Brandon Wang's 250 GTO
Party
Oxfordshire, July 23, 1998
- 250
GTO Party preceding Coys International
Historic Festival
- An
exclusive circle
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.
  
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
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