"carwitter" (carwitter)
03/23/2014 at 11:38 • Filed to: nick mason, car collection, ferrari 250 gto, jaguar d type, ferrari f40
18
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"carwitter" (carwitter)
03/23/2014 at 11:38 • Filed to: nick mason, car collection, ferrari 250 gto, jaguar d type, ferrari f40 | 18
| 27 |
When someone said "one of these recently sold for about $46,000,000, but this one hasn't sold for a while", you knew we weren't in a normal garage.
This was one belonging to Nick Mason, the man behind the sticks in Pink Floyd, and Carwitter are here due to our friends at !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .
Housed in two hangars amongst the English countryside Mason's famous collection is so large the cars are packed in with barely a foot between them.
But it's the Ferrari 250 GTO we are looking at, a gleaming red piece of art that has been set aside so the country's motoring media can see how Zircotech's coatings help protect the precious parts.
"It raced at Le Mans in 1962"
says Mike Hallowes, from Ten Tenths, the company which looks after this spectacular collection.Since then it has raced every year of it's life.
It came third in Le Mans that year, and last year it went to a rally all the way over in Italy.
Previously the owner has stated this is his favourite car in the collection, and as one of only 39 ever built I feel nervous holding a camera over it.
Next to it is a gleaming green Ferrari BB/LM, raced by former Pink Floyd manager Steve O'Rourke at the 24 hours in 1980 to 23rd place.
Across the hanger sits a white Lola T297, which Mason himself raced in the same enduro, finishing one place ahead of his friend O'Rourke.
The BB/LM has no wheels attached, but Ten Tenths engineer Ben DeChair hoists the huge rear panel to reveal the giant 440bhp flat 12 engine.
The exhausts gleam white, protected by a Zircotec coating, but Ben explains to us this may not have been original. This comes from a time when everyone believed Ferrari's should have white exhausts and suddenly every Ferrari from the era turns up with one
He said. Next to him Mike recalls the story of the 1980 24 hours:Nick started 43rd and Steve was 44th. They had had problems in qualifying.
But by the end, well this car was in 23rd and Nick was in 22nd, right in front of him.
The white, with blue brick-style pattern, Lola sat the other side of a 1920s Bugatti in the hanger, which is adorned with race memorabilia and pictures of Mason in his cars.
Now a T297 Ben explains that it originally started life as a T295, before upgrading through the 296 to it's current classification.
This is my favourite of the cars
Says Ben, twisting a metal rod up to the roll-hoop so he can heave the rear portion of the car up to reveal the 2.0litre 300bhp engine.
This is the reason we are here today, the inside of the panel is swathed in a material called Zircoflex, made by Zircotec and installed to protect the white paint from the huge heat of the engine.
After the three have been showcased we shuffle through the building's 'clean room' and into the second hanger.
There we are greeted by a sight that sends you weak at the knees.
A 599 GTO sits by the door, next to a 512s Le Mans car, which in turn sits behind an F40. As if that's not enough another 250, the MM version, and Jaguar D-Type sit among a gaggle of Maseratis, Aston Martin race cars and an Alfa 8C.
This car was used in the filming of Steve McQueen's picture Le Mans
Says Mike, pointing at the 512s.
It was driven by Derek Bell in the scenes but unfortunately it caught fire, but it must be pointed out the car didn't cause the fire, it was actually the electronics used to power the camera gear.
We have a great picture of that actually we can show you now.
Ben leaves for a second, and comes back with a framed black and white snap. In it a forlorn looking cameraman sits on the mangled wreckage of what would be rebuilt to form the car he props it on.
Derek Bell was burnt in the fire," Mike adds. "It was sold and ended up sitting in a garage for decades before Nick found it and had it restored."
Inside Ben shows us the old heat-resistant coating, which amounts to nothing more than a metal plate with a carpet-like material on the bottom.
You should probably stand back, we don't know what this is really, could contain anything
He says, rubbing his hands on the now-frayed material.
Now we can use the Zircoflex which is self-adhesive, but in those days they had to either use some pretty powerful glue or, as in this case, rivet it on.
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These cars weren't special to them when they were built, they were just one of a few, designed to race at Le Mans. They were meant to break, they certainly weren't meant to be still going forty years later.
At this point it's getting a bit hard to keep focus, there are several million pounds worth of metal around me and my brain is attempting to work out which one I want to look at first.
As gorgeous as the Ferrari Daytona that Ben and Mike move on to is, the F40 is calling me.
Sat just an inch or two in front of the 512S and nudged up to a Frazer Nash replica the F40 still stands out, even in this company.
It's sharp, iconic lines are polished to shine like the first day it rolled off the production line, at the back it's gorgeous 3 litre V8 is visible through a plastic rear windscreen in front of the square rear wing.
Nearby sits the almost exact opposite smooth lines of the D-Type. Raced at Le Mans in the mid 1950s the D-Type is almost flat until the aerodynamically styled driving pod, which controls the flow off the open-topped cockpit.
The beautiful D barely comes up to my knee, and is completely dwarfed by the giant Bentley 4.5 litre that sits behind it. The Bentley never managed to win Le Mans, unlike it's illustrious predecessors, but Mike explains that it did succeed in creating something - this magnificent collection.
This was Nick's father's car, he used to watch his father race this when he was young and it sparked all of this.
His father was a cinematographer, and he used to race this in his spare time, that's where Nick got the bug I think.
It really is a magnificent collection, I could spend hours in here, but now our time is up, but for a cup of tea and a slice of Zircotec cake - sounds gritty, tasted lovely.
Walking out past the 250 GTO again I'm reminded that the $46,000,000 paid for another recently is the same as a Francis Bacon painting also went for, and, I know which one I'd rather look at!
!!! UNKNOWN HEADER TYPE (MULTI-LINE BREAK?) !!!
Original Article and Further Images HERE
© – All text & images Copyright of carwitter.com
The Opponaut formerly known as MattP123
> carwitter
03/23/2014 at 12:45 |
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Get off the car dude!
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carwitter
> The Opponaut formerly known as MattP123
03/23/2014 at 14:30 |
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It does annoy me when people do that! Once at the Gumball start in London there was a woman trying to peel up the edges of one of the vinyl stickers with her nail?! The car was a brand new 458!
banjo cat ghost of oppo past
> carwitter
03/24/2014 at 19:23 |
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This makes me think of the drum crescendo at the end of "Money" and I am reminded that, yes Nick Mason deserves al l the cars.
... love of that song might be a very American thing to say...(also why they suspended touring, drunk jerks wouldn't stop chanting it during quieter sets) though my favorite on that album is probably Us and Them .
frannybull
> carwitter
03/24/2014 at 22:07 |
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"its"
Turbineguy: Nom de Zoom
> carwitter
03/24/2014 at 22:36 |
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Best reason I can think of for keeping a paintball gun in your car.
RosarchII
> carwitter
03/24/2014 at 22:44 |
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Sweet Jesus.
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V8sAreTheBestRacingAndWhyDoesKinjaSuck
> frannybull
03/24/2014 at 22:53 |
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I'll play too.
"Walking out past the 250 GTO again"
"passed" not "past"!
GTO62
> carwitter
03/24/2014 at 22:59 |
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And Nick must make some money out of royalties from pictures of his cars. An A2 poster version of the Ferrari "F40 NPG" adorned my bedroom wall for over a decade. It seems the exact same picture was used for wall clocks...
G/O Sucks
> banjo cat ghost of oppo past
03/24/2014 at 23:21 |
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Helluva an album! The success of it bought him the GTO – A mere 37k Pounds in 1978 (roughly $85k then/~$250k in today's dollar) earned him a lot of scoffs at the time but GTO's skyrocketed immediately after. Ralph Lauren was the butt of many jokes when he paid $650k for his in 1985.
Since one sold last fall for a reported $52 million, I'm gonna say that drum solo definitely lived up to its namesake. ;)
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Guy Meurice
> The Opponaut formerly known as MattP123
03/25/2014 at 05:08 |
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22R-Convertible
> carwitter
03/25/2014 at 07:44 |
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I was blessed to sit in one of these.
TheStraightSixKid
> The Opponaut formerly known as MattP123
03/25/2014 at 08:16 |
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If you had the chance would you want to touch a Ferrari 250 GTO, I know i would.
alan666
> carwitter
03/25/2014 at 13:47 |
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On the rally around Italy the drivers were Nick's wife & Jezza Clarkson's wife.
http://hk.asiatatler.com/motoring/galle…
Also a very good video here of Nick's collection.
wacopalypsenow
> carwitter
03/25/2014 at 18:46 |
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I would be happy just walking where Nick Mason walked, the cars would just be a bonus
merkyg
> carwitter
03/25/2014 at 19:38 |
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I went to party at the house next to his once, but couldn't spot anything interesting outside - guess you don't leave cars like that outside!
OxygenStarvation
> carwitter
03/26/2014 at 11:32 |
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I have the book Passion for Speed by Nick and Mark Hughes . Tremendous read, professional photography and provides an insight into the way the cars drive but also the emotions that one experiences while driving.
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The Opponaut formerly known as MattP123
> TheStraightSixKid
03/30/2014 at 09:17 |
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Of course. Touch. Sit in. Drive. But only if the owner gave me permission. I don't see the appeal of feeling the car with my knees/thighs. Luckily the 250 is pretty low, otherwise it could fall victim to the rivets in the pants, or belt buckles, or buttons, or keys, or jacket zippers...
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TheStraightSixKid
> The Opponaut formerly known as MattP123
03/30/2014 at 10:49 |
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Oh Ok i can see why i would not want that happening if that was my car as well.
Fatamericanstig
> The Opponaut formerly known as MattP123
04/05/2014 at 12:57 |
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ARG. that shit annoys me even when they lean on my 6000/7000 dollar car...let alone 46 million dollars.
RMudkips
> banjo cat ghost of oppo past
04/19/2014 at 14:53 |
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"Breathe"'s my favorite. Funny how the band actually saved Gilmour from starvation in the quintet days w/ Barret.
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RMudkips
> carwitter
04/19/2014 at 14:55 |
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Did you ask him about the Floyd days?
Beautiful collection he has. I dunno if I could control my drool in this presence.
Leon711
> carwitter
05/27/2015 at 12:10 |
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this space is intentionally blank?
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Leon711
> carwitter
12/24/2015 at 07:45 |
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Did you not see his F1 GTR?
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crazy brit
> carwitter
12/06/2016 at 10:51 |
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James Dugdale (British, 1940-), ‘Le Mans 1962 - Evening at Tertre Rouge’,
signed and dated 2001 to lower right corner, acrylic on canvas, race scene featuring the Number 22 Ferrari 250 GTO of Dernier and Blaton leading the Ferrari 330 LM and the Lotus Elite into the curve leading into the Mulsanne straight at the 24 Hour event, depicting the 250 GTO currently owned by Nick Mason, the famed Pink Floyd musician and composer, signed by him in black ink to lower left section and also featuring a depiction of Mason as a spectator on the grass bank, measuring 50 x 60cm, fitted within gilded wooden frame, offered together with a rolled print featuring the image, a copy of a letter from the artist relating to the artwork and a print-out of a preparatory pencil illustration of the scene. ....at Bonhams now
Skreamies123
> Leon711
03/19/2017 at 17:15 |
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I know this is a little old. But this is not Nicks McLaren, this is Andy’s.
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Leon711
> Skreamies123
03/19/2017 at 18:27 |
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That’s quite right, I have since learned. I did have a chance to see both of Andy’s special McLarens at Festival of Speed last year.
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Skreamies123
> Leon711
03/19/2017 at 18:44 |
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They are some real beauties that’s for sure. Heading to FoS again this year to hopefully catch them.
The Lark livery by far a favourite of mine.