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Very interesting, couldn't help laughing at the car dealer moaning about depreciation on his car when he was possibly doing the same in his dealership!! Spooky that I drove through Gt Canfield yesterday as well, next time I shall have to look out for Thriftwood
Classic Ferrari, Classic Ferrari data! My source is from the Archive Tony Willis owns, on a car by car import sheet. He lent the files to me and I manually transcribed them onto the spread sheet above.
The Dino Register seems to show he did (May-July 1970). It also includes a photo of the car in less than perfect cond!
On the 13th May 1970, the car was purchased by Eric Clapton. At this busy point in his career, Eric was high on drugs & alcohol & it was around this time he had written & released Layla. Clapton's close friendship with George Harrison brought him into contact with Harrison's wife, Pattie Boyd, with whom he became deeply infatuated. When she spurned his advances, Clapton's unrequited affections prompted most of the material for the Dominos' album, Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs in the spring of 1970. Clapton was devastated by news of the death of Jimi Hendrix; eight days previously the band had cut a cover of "Little Wing" as a tribute to Hendrix. On 17 September 1970, one day before Hendrix's death, Clapton had purchased a left-handed Fender Stratocaster that he had planned to give to Hendrix as a birthday gift. Adding to Clapton's woes, the Layla album received only lukewarm reviews upon release. Eric Clapton crashed the 206 GT whilst probably under the influence of alcohol or drugs during this period & sold back the badly damaged 206 GT to Ferrari UK on the 18th August 1970 a few weeks after Hendrix's death. He was also now secretly seeing Patti Boyd at this time. Mr Clapton owned & drove this car at the MOST important time in of his career. It is likely that he was secretly dating Patti Boyd (George Harrison's wife) during this period. The damaged 206 GT was then sold to a local specialist car repairer, not far from Erics Surrey home, which he still owns to this day. The car garage set about repairing the car back to its original condition. The only new panels that were used, was a new aluminium 206GT front end from Italy. All other panels are original & correct. The work was carried out to a very high standard & is testimony to the skills available at the time. ...Lots of photos to follow of the car just after I purchased the car & of the detailed restoration! Image Unavailable, Please Login
The damaged 206 GT (00152) is sold to the Cranleigh Motor Company Ltd who carry out the restoration to Eric's car in 1971. After the car was restored, it was sold to the a private individual in Alton, Hampshire UK where it remained until he died in the 2004. The car passed to his son who kept it locked up in a garage until I purchased it in 2006. The car was in reasonable condition when I purchased it. In 2011, work started on the current restoration which included a complete skin off & detailed, but sympathetic restoration. Photos will follow. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
...taken on the day I collected the 206 GT in 2006. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
The 206 GT was looked in pretty reasonable condition on the surface with the usual signs of corrosion & wear & tear as to be expected. At this stage, I was keen to see the extent of repairs carried out by "The Cranleigh Motor Company" in 1971, after Mr Clapton had his lucky escape. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
So far, I have given a brief overview of the early History of the very 1st 206 GT imported into the United Kingdom by Ferrari UK. This car was initially used to test the UK market for the Ferrari Dino. This 206 GT (chassis 00152) was the 2nd Ferrari Eric Claptons owned. Eric purchased the 206 GT on May 15th 1970 at a busy & crucial time in his career. He crashed the car a few months after he purchased it, the accident was severe & he was lucky! This car is historically important for these reasons but required major restoration work after his accident & more recently by my restorer in the UK. As I currently have 3 other 246 GT Dino's undergoing restoration at the moment, all to the same standard. Please excuse me, if the odd photo of a 246 is amongst these photos of my 206 GT restoration by mistake. I have hundreds of photos of each restoration & keeping them separate is not always easy! I will not bore you with vast quantities of photos of each aspect of the restoration. Some of the photos are of poor quality as my hi-Res ones are at my office. However, there will be a couple of hundred images or so... I have seen many extremely high quality restorations on this site. In each case the owner will inevitably have their car restored to a level which they consider is right for them. It is always difficult once you start stripping a Dino to know how far the restoration should go. Many will consider "rust & patina" should be retained, others would want to bring the car back as far as a factory car as possible, others want better than production standard. Perhaps using non original materials, trim or parts is acceptable? I'm sure everyone on here has their own opinion on this matter. Neither is right or wrong. However, I have always preferred to maintain originality, whether that be by retaining existing materials or parts, so long as they are in good condition, they can be restored. It is not always possible to do this & every aspect of a restoration is a compromise. Let's face it, most European Dino's rust badly. Poor protection from new has meant that the weather has taken its toll on the majority of Dino's. Most, if not all European Dino's have had substantial work done in order to keep them road legal, that work is not always pretty once you strip the car back! I am an architect; I therefore would always want to retain the original fabric of a building or car where possible. However, technology is a wonderful thing, if used appropriately. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
The last photo shows how the original roof was heated & beaten back to its original profile in 1970 by a craftsmen. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
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Great attention is spent ensuring that the car is correctly restored & to a high standard. The use of Aerospace epoxy primers & sensitive media blasting plus hard work & skill help to make the restoration as near perfect as is possible. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
I can't take any praise for the faultless workmanship on this car. It amazes me just how many Jigs & templates he has to allow him to make any panel for the Dino. The final prepared shell has no filler, just lead in the correct places. I have not bothered to show any photos of the strip down, cleaning or preparation of all the fibreglass panels, components & mechanical parts but I can if anyone is interested. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Various panels fettled with Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
The Restorer is aware that I am uploading images of his work on my cars. I'm sure he will join the thread at some point. I know he is very busy finishing completing my 4 cars as well as several other Dinos & more exclusive Ferraris!
Hello Max, your restorer put the wrong front on your 206 GT, it`s from a 246 GT L-series. Attached a picture from the Dino Compendium of the correct front for your car. Regards Matthias Image Unavailable, Please Login
Hi Matthias, I will get him to look into it. Thanks for the information. This is why these forums are wealth of information! It looks like I need to get the compendium! Actually, he does.... Max
