Old School: Alabama grad donates million-dollar Ferrari
There is certainly no shortage of extraordinary stories about Ferraris being dug out of somebody's barn after decades of neglect, but few are quite as intriguing as this one. As a student at the University of Alabama in 1966, Darrell Westfaul bought a competition 1950 Ferrari for $1,500 which he drove during his senior year. He planned to restore the car after graduation, but plans changed and the car was relegated to moving from garage to warehouse to garage for forty years.
Now 63 years old, the owner took the car out of storage and donated it to the university where he enjoyed it four decades earlier. The university sold the car for upwards of $1 million under an arrangement that will provide Mr. and Mrs. Westfaul with dividends on which to live for the remainder of their lives, after which the interest from the capital will go towards a scholarship fund.
Sounds extraordinary? That's just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Well researched and documented by the owner, the 1950 Ferrari 166MM Touring Barchetta turns out to be far more than an "ordinary" Ferrari, imbued as it is with an extensive race history and pedigree. Already one of the earliest Ferrari models, s/n 0046MM, originally owned by famed designer Nuccio Bertone, was made even more special by the fitting of custom bodywork by Zagato in 1953, after having competed four times in the famous Mille Miglia race in 1950, '51, '52 and '53.
The car was sold to a museum in Arizona, whose owner will put in an additional $300,000 to properly restore the car to original condition.
[Source: University of Alabama via Tuscaloosa News and Alabama Press-Register]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
hotrod 2:16PM (7/09/2007)
Why would you erase that fine machine's history by restoring it?! It looks fantastic as-is!
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Don 2:54PM (7/09/2007)
Yeah, no crap...leave this thing alone!
Ben H. 3:05PM (7/09/2007)
They're restoring the spot he sat on. ;)
Restoring doesn't necessarily mean tearing it apart. The internals could need work as well as some other rusted parts that would prevent driving the car.
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hotrod 4:12PM (7/09/2007)
Um, $300K is kind of a lot for a seat, is it not?
They're definitely planning to go the ground-up route for that price.
I'm sure it will be stunning, but I'd prefer it unrestored. I mean, those rock chips are from the Mille Miglia! Sweet!
zach 3:11PM (7/09/2007)
It's a travesty that the car hasn't been driven in 40 years and likely won't be driven in the future since it's going to a museum.
I thought by now that just about everyone realized that all Ferraris are meant to be used; not treated as garage queens. With any luck a true Ferrari guy will buy it in the future and enter it in some historic races.
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the marais 3:24PM (7/09/2007)
He never drives it. He just rubs it with a diaper.
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Johnny Rocket 2:48PM (7/10/2007)
Must be a French thing.
Mike 3:25PM (7/09/2007)
That's a great story. Good for this guy. The dividends/interest on $1M will have him living pretty comfortably in a state like Alabama, plus his school got a great donation and the nation can now go see a historic Ferrari in a public museum. Awesome...
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k vertigo 3:50PM (7/09/2007)
Finally...some news out of Alabama that DOESN'T end with me hanging my head in shame ;-)
I shall savor this moment, for I know not when I'll have this opportunity again.
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jm99 12:24PM (7/10/2007)
As a UA alum and Alabama native now living elsewhere, I wholeheartedly understand and agree with your sentiments!
Ric Kaysen 4:16PM (7/09/2007)
think about it...only six years prior, they were lowering that Belvedere into the cement crypt. If only they left it in a garage, it might still look as good as that ferrari. Well, I mean it would be in similar condition.
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Todd 4:17PM (7/09/2007)
It's hard to imagine buying any Ferrari at any time for only $1,500. It's even harder to imagine one like this selling for so little!
How did this guy resist not driving it for so long?
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Johnny Rocket 5:48PM (7/09/2007)
I saw one of these in Irvine. It's an important car, but boy is it ugly.
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fizzandpop 6:12PM (7/09/2007)
What's up with the '50s? Could any college kid just go out and buy a racing Ferrari? I struggled to buy a pack of smokes in college, didn't quite have the funds to nip out and buy one of Mansell's castoffs.
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Harrison 6:15PM (7/09/2007)
Oh yeah... classic cars were like econoboxes- useless crap just sitting around for (relatively) low prices. Heck, even this Texas auto school bought a 250 GTO as a car for the students to work on.
lavardera 11:23PM (7/09/2007)
What's that schmo doing leaning on that expensive car?
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