Kangxi - I agree that people have been unpleasant on this thread, which wrong. The most annoying part of social media is when someone has a story but refuses to tell it. Without the chassis numbers of the cars or the identity of EKA, you are simply saying "there is a really good story here and I'm not going to tell anyone any of the bits that make it interesting, I'm just going to tell you all that I know the story but am not going to share it" As you clearly are not going to supply the details of the cars or who EKA is, I suggest the moderators remove the entire thread.
Thanks for your post Robert. The events happened 26 years ago and the papers are no longer with me,lost long ago. There was no Internet back then,just phone,Fax and Telex. I'd love to have the Chassis No. of the 288,that is the key. I rang Talacrest yesterday but surprisingly the phone rang and rang. I was grasping at straws to see if they had records going back to 1989-90. I also rang a Director of Pitney Bowes and left my name and no. on his answerphone together with their Account reference no. I can do no more. and I agree,pull the thread. Just an old mans attempt at finishing a case.
I would be inclined to think your time frame is more 1988 based upon the prices you mention and that they are in pound sterling. In June 1988 a 288 GTO was offered with an asking price of $475,000 (circa £265,000). That same car was offered for sale in February 1989 with an asking price of $1,500,000 (circa £880,000) Not relevant to this thread but that same car was available in 2003 for $325,000 (circa £200,000) Paul
While I agree I was harsh and my post maybe was necessary it’s about as unnecessary as yours. You won’t provide the name, you won’t really provide anything. You come back to say you’re shocked and disgusted and no one (police or whatever) cares and I’m sure people did care until you kept just tiptoeing around the truth. Again this is a place for discussion on Ferrari’s, not your disdain towards what happened toward you. I apologize
I don't get why people ask things to be deleted. If you're not interested, quit visiting the thread. It will be ignored if there is no information of consequence, and life will move on.
I came across the file log Today,just a Pitney Bowes Finance reference no. and the instruction was received in May 1991.
OLD thread, of course. However, a few questions remain: Where are 53775, 54779 and 55177 today? Marcel Massini
All that I can contribute, and maybe its old news anyway, is that 53775 was last seen in Osaka some years ago, with F40 seats installed.
288 GTO chassis #55177 was stolen in Cannes, France, on Friday, the 5th June 1987. At the time of theft it belonged to a Frenchman, Mr. J.-F. V., the GTO was a French version with yellow headlights. Since 1987 nobody has seen the car anywhere. Now, 37 years later, this car has turned up in Japan. The criminals had restamped the chassis number with a number of another 288 GTO which currently lives in USA. However, those who did the restamping did not know about the body number which allowed to identify the car in Japan and find out the real identity. The 288 has been in Japan with the same "owner" since 1991 until now but it is currently being shopped around by some obscure dealers. Below is the factory theft notice and the photo shows the stolen car in Japan, taken this week. It still has the yellow headlights. Marcel Massini Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
I can see both sides, but I can't help but wonder if posting the Serial Number 55177 is claiming to be would help alert others to the situation.
The car found this week in Japan after 37 years uses the identity of another 288. The stolen vehicle has been semi-professionally restamped. Which means there are currently two 288's using the same number. The owner of the other 288 has been alerted/contacted. He cannot like the existence of a second car using the same ID (as his own 288). Marcel Massini
In such a connected world, not sure how they think they would be able to place such a car.. Will this be seized ? or carry on with the false chassis number..
Since we’re talking about 30+ years time passing can’t 55177 be stamped again in its own number with a corrected title and sold on a bond assuming the original owner was made whole post theft via an insurance policy?
I cannot see why not.. in the UK it would be classed as a write off.. Classed as a X.. but still a GTO
I wonder if this is the car.. It was sent recently before I bought my other car. I loved the original sticker in the tool kit.. hard to find them still with the tool kits. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
That is not the car. Please note that at least 20 (twenty) units of the 288 GTO's were originally equipped with yellow headlights for France. Marcel Massini
That's a replacement tool kit, as you know from 57223, and as we have seen with every single-owner 288 GTO with properly preserved ancillaries, tool kits originally supplied with new 288 GTOs by the factory were not stickered. What you are looking at is a Mondial tool kit from an era after 288 GTO production, as evidenced by the sticker which (if not obscured by the spanner) reads F 108 (the Mondial internal model designation), from the era when Ferrari stickered tool kits in the late 80s early 90s, noting that Mondial production went on till 1993. Here's an example of a Mondial tool kit where the Mondial's F108 designation has been crossed out and the word GTO has been inserted for supply to a 288 GTO where the original tool kit went missing. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login