It’s not everyday that you find a classic car, mid-restoration, hidden away in a Hollywood apartment. Even more so when said car is a classic Ferrari. For one Southern California lawyer, who wishes to remain anonymous, this is exactly what happened. When he heard from one of his clients that they had a car hidden away in their apartment he was intrigued. Once his client came to retirement age, he started selling things off in preparation of moving out of state. Eventually his client let him see the vehicle. A ’59 Ferrari 250 GT PF Coupe.
The Ferrari was originally built in December of ’59 and delivered to it’s new owner in California. The second owner of the car purchased it in July of 1975, drove it until the early 80’s before deciding to do a full restoration on the vehicle. The second owner kept meticulous records of the vehicle detailing all the restorations made, and even how he got the car into a apartment.
When he started the restoration the owner of the vehicle decided he wanted it kept safe from the mean streets of Hollywood. So he decided to cut a hole in the one of a one bedroom apartments he owned and park the car, fully intact, inside and then reseal the wall. And that is where the Ferrari 250 GT PF Coupe has sat since 1985.
He hinged the wall so that he could swing it out, placed ramps and rolled the car inside. Resealing and painting over the wall/door. To remove the car from the first floor apartment, the wall had to be re-cut, luckily the hinges still worked, and then the wheels and steering wheel reinstalled. After all that using the original ramps the car was rolled back out. The whole process took them about 5 hours to complete. The Ferrari now sits in a shop that specializes in Ferrari restorations. With the new owner waiting to see if his car is complete, or if parts are missing. So far all the serial numbers match for it being all original parts. Everything from light-bulbs to brake calipers were detailed during the restoration.
The entire engine was rebuilt by Briggs Cunningham’s shop. And them removed, along with the transmission and set aside. The wheels were refinished and re-chromed. A lot of pieces to the vehicle have either been refinished or are brand new. Every time in the 80’s that he wanted a part, the owner of the Ferrari would hand draw, with meticulous detail, the part. He would then make multiple copies and send them out to various shops asking if they had the part. Each part is detailed in a binder with all the other records for the vehicle.
The car had also been repainted. It was originally white with a red interior. The car is now silver, and features a black interior. After consulting experts in the field the new owner has determined that as long as a color scheme that is original to the year the car’s value will not decrease. So he might keep it silver, or switch it to a nice burgundy color. The interior will need to be redone in order to bring the car back to show quality.
