In 1967, Deryk Haithwaite was only 26, but he had the £6,000 necessary to buy a brand new Ferrari 275 GTB/4. He sold the car in 1978, only to get reunited with it again after 37 years thanks to Ferrari pros at DK Engineering.
Back in the 1960s, you didn’t have as many options as today when buying a Ferrari. In case of their last curvy road car and the first to feature a four cam engine, you got four disc brakes as standard, but apart from picking the color, choosing between alloy and steel body and telling them whether you would like painted or stainless exhaust tips, your 275 GTB/4 was pretty much like all other 275 GTB/4s out there. Not that there were too many.
Deryk made a really great deal back in the day. He went to the factory, did the tour, drove the car to Paris, then put 27,000 miles in his Ferrari in eleven years before selling it for four times as much as he paid for it. I would call that a win.
He kept track of the car throughout the years, only to get reunited with it again by DK Engineering. Read the full story full of pictures over at Classic Driver.
Of course while you’re at at, you might as well go for a drive to see if she still got it, right?
Just remember: Always go for the alloy body. For the kids!
Photo credit: DK Engineering
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