The Scuderia Filipinetti Le Mans GT40
- Thread starter PierreM
- Start date
Paul Thompson 'Hooligan'
Admin
Paul Thompson 'Hooligan'
Admin
Jim Rosenthal
Supporter
Paul, there were several GT40s which ran or belonged to Filipinetti; is this the same car in different paintwork or are we looking at two cars? Either way they are beautiful; I see why so many people paint them red, the car looks fabulous.
Paul Thompson 'Hooligan'
Admin
Hi Jim -
Honestly don't know - Txt indicates 1042 was 'red' previously but there are subtle differences - eg mirror location - no doubt some of the more knowledgable members of the forum can out us right....... - please.
Honestly don't know - Txt indicates 1042 was 'red' previously but there are subtle differences - eg mirror location - no doubt some of the more knowledgable members of the forum can out us right....... - please.
Hi Paul
What the Coys text doesn't say is that this car was badly burnt a long time ago - I think it was rebuilt with a carbon fibre body. There's meant to be very little that's original on 1042 today. IMHO "One of the most fantastic examples" seems a bit of an overstatement, although it has obviously had a stack of money invested in it - just look at the dash.
Pierre's pictures are also of 1042, as raced by Chris Chiles, David Mountford and Paul Ingram, when it was red the second time around (it was also light blue at some stage in between).
Cheers
Rob
What the Coys text doesn't say is that this car was badly burnt a long time ago - I think it was rebuilt with a carbon fibre body. There's meant to be very little that's original on 1042 today. IMHO "One of the most fantastic examples" seems a bit of an overstatement, although it has obviously had a stack of money invested in it - just look at the dash.
Pierre's pictures are also of 1042, as raced by Chris Chiles, David Mountford and Paul Ingram, when it was red the second time around (it was also light blue at some stage in between).
Cheers
Rob
Regarding GT40s either owned by or otherwise associated with Georges Filipinetti and his race team, maybe there was some kind of curse on them? Consider this: (1) the first GT40 that ran under Filipinetti livery (at Le Mans 1965), #P1005, was destroyed in a fire in the mid-1970s; (2) the road GT40 that was Filipinetti's personal car, #P1033, was burned out in 1970; (3) Filipinetti team car #P1040 (my car) was significantly singed at Monza 1967; and (4) GT40 #P1042, which ran under joint Filipinetti and Brescia Corse banners at Le Mans '67, was heavily damaged by fire in 1968 or '69. The only Filipinetti GT40 that did not get lit up was team car #P1039. So, of the five GT40s associated with Filipinetti, four wound up being barbecued. YIKES! That's some record!
Neal
Lifetime Supporter
1033 was restored by Franco Sbarro and is now owned by Tom Armstrong. As the story goes 1033 was given to the son of a weathly South American business man in 1970. The son wanted a Ferrari and mysteriously, the next day.
Pictures here...
Pictures here...
Franco Sbarro did not restore original GT40 #P1033. The GT40 that Sbarro built and labeled as #1033 was actually a GT40 clone built on a tub of Sbarro's own design and construction that, while close to the appearance of an original Abbey Panels GT40 tub, does have some obvious differences. The phony #1033 subsequently became the subject of litigation against Sbarro in Switzerland when its owner discovered its true identity. The original chassis of #1033 passed through a couple of hands before winding up with Bud Romak in Washington State who had the car completed in immaculate fashion by the renowned shop of Phil Reilly & Co. Tom Armstrong purchased the car from Romak. I have extensive correspondence from Ronnie Spain documenting all of this.
I am from CH.1400 Yverdon-les-Bains and my friend Charles Gendroz bought the body of the Filipinetti GT40 that burned in Monza. We worked at putting the car back together and as I remember the car was sold to the Reno museum. I know Franco Sbarro and the car above had nothing to do with his replica which I have seen but I did not know Franco was pretending his car was an original. Franco had a garage were his car was and that is in the village of Cuarny (near Yverdon) were my friend Charles lived. Charles and I did a few renovation on MG TC, AC Bristol, Austin Healy, Jaguar C and D, Ferrari Dino etc., all of them original cars. Unfortunatly at that time we did only Kodak immediate print pictures and today I have only 1 poor print left.
Very interesting story ...
Hello Philippe,
I read your memories of Charles Gendroz with interest. I was very sorry to hear in 2005 when in Switzerland that Charles had passed away the year before. I had the pleasure of meeting him back in 1988, and he showed me a lot of photos of his restoration of the Filipinetti Le Mans car, GT40 P/1040. So at least, thank goodness, a lot of photos were taken of that restoration.
Yes, Franco Sbarro has claimed that the fake GT40 he built up long after selling 1040 to Charles was the genuine 1040. Sadly, lying about GT40s seems to be what Sbarro does best. But that's another story.
But I just had to follow up your posting here because you mention you jointly restored numerous cars with Charles, and you mention Austin-Healey in you list. The very day in 1988 that I visited Charles at his home with my friend Henri, he had just that morning finished a restoration of a Healey 3000, which if I remember correctly was pale blue over white, and after he had shown me the photos of 1040’s restoration, he drove me down into the village for coffee in the Austin-Healey, the car having its first ever post-restoration run! I can’t help wondering if you had been involved in restoring the car I had a run in?
If you would consider sending me a PM with your e-mail address, I would very much like to communicate with you about Charles.
All the best, and thanks for the interesting posting,
Ronnie Spain
I read your memories of Charles Gendroz with interest. I was very sorry to hear in 2005 when in Switzerland that Charles had passed away the year before. I had the pleasure of meeting him back in 1988, and he showed me a lot of photos of his restoration of the Filipinetti Le Mans car, GT40 P/1040. So at least, thank goodness, a lot of photos were taken of that restoration.
Yes, Franco Sbarro has claimed that the fake GT40 he built up long after selling 1040 to Charles was the genuine 1040. Sadly, lying about GT40s seems to be what Sbarro does best. But that's another story.
But I just had to follow up your posting here because you mention you jointly restored numerous cars with Charles, and you mention Austin-Healey in you list. The very day in 1988 that I visited Charles at his home with my friend Henri, he had just that morning finished a restoration of a Healey 3000, which if I remember correctly was pale blue over white, and after he had shown me the photos of 1040’s restoration, he drove me down into the village for coffee in the Austin-Healey, the car having its first ever post-restoration run! I can’t help wondering if you had been involved in restoring the car I had a run in?
If you would consider sending me a PM with your e-mail address, I would very much like to communicate with you about Charles.
All the best, and thanks for the interesting posting,
Ronnie Spain
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