Ordered from the Ferrari factory by Maranello Concessionaires on order number 424. Identified by the factory as a 365 GTC on Circolare Tecnica No 145. This was the tenth of only twenty-two cars to be built for the U.K. It was apparently the one hundred and eighteenth of only one hundred and fifty-one cars built in total. First registered YPA 14G, on the 19th May 1969 and collected the next day, Tuesday 20th May to Mr Jonathan A. Astor as 21st birthday present.

Delivered new in the following colour combinations of:

Exterior: Blue Tourbillon 2.443.607
Interior: Beige VM3234
Carpets: Blue Scuro (Dark Blue)
Headlining: Grigio Chiaro (Light Grey)
It would seem that Mr Astor kept the car for about a year before a Mr Don Nelson of Leicestershire bought the car and registered ORY 1. This was to be the start of a serious Ferrari collection. The next car was a 250 GTO bought in 1971 "to drive into London so that the 365 GTC didn’t get scratched"! (See Keith Blumel’s excellent book on the 250 GTO's.)

Mr T. Armstrong acquired #12447 in 1977, now registered SRY 207G (the month is illegible on the log sheet). He apparently kept it until 1st November 1978 when it was sold to Mr A. P. Bamford (now Sir Anthony), of JCB Excavators. Bamford put the registration number APB7 on the car. In so doing adding another owner, as necessitated at that time a Mr A. Moscrop of Brighton. On completion of the transfer, the car was registered to JCB Sales Ltd. (not JBC as stated on the log sheet). APB7 was removed from the Ferrari in June 1980, the number UEH 3246 replacing it. Respected long-term motor trader William Loughran Ltd. acquired the car on 24th August 1983. Loughran putting the registration number KP53 on the car in December 1983. William Loughran sold the car in October 1984 to Mr Robert Cooper of Cooper Metals (Holdings) Ltd. Mr Cooper took the car to Maranello Concessionaires who repainted the car in Mercedes-Benz Forest Green and "comprehensively overhauled." Mr Cooper transferred the car into his own name in 1988. Sold by Mr Cooper in July 1993 at auction by Coys for a reputed $72,250. It was next registered to Mr D. F. Smith of Berkshire (showing 7,478 recorded miles) in October 1996, noting he bought the car in July 1993.

Sold again by Brooks at Olympia in December 1996 to the last owner, another large Ferrari collector, Carlos Monteverde for $98,072. The car was brought to Talacrest where the original colour scheme was identified. It was then stripped to bare metal and repainted in Blu Sera, the 1997 equivalent of Blu Tourbillon. The car was serviced including a new radiator, track rod ends and new carpets, in all some £18,000 was spent. Mr Monteverde used the car sparingly.

and with an ever-increasing collection of Ferraris and following his accident in his 375 F1 at Imola, decided to sell the car, which Talacrest purchased. For various reasons the car was sold by Talacrest at Brooks auction at the Festival of Speed at Goodwood in June 1999. The car was registered to Mike Wheeler of Talacrest in order to obtain a registration document as Mr Monteverde had not registered the car to himself. It was purchased by Mark Sumpter of East Sussex, a Porsche specialist, who purchased the car for himself because "he liked it". Tracked down by the son of the original owner, Toby, it was re-purchased by Jonathan Astor in October 2000 directly from Mr Sumpter for £64,000. Paul "Nod" Noakes of Talacrest rebuilt the engine at a cost of £22,000 whilst Graham Cooper retrimmed the car in sabbia (sand coloured) hide for £5,000. Initially Talacrest maintained the car annually, then with the closing of the Talacrest workshop, maintenance moved to Rardley Motors from 2002 and were it had been brought by Jonathan Astor each October for a service and MOT generally whilst he waited.

The car is complete with the optional Borrani wire wheels and a car cover. An increasingly rare opportunity to acquire one of twenty-one 365 GTC’s, (one of which has been converted to a Spyder), to have made it to the U.K. and to join such luminaries as Eric Clapton, George Harrison and Sir Anthony Bamford who own or have owned 365 GTC's.