330 GT Registry

TOP ITALIAN CARS IN BRITAIN
Motor Sport interviews some owners
 

It occurred to us that there are many owners in Britain of those exclusive Italian cars, Lamborghinis, Maseratis and Ferraris. We were interested to know why these people bought their cars, now that traffic restrictions have mushroomed and the roads are so overcrowded. Had they got a good service? Were there any draw-backs? Three views are given below. We hope to return to this fascinating subject next month.

Coming from a family with such a sporting background, it came as no surprise to learn that Earl Howe* drives a Ferrari. He had owned a long line of exclusive cars such as Jaguars, Lancias, B.M.W.s, Aston Martins, Alfa Romeos and Mercedes-Benz before he took delivery of his present Ferrari 3300T in January, 1965. This car has now has done six or seven thousand miles and Earl Howe is still terribly enthusiastic about it.

Earl Howe likes to own cars that have been successful in motor racing. He likes a car that is maneuverable, that has good brakes, handling and acceleration, and the Ferrari fills these specifications admirably. Countess Howe, who was present when we visited her husband, was just as enthusiastic about the car. She recounted a holiday one winter in Switzerland, where the Earl spent more time looking at the exotic parked cars than on the ski slopes.

A Ferrari is an exciting car to handle, the Earl thought. It is at its best on a motorway, with miles of open road before it, although during its life battling against the London traffic, his engine had never fouled a plug or caused any other drama. Although one cannot travel at a reasonable speed in this country even on a deserted motorway, the Ferrari’s handling and acceleration are so good that one knows it has the capacity to get out of any trouble, Earl Howe said.

Two previous cars owned by Earl Howe are a Bentley (“not quite my cup of tea”) and an Aston Martin, which gave a lot of plug troubles. He still has one of the “gull wing” Mercedes-Benz sports cars and is very proud of it. The big choice what to run was between the Ferrari and a Maserati, and he chose the Ferrari because it could offer four full seats. Before taking delivery he specified one or two little items to be altered and since that time has not experienced any trouble. Some people might not like the hard springing, but he did. The servicing is done by Maranello Concessionaires in Chiswick: “It’s better to take it to the proper people,” the Earl thought.

Earl Howe with the Ferrari 330GT

Although buying a Ferrari involved an expensive outlay, Earl Howe thought he had had good value for money. Would he buy another? “I haven’t thought about that yet,” he said. “Once you get a car you like, you don’t change.”

*Edward Richard Assheton Penn Curzon, the 6th Rt. Honourable Earl Howe
 

MOTOR SPORT, April 1968