producing the highest quality in every pour, together with our signature Ethiopia/Uganda blend.
G.O.A.T. is an acronym for, “Greatest Of All Time,” used widely when referring to past legends and future leaders.
The GOAT animal is distinctive on the African continent, as it is used for many sacrificial ceremonies to communicate with the ancestors.
The same animal discovered the coffee berry in Africa centuries ago. Kaldi was a goat herder who discovered coffee after witnessing the vigour his goats received from eating the berries.
He later brought these berries to the monastery and shared them with the monks who exclaimed that they were the devil’s work and hurled them into the fire. The aroma of the berries roasting in the fire was heavenly, and they were raked from the fire and crushed to put out the embers.
Realizing their mistake, they placed them into a jug and covered them with hot water for preservation.
Later the monks drank the brew and it helped them keep awake during nightly devotions.
So when you enjoy a GOAT coffee and drink the love, you share a part of the African coffee community with a collective heart.

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Newsletter 22: FERRARI ICONS: LUCA CORDERO DI MONTEZEMOLO

By Dee Munro2021-06-21Comments Off

FERRARI ICONS: LUCA CORDERO DI MONTEZEMOLO.

Ferrari has just announced a new CEO, 52-year-old Benedetto Vigna.
He’s a Subnuclear Physicist and is currently heading up one of the divisions at STMicroelectronics.
His appointment is to replace acting CEO John Elkann, who stepped in temporarily after the sudden resignation, on health grounds, of Louis C. Camilleri.

Whilst this new appointment seems very promising, and his technical and electronics knowledge will certainly be a boost for the road car division, will Mr. Vigna be able to lift the company and bring Ferrari back to the fore in the world of Formula 1? – A task which most of his predecessors were unable to complete, with the exception of Luca Di Montezemolo!

Here’s a list of CEO’s and the Formula 1 world titles they achieved:

Enzo Ferrari (1939–1977)

Nicola Tufarelli (1978–1980)

Giovanni Sguazzini (1980–1984)

Vittorio Ghidella (1984–1988)

Pietro Fusaro (1988–1991)

Luca Cordero di Montezemolo (1991–2014)

Sergio Marchionne (2014–2018)

Louis Camilleri (2018–2020)

John Elkann (2020–)

8 Drivers Titles

1 Drivers Title

0 Drivers Titles

6 Drivers Titles

0 Drivers Titles

In Italy, Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, is practically royalty.
If you don’t know who he is, and you should, he’s the guy who turned Ferrari into a championship-winning team and, along with Michael Schumacher, assembled what came to be known as, “The Dream Team.”
Luca’s impressive career started after racing cars for Fiat 500 in Italy and later in the auto manufacturing conglomerate at Fiat.
In 1973 he moved to Ferrari, becoming right-hand man to Enzo Ferrari himself, before becoming manager of Scuderia, Ferrari’s Formula One racing division.
Montezemolo’s incredible impact on Ferrari was apparent from the day he joined, and with him, on board, they went on to win the Formula One World Championship with Niki Lauda in 1975 and 1977.
In 1977 he was promoted to a senior manager position at Fiat, before going on to occupy a number of similarly important positions within the Fiat empire.

When Enzo Ferrari passed away in 1988, the call came from Gianni Agnelli, the principal shareholder at Fiat, asking Montezemolo to rebuild a floundering Ferrari company which was both in disarray and potential collapse. Montezemolo is quoted as saying, “I know what’s wrong with Ferrari, and I can fix it!”
Montezemolo made crucial changes to Italy’s most famous racing team, including signing Niki Lauda as a consultant and promoting Claudio Lombardi to the team manager, ultimately resulting in the resurrection of Ferrari from being drenched in serious debt to making a proper annual profit.
In the early nineties, Montezemolo persuaded, then double world champion, Michael Schumacher to join Ferrari. Michael agreed on the basis that he could assemble the team of his choice. Together they acquired the talents of Ross Brawn, Rory Byrne, Jean Todt, and Paulo Martinelli. This dream team would go on to secure five drivers’ world
championships and seven constructors.

As well as the Scuderia Racing division, Luca was also responsible for innovations in the road car division.
He introduced the first all-aluminum space frame chassis, used on the 360 Modena and subsequently, the basis for all road-going Ferrari’s since.
He played a major role in Niki Lauda’s two Formula 1 titles in 1975 and 1977, bringing the Scuderia back to its winning ways.
It is thanks to Luca Di Montezemolo that Ferrari’s road car business is a success today.
In the 1990’s he turned the company from a loss-making entity into the profitable, iconic brand we all know and love today.

In 2015 Luca Di Montezemolo was inducted into
the Motoring Hall of Fame, an honour he dedicated to his friend Michael Schumacher.

Luca Cordero Di Montezemolo.
A man undeniably worthy of the title, “Ferrari Icon.”
Maybe Ferrari should bring him back to sort out their current woe’s.

News

Rhino Update

By Dee Munro2021-06-15Comments Off

Some good news…and some bad news!

Bad news: Rhinos are still being poached at an alarming rate, and the cost of protecting these magnificent animals escalate daily.

Good news: Clients, Friends, and stakeholders of Ferris Cars raised and handed over a whopping R115,150.00 over the last week to Rhino Connect, to help with the preservation and growth of the precious Rhino population.

“𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 40 𝘳𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘰𝘴”, says Tersia Jooste (Rhino Connect Founder and Group Chairperson)

It will help her and her team in the fight against the war on our wildlife and will go towards tracking devices, building containing walls, milk formula for orphaned babies and much more.

Thank you to all those in the community who supported Tersia and Gill Kabe (Blue Velvet Events) at the recent Ferris Grandprix Store Launch by buying tickets to win a drive in a Ferrari.

And a very big thank you to the Ferris Familia who joined us in making this incredible donation possible:

•1721 Distributors

• Lionel Isaacs Insurance

• Abeddac Group

• Amalgamated Metals

• Cl Holdings

• Rockcrete Equipment

• Smart Cut Manufacturers/engineering & Raymar Trust

• Abeddac Trading

• Vered Estates

• Pablo Clark

• Red Bull Farms

• Dora Blumberg

If the loss of the Rhino species is something of concern to you, and it should be, please do whatever you can to participate. Its not just money that helps, although it is the biggest factor, but also awareness, support and many other things that can be done.

CONTACT THE FOUNDER & GROUP CHAIRPERSON
TO FIND OUT HOW YOU CAN HELP
T e r s i a J o o s t e
+27 83 759 1608
[email protected]

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Newsletter 21: THANK YOU ENZO…….. FOR PISSING PEOPLE OFF!!

By Dee Munro2021-06-15Comments Off

Enzo Ferrari was a man not to be crossed. He was a tyrant, an autocrat, he knew how to charm, and he knew how to influence. He ran his company with an iron fist and through his dogged work ethic and ruthlessness with his staff, built the world’s greatest and most successful Formula 1 team, and created a dynasty of road-going sports and GT cars that defined the parameters for all exotic and supercars.
No wonder then that his arrogance, determination, and ability to manipulate those around him, would inevitability result in pissing a few people off along the way.
The price of success was a high rate of attrition among his staff, ex-staff, annoyed customers, other owners, and a long list of would-be rivals, who were either envious of his success or simply out for revenge.
Here we explore a few of those individuals who, if it wasn’t for mean old Mr. Ferrari, would have meant we would all have missed out on some spectacular creations.

Ferruccio Lamborghini: Lamborghini 350GT

This car is perhaps the most famous “Ferrari-beater” of all.
The story goes that Ferruccio Lamborghini, a wealthy maker of tractors and heating equipment, visited Enzo one day to suggest a modification he had made to his personal Ferrari road car to improve the clutch.
He was treated with utter contempt by Enzo, and one can only imagine the brutal exchange as Ferruccio was shown the door.
Mr. Lamborghini decided, virtually on the spot, that he was going to take revenge on Enzo by building the ‘best GT car in the world.’
He assembled a talented young team, including ex-Ferrari engineers Giotto Bizzarrini and Giampaolo Dallara, and set about creating a front-engined two-seater, powered by a four-cam 3.5-liter V12 engine that was probably the best of its kind; certainly, the chassis was well in advance of what Ferrari was offering his road car customers.
The Lamborghini 350GTV was first seen at Turin in 1963, although the true production 350GT’s did not become available until 1964.
Meanwhile, a modern new factory had been erected to build the cars, and the myth of Lamborghini was underway.
Connoisseurs recognised the excellence of those first Lamborghini’s, but only with the introduction of the ground-breaking mid-engined Miura, did Lamborghini build road cars that challenged – and even exceeded – the mystique of Ferrari.

Henry Ford II: Ford GT40

Henry Ford II was set to buy Ferrari in the early ’60s, but was jilted at the last minute when he and Enzo fell out over the Italians’ rights to race at Indianapolis.
When Enzo walked away, a furious Mr. Ford sanctioned his competition department to find a company who could build a car for Ford that would beat all-comers in endurance racing, particularly the Le Mans 24 Hours, and even more particularly the Ferrari’s.
They found a ready-made basis for a winner in Eric Broadley’s Lola GT, which had showed potential at Le Mans already, and conveniently used a mid-mounted Ford V8.
Former Aston Martin Competition Manager John Wyer, was hired to develop the car into a winner, that would triumph at Le Mans in 1966, ’67, ’68 and ’69, including the famous 1-2-3 finish in ’66.

John DeLorean: Pontiac GTO

John DeLorean and his lieutenants at Pontiac conceived the GTO package as a way of livening up the staid image of this GM division, rather than as a means of attacking Ferrari; but they must have felt smug about the furor their brainchild caused.
There were no real Pontiac racing connections, as competition involvement had been banned at GM, making DeLorean’s use of the Gran Turismo Omologato nomenclature even more of nonsense on what was essentially a very ordinary mid-range car.
But the 1964 Pontiac GTO was the birth of the muscle car, inspiring dozens of imitators and notching up peak sales of 96,000 units in 1966 alone.
Soon, the ‘GOAT’ became an American cultural phenomena of the ’60s, second only to the Mustang.
Any American with $2,000 or so to spend could own a car that would leave a $14,000 Ferrari standing in a straight line.
Those Ferrari-lovers who were already outraged at Pontiac’s use of the hallowed GTO symbolism must have suffered near thrombosis when Car and Driver magazine ran a story comparing a Pontiac with a Ferrari 330GT and declared the match a draw……..

David Brown: Lagonda DP115 V12

Having rescued both marques from oblivion after WW2, the patriotic engineering tycoon David Brown was as passionate about the Lagonda marque as he was Aston Martin.
He had fond memories of the pre-war V12 Lagonda’s, and wanted to build a successor for the 1950s that would challenge the big 4-liter V12 Ferraris’ dominance at Le Mans: a Lagonda had, after all, won the 24 Hour endurance classic in 1935.
The Lagonda DP115 ran at Le Mans in 1954 as part of a particularly disastrous works entry, retiring after a spin crumpled the shapely Frank Feeley-designed bodywork.
Still, a timed 172mph down the Mulsanne straight showed the potential, and an improved car was fielded in 1955. The car retired on lap 93, causing Brown to cut his losses and park his dreams of a British Ferrari-beating V12.
But it didn’t end there…… we all know the story of how David Brown built the Aston Martin company into the world-class manufacturer it is today, despite going bankrupt a thousand times and changing owners just as often!

What would have transpired if Enzo Ferrari had been an easy-going, mild-mannered gentleman?
We may not have been gifted with the icon that is the Ferrari brand, and we certainly would not have been privileged to have experienced the likes of Lamborghini, Ford, and, to a certain extent, Aston Martin.
So Bravo Mr. Ferrari ……. and thank you for pissing off so many people and inspiring them to go on to bigger and better things!

Above content exerts from Martin Buckley Features- Classic & Sports Car.

If you enjoyed reading about Enzo you will probably love reading our article about the forgotten Ferraris.

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Newsletter 20: A WORTHY CAUSE

By Dee Munro2021-06-01Comments Off

Those eagle-eyed among you will have probably noticed that the image below is not a horse!
Whilst we are passionate about our Cavallino’s, both living and automotive, these are found in abundance on our beautiful continent.
What is not abundant, however, is the Southern White and Black Rhinos.
Ferris Cars have recently committed to assisting Rhino Connect, a nonprofit organisation dedicated to the preservation of both species, in any way we can to stop the needless slaughter of these magnificent animals, as well as the ongoing care and rehabilitation of those left in the wake.

This is Tersia Jooste, she started Rhino Connect.
A remarkable woman who has dedicated her life to the protection, rehabilitation, and caring of Rhinos in Africa.
Rhino Connect faces a mammoth task every day.
Orphaned or abandoned baby’s need constant feeding, protecting, and neutering. Adult Rhinos need constant protection from poachers, all of which costs a huge amount of time, effort, and most scarce of all, money.
…… Running this organisation costs a staggering R2.5 million per year! …….
Funds are generated through donations. The cost is made up of a milk fund for orphaned baby’s, veterinary services, tracking and security, helicopter hire, supplement feed, staff, and a myriad of other necessities.
If you want to join the fight to save these precious animals, please contact:
Ferris Cars – [email protected]
Or contact Tersia direct on 083 759 1608 – [email protected]
EVERY LITTLE BIT HELPS!

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eNCA News Visits Ferris Cars!

By Dee Munro2021-05-31Comments Off

Nqobile Madlala from eNCA Drive chats with the Ferris Team to gain insights into the Ferrari market, buying a car with Bitcoin, and considerations for an investment in your dream car!