Oxfordshire, July 23, 1998


250 GTO Party preceding Coys International Historic Festival
On July 23, the Thursday preceding the weekend of the 1998 Coys International Historic Festival at Silverstone, the well-known Ferrari-collector and proud 250 GTO '62-owner Brandon Wang hosted a very special party for 250 GTO-owners at his marvelous castle in Oxfordshire, located approximately 1¼ hours by car from the circuit. Some time ago, the estate had already been the site of a similar party dedicated to the 275 GTB.

The turnout of cars was tremendous: Not less than twelve 250 GTOs turned up, plus two 330 LMBs! Most of the cars had already been at Silverstone earlier that day, but were then trucked or driven to Mr. Wang's castle. After arrival, the automotive jewels were parked on the lawn in front of the castle. The weather conditions were splendid, so the event was a great occasion to take photographs in this unique setting. Among the guests one could also see author Keith Bluemel who had just finished work on his 250 GTO book and who had already brought some litographs from this project with him, generating many of the usual serial number discussions which are so common especially among the owners of the probably most famous Ferrari ever made.

An exclusive circle
Some of the 250 GTOs in attendance had not been seen very often prior to this event or could be seen in public for the first time again after a recent restoration.
For example, "Tommy Hilfiger" chairman Lawrence Stroll had brought his s/n 3451GT. Since the purchase from the long-time previous French owner Jean-Claude Bajol, the car had been entirely restored and now sports a very bright red livery. The original engine, which had been in Anthony Wang's 250 GTO '62 s/n 3769GT, is now with the "correct" car again, although it is not in the car: Mr. Stroll decided to save the original block and had an unstamped spare block fitted instead.

American collector Anthony Wang showed up with his s/n 4713GT, the only 250 GTO sold new with a 330 LMB-style body. Since it was last seen during the 1997 Coys Historic Festival, this GTO, too, had been restored. Interestingly, it is now painted in an almost orange bright red, likewise as Lawrence Stroll's example.

Patrick Ma from Hong Kong displayed his s/n 4293GT which had not been seen in Europe for a long time: It had been owned by the Japanese collector Horinouchi since the early 1980's.

Aside of 330 LMB s/n 4381SA of Harry Leventis, there was a second example, s/n 4725SA. The latter had just changed hands in 1998: 4725SA was sold out of the estate of the late Baron Dr. Franz Meier-Melnhof-Saurau from Austria to Talacrest Ltd. of Egham, Surrey, and on to a collector in the UK who prefers to stay anonymous (at least for the moment).

However, the party started in the late afternoon and did reportedly last until late in the evening - one should add that the majority of the guests did stay in the spacious castle overnight. A very unique event, indeed - looking at the Ferrari world, could there be a more exclusive circle?

Andreas Birner