To throw in my .02 worth on the TR3B engine numbering
question, I can add that in Dorettis there is no rhyme
or reason to the engine v. chassis numbering. I have
seen cars with an earlier chassis number with a later
engine no. On the Doretti this is easy to see because
they stamped the engine number on the ID plate as well
as the chassis no. On the Doretti project there were no
more than 14 people involved in production and yet they
managed to turn out over 270 cars in 10 months! They
basically were delivered a load of engines from Triumph
and just pulled the one from the front of the row to
install.
When Ford decided to go big time sports car racing they
figured the easiest way to succeed was to buy an outfit
that was good at it. They decided to buy Ferrari! Enzo
had absolutely no intention of selling to Ford but he
entered into negotiations with them to gain leverage
in his negotiations with Fiat whom he did sell 49% of
the company to! After the deal with Fiat closed he
actually told Ford that he was just stringing them along.
Ford was understandably pissed and then decided to stomp
Ferrari. They had a more than willing ally in Carroll
Shelby. Shelby when he raced in Europe did a few drives
for Ferrari and was offered a gran prix team position.
When he met with Ferrari to finalize the deal, the subject
of money came up. Shelby was offered a cut of the prize
money and expenses but when the subject of a straight fee
came up Enzo said that just driving for the great Ferrari
Scuderia was reward enough for any man. Well old Carroll
uttered a few of his favorite Texas euphemisms and hit the
trail vowing one day to "whup Ferrari's ass".
Further irrelevant trivia: when Triumph decided to build
a sports car it first tried to buy Morgan.
Even more irrelevant trivia: the Ford GT40 got its name
from the fact that the overall height of the car at the
roof was 40 inches.
The last bit of irrelevant trivia: the Shelby GT350 got
its name when one day early on in the project when talking
to Phil Remington (I think thats who it was, could be wrong)
To heavily paraphrase the conversation went something like this.
Remington: "What are we gonna call this thing Carroll?"
Shelby: "How far is it from here to that building over there?"
Remington: "Oh, 'bout 350 feet more or less."
Shelby: "We'll call it the GT350."
I got a million of 'em.
Cheers,
Kurt Oblinger
Redondo Beach, Ca.
Lots 'o TR's, lots 'o car books, low on brain space.
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