| After the Stockton race the navy sent Phillips to Turkey for two
years. In 1964 he was reassigned to the Naval Supply Center in Bayonne,
NJ. He retrieved his Ferrari in California and drove it to Staten
Island, NY.
From Phillips: "I doubt that anyone else has ever tried that
in a Lampredi four! There are many stories about events on that trip
including the snowstorm encountered crossing the continental divide in
New Mexico."
More from Phillips: "I retired from the U. S. Navy as a Rear
Admiral in the fall of 1988.
Over the past eight years I have rebuilt all of the mechanical components
with help when I needed more than one pair of hands coming from my wife
HelenAnn, my son Bryan, and good friends Michael Bayer and Bill Bowdish.
Through the meticulous care of David Carte and his crew along with the
aluminum magician Craig Naff and electrical guru John Whittington the balance
of the car was preserved, restored, conserved for the future.
In January of 2008 my old friend Alan Boe decided that my slow rate
of progress needed a boost and nominated the car to the selection committee
at Pebble Beach. Somewhat to my surprise the committee elected to
invite my car to be shown in August of 2008.
At Pebble Beach, I enjoyed briefing the judges on the history of
my car and its peculiarities and also had the opportunity to show Piero
Ferrari segments of the Presentation book and the period racing photos
as he walked the field. Frankly my wife HelenAnn (my first Testa Rossa),
my son Bryan and I were all delighted to simply be on the Concours field
at Pebble Beach. So it was pretty exciting when we were asked to proceed
to the holding area for cars receiving awards. Of note, this was the first
time that HelenAnn had ever sat in much less ridden in the car, because
before now it was just a dirty old race car with a cover over the passenger
seat. After seeing the other two selected cars being sent off to the awards
ramp to receive the third and second place trophies, it sunk in that we
were getting the 1st in Class award. After receiving that award we were
startled to see Chairwoman Sandra Kasky Button smiling and handing over
a second trophy to us, the Enzo Ferrari Trophy for the best Ferrari in
the field as determined by Piero Ferrari and Jean Todt from the list of
recommendations by all of the Ferrari Class judges. At that point
I would not have been surprised at all if I had awakened from a wonderful
dream to find myself back in the room. Unbelievable! Forty
eight plus years of ownership, endless stories, and now a fairy tale ending
to this chapter for a first time visitor to the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.
Too many people helped in this incredible journey for me to thank them
all but I must single out David Carte as the perfectionist who helped push
me to this level.
I would be remiss if I did not express my appreciation to my original,
one-of-a-kind "testa rossa", my dear red headed wife HelenAnn who has tolerated
my car antics, although she admits some race dates were multiple Valium
days. She also gave me my neat son Bryan who started his Ferrari ownership
with a big beautiful beast, a 365 GT 2+2. They both pitched in on
many of the various jobs necessary for completion of this major conservation
project. I feel that I am one lucky man."
On 8-1-09 Phillips drove the car
on track at Road America: (Video shot by Bryan Phillips).
Your webmaster doesn't know where or when the following videos were
shot.
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