The Ferrari 250 GTO is a famous sports car from the 1960s that is very rare and expensive. Many car enthusiasts dream of owning one because of its beauty and history in racing.
Supercars are very fast and expensive cars that are designed for high performance. They often have unique designs and are made in smaller quantities than regular cars.
The Ferrari 288 GTO is a sports car from the 1980s that is famous for its powerful engine and unique look. It's considered a classic and is very desirable among car collectors.
Short wheelbase means the space between the front and back wheels is smaller than usual. This can make the car handle better and feel more agile when driving.
Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance is a big car show in California where people display and admire beautiful classic cars. It's a popular event for car lovers.
A pre-purchase inspection is when a mechanic checks a car before you buy it to make sure it's in good shape. This way, you know if there are any problems with the car before you spend your money.
Original parts are the same pieces that were put in the car when it was built. People like to keep these parts because they help the car stay true to how it was made originally.
The condition of the car means how good or bad the car is overall. It includes how well it runs, how it looks outside, and how it feels inside. This is important to know before buying a car.
The Ferrari 250 Short Wheelbase is another version of the Ferrari 250 that was made for racing. It has a shorter body, which helps it handle better on the track.
Aerodynamics is how air flows around a car. When a car is designed to be more aerodynamic, it can go faster and use less fuel because it cuts through the air more easily.
A wind tunnel is a big machine that blows air around a model of a car. It helps designers see how the air moves, so they can make the car faster and more efficient.
An 'original engine' is the engine that came with the car when it was new. It's important for collectors because it helps prove the car's history and value.
An alloy body means the car is made from a special mix of metals that makes it lighter and stronger than regular metal. This helps the car go faster and handle better.
A Triple Crown winner is a race car driver who has won three very important races. It's a big deal in the racing world and shows they are very talented.
The Ferrari 275 GTP is another model from Ferrari, built for speed and racing. It's part of a series of cars that are very popular among car enthusiasts.
Disc brakes are a kind of brake that helps slow down a car. They work better than older types of brakes, especially when the car is going fast or when it's hot.
A gated gearbox is a special kind of manual transmission that helps drivers shift gears more easily. It has a specific pattern that you follow when changing gears, making it feel more precise and fun to drive.
The 'Holy Grail of car collecting' means the most desired and valuable car that collectors want to own. It's like the best of the best in the car world.
The Ferrari SP1 is a special, very limited sports car made by Ferrari that doesn't have a roof, allowing for an open-air driving experience. It has a really powerful engine and is designed to look like classic Ferraris while using the latest technology. People discuss it because it's rare and represents the best of what Ferrari can do.
The Ferrari SP2 is like the SP1 but has a second seat, so you can take a friend along for the ride. It has a powerful engine and a design that mixes old-school Ferrari looks with new technology. It's talked about because it's rare and gives an exciting driving experience.
The BMW M3 is a fast and sporty version of a regular BMW car called the 3 Series. It's famous for being fun to drive while still being comfortable enough for daily use. People talk about it because it's a great mix of luxury and speed.
F1 stands for Formula 1, which is a top-level car racing series. The advanced technology used in these race cars often inspires features in regular cars.
Hybrid cars are vehicles that use both a regular engine and an electric motor. This helps them save fuel and produce less pollution, which is better for the environment.
A manual transmission is a system in cars where you have to change gears yourself using a stick and a pedal. It gives you more control over how the car drives, unlike automatic cars that do it for you.
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I'm Hannah Elliott.
And I'm Matt Miller.
This is Hot Pursuit.
First up, we really just wanted to hear about this latest purchase of yours, this car, the
white worth, the special one.
Can you just tell us first of all, how did you first, had you been looking for a GTO?
Where did you see this?
What's the story behind the purchase?
Sure, sure, sure.
You know, I, you know, you know, the thing about it is, I didn't even think about buying
a GTO, dreaming about a GTO, you know, any of that, because 250 GTO to me was just way
beyond like any attainable situation.
I mean, people might say the cars that I have now, the supercars are unattainable or dream
cars, but I did dream about those cars.
My 288 GTO was my high school dream car when I saw it in the Road and Track magazine.
I wanted to have it, I didn't think I could really be able to have it.
Now I obviously have red and yellow in it, but, you know, and all the supercars, I just
kind of was focusing on that and trying to get that and having the set of the red and
yellow and of course, and then the new stuff like the SP3s and things like that, except
90XX Spider, but I never could, you know, was thinking about a 250 GTO.
Matter of fact, I did, and I've been looking for a long time for a 250 short wheelbase and
because I thought, well, that's maybe something I can find, but I never, you know, found a
right one or whatever, but it wasn't...
There aren't that many of them.
No, there isn't, you know, but I love the short wheelbase, short wheelbase, California
obviously was also seemed like okay, but I never thought about the 250 GTO, but I did
that, you know, my people reminded me, he goes, hey, David, look at the video in Pebble
Beach last year, in August in Monterey, I was walking through the Ferrari lawn at Casa
Ferrari and I saw some GTOs and I remember that I think Maycom was already at that time
promoting that there's John Shirley's Blanca Speciale, white 250 GTO, so I was just like,
oh yeah, maybe I'll get that, you know, maybe that would be something, you know, like,
honestly, I wasn't even serious about it, I was just like, okay, whatever, you know,
and so I mentioned that, I forgot about it, and as I was getting close to the auction,
my people, Kevin Cohen said, hey, you know, the GTO is going to be in Las Vegas, I think
Maycom has something in Las Vegas, or what do you think? I said, okay, well, you know, let's
go out there, I'll send my mechanic Mike out there to check out the car, see if it's how
legit it is, know everything about it. What did you tell him to look for at that point? What did
you say to him? Yeah, I mean, you know, in my experience, and obviously I have a number of
classic road Ferraris, but you know, it's important, and I pay my share dues of buying
the wrong ones. We talked about that. I love this series. Yeah, and so I wanted to send Mike,
the smart way is always to send your guy, if you have a guy, to check it out, you know, to see how
it's restored, if it's restored, see if all the parts are the kind of the original parts or the
right parts on the car, see if the car starts up. And if there's any problems with that,
see all the blemishes that are there and underneath the car as well. So my guys have been trained
so well that they checked out everything. And coming back, I knew the condition of the car.
And that's really important because the condition of the car dictates the price. It dictates the
model. It's all the same prices, it dictates that and so forth. So in all the stuff that comes
with, what is all the parts that comes with? And so I knew everything about it. And it was worth
sending them out to do that research. Did they come back? Yeah, go ahead. Yeah, what did they say?
I mean, we know everyone knows the result because I think it's the certainly most famous car purchase
at least this year. So you say the condition dictates the price. Is that how you got it for
$38? Is that a good price? Do you feel? Well, first of all, $38 was a good price.
I believe this car with the condition that I've seen is definitely a $60-70 million worth car.
Now, there could be a lot of reasons where perhaps maybe the buyers for those cars were
not at the auction, were not at the right time in the year, or perhaps the venue that they're used
to going to buy these cars, which could be the situation. But so understanding this too, 250
GTO was a race car. It was a race car, it was a very special race car because prior to that,
250 Short Wheelbase was doing very successful in all the tracks. The 250 GTO-wise so special is
Ferrari at that time was the first time that they engaged the Pisa University to study
the car, how to make it more aerodynamic, using aerodynamic to it besides the big engine and
the light weights and everything. But wind tunnels and everything to make the car more
special, more aerodynamic, faster, better performance, which is very special.
Race cars back then, again, they changed out engines, they blow up engines in the races,
they crash, they get fixed, they get repainted. It's all part of the natural course. So when
people say maybe they didn't have the original engine, although this one, John Shirley brought
Ferrari make a new engine, a perfectly specced out engine, Casa K, which is important, the red book
in there. So it came with the race engine, that it raced in many of the races that
they had in history, in period. And the engine that's in there now, it's the Ferrari rebuilt the
engine. But the fact that it, okay, so previous owner painted it red and then John Shirley painted
it white back to the Ferrari white color. All that really doesn't matter because it's a 250
GTO and it was a race car. So it comes with, it doesn't come, it comes with the history that
it has it, which is a lot of people, a lot of cars don't have the original engine. A lot of cars have
been crashed and rebuilt or repainted. So, you know, I don't think that was the reason.
Yeah, I've heard that so many times that like anybody who thinks they're going to get a quote
unquote, completely original race car is that doesn't even exist. Because these are, it's like
the, it's, what is it called the ship of theses paradox, where you're constantly replacing the
parts of the ship. So yeah, yes, you would. And you would do that, right? I mean, you know, in
race racing, all the parts, how do you, how do you take it? You know, you do that. And at that time,
they weren't thinking, you know, everything has to match and original and everything. I mean,
the road cars, I know they do that, people have this road car valuation mentality. But when you
come to race cars, a totally different mentality, totally different way of looking at it. It's an
alloy car, you know, alloy body car, it's 2000 pounds, 300 horsepower, you know, and there's a lot
of other parts that they have, accessory parts that they put on it for when they race. You know,
there's a lot of other parts too that they put on it for different races and things that I have.
It's like, I have a big, you know, two container, I mean, two boxes of container of parts that
they switch out wheels, they switch out, there is lights and vents and things like that in order to
attack each race. And this car has placed and has been driven by very famous drivers, you know,
like Graham Hill, it was one of them, the Triple Crown winner. So it's been raised by important
racers, it's been in a lot of important races. It's placed in there. And of course, the Model
250G2 was dominant in that time in all the races. So it's definitely a very, and you know, it's
eight out of the 36 to a right hand drive. That's not a problem to drive, you know, I mean, nobody
has a problem with it. I wanted to ask you about that. Yeah. Is it difficult? Hard to drive. Yeah,
not at all. David, have you driven it yet? Are you going to drive it around California,
or will you just keep it in the garage? No, no, I've been driving it. When I received it,
I drove it around the block a couple of days. And then that, and then a weekend I took it home,
which was like a 40 mile drive to home. And I took it to my country club and, you know,
I saw it on the golf course. I saw that photo. Yeah, I drove it around. I drove around the whole
time. I went to some of my friends, gave a ride, gave my wife a ride, you know, and cruising around
all over. Can you tell us what, yes, sorry to interrupt. Can you just give us a sense of
what does it feel like to drive? What is the personality? You drive so many different cars,
what is the personality? Because everybody says these cars are magical, really magical to drive.
What is the personality of this car? Sure, sure. Well, you know, I really did get to understand
that and know the difference because, you know, I have a 250, a Lucille competition,
275 GTP 4 cam, 330 GTS, 365 GTP 4, the Jonas fighter, and a Resto Dino. So I do know classic
cars very well for our classic cars. They're of course steel body. So that's a big difference
because this is our body again, it's 2000 pounds, which is very light. It's 300 horsepower. Now,
you know, the other thing, you know, you think, okay, well, 300 horsepower. I remember back in
the 80s for the supercars, we're doing 0, 16, 5 seconds, which was a big deal. Wow, 5 seconds,
you know, 0, 16, you know, the Lamborghinis or whatever the cars, this car in 1962 was already
doing 5 seconds. You know, it's a race car. So it's not, you know, it's got disc brakes, you know,
the balance and the suspension, everything is, you know, it's like a race car. So it's very tight.
It's not like very like like a boat or or very kind of, it's not very big. I mean, a lot of
people when they see it, oh, that's kind of small. It's not a big car. And so you, it really, the
driving experience is amazing. Of course, the gearbox, the gearbox, the gated gearbox is
tremendous. The power on the car and the and the sound is tremendous. But I think it's because
it's a race car and the way it's built, the aerodynamic that was designed into it. It's a
race car, but also a road car that you can drive home after a race. That feeling is the best classic
car I've ever driven. Like, you know, just just really there. It's all there. Yeah, yeah. I mean,
that's just I ate and you know, everything is just all there, man. I look at your so I've been
watching you like I said for for many years on YouTube. I love the videos you've done on your
250 Lusso because I love I especially love the livery. It's the white one with the like Italian
flag colors over the middle. And how does it compare to that? Like, I don't know much about
Ferrari's hand as the expert there and also on classic cars. But to me, I always thought 250 is
250 like the Ferris Bueller car must be the same as your Lusso must be the same as the GTO. I've
only recently learned that there are differences. But yeah, how do they compare to you? You've driven
more more than one. So yeah, so so the two my 250 Lusso competition, you know, the the 250 Lusso
was never really a race car, but people brought it back to kind of soup it up to to have a lot of
race parts and then they raced it anyway. So my mind was one of them. But so so the setup of the
V12 Colombo engine, the six carb engine is the setup on my 250 Lusso is I guess you can say is
very similar. I had a regular Lusso and it was much slower. But the I would say the closest to
this 250 GTO is my 250 Lusso competition. But but still everything else the weight of the car
because it's steel instead of alloy, the suspension, the the the gearbox, you know,
just just the way it's designed, you know, the aerodynamic, it's still drive like like a world
of difference, you know, compared to my 250 Lusso competition. So it's, you know, I mean, when you
drive a classic car, you're going to say, oh, okay, you know, you can kind of, you know, the roll
or or the turning and the break. You know, my two, even my 250 Lusso competition is drum brakes.
This is already using disc brakes, you know, you know, in, you know, yeah, back then, I mean, it's
very ahead of its time. It was it was built with race car technology, unlike all the other road
cars that I have. That's so cool. David, we're going to take a break. And then when we come back,
I really want to get into your origin story with how you got involved with all of these cars. So
more with David Lee after this.
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We are back with David Lee, a Ferrari collector and jeweler extraordinaire. And David, we're
talking about your recent purchase of a 250 GTO, which is seen as like the pinnacle of car
collecting as far as I understand it as a newbie, right? I'm kind of a layman here. But is it the
ultimate car that a Ferrari collector can attain? I mean, are you a little worried that after the
honeymoon is over here, like there's nowhere else for you to go? Yeah, you know, first of all,
you know, I think the 250 GTO is to all car collecting the Holy Grail and the the end game
of collecting it just, I don't know, it just probably is it's been the most expensive car
sold at auction. I mean, even my car, I think it's probably the fifth most in the record of most
expensive, fifth most expensive car sold at auction. But I think, but certainly for a Ferrari,
you know, yeah, I mean, it's it's it's really the the Holy Grail. It's really the end game. It's
really like, what do you collect after this? You know, I mean, but I always think that and
always something surprises me like, oh, something comes up, wow, gotta have that or I want to have
that. I can't imagine it right now. I mean, because this is like, I'm still, wow, this is
incredible. I really have a 250 GTO is only 36, you know, and, you know, 33 in series one and
and like just the most famous guys in the world has this, you know, in their possession. And I
have you met the other have you met the other guys, David? Do you know Nick Mason from Pink Floyd?
You know, I don't know Nick Mason. I will I do plan to I look forward to meeting them because
every five years is 250 GTO reunion. And I know next year, 2027 will be the next one. I think it
would be the 65 year reunion. So I look forward to meeting them. And matter of fact, but I,
but I do know Chip Conner and John Huy and which has one. And they I know when I when I won the
auction, they called me and congratulated me. And it was really, really glad that and they said
all the kind of the car community was was really glad that I got it. And because, you know, and so
and they welcomed me to the fraternity of the 36 that have it. And so that was it.
Yeah, I have to say, I will say that as when I heard it was you, I was very happy too. And
when when I think about it, you are the only Ferrari collector that I actually
know of. I'm thinking besides Glickenhouse, I guess he counts also because of the content
that you put out and because of what you share. And that's what I think is so great because you
share your joy and your passion. And when I watch your videos, it's like so clear that you're in
love with with these vehicles and that you really care and you want to show them to the rest of
the world. Like what do you plan on doing with this? Are you going to use it in your business?
Are you going to use it in your in your philanthropy? What's the what what are your ideas or your hopes
of, you know, utilizing this this 250 GTL? So so, Matt, first of all, thank you for saying that,
you know, it is interesting because I think I'm a modern collector, a modern car collector
that is somebody that would that have collected a to be the GTL, the supercars and the new cars,
you know, like, like, I guess what what I what am I collecting as a modern collector
to be in the three categories, all three categories of collecting is quite rare.
Because usually, let's say the guys that have the GTL, they just do the classic cars and
or the new guys have the new cars and very seldom do you have somebody that cross all
boundaries to have to have all the different cars. And that just means that, you know, you
understand the car from this origin from 1962 to to the present, which I do.
And so that that's kind of rare that that that that's that. And of course, to so what was my
purpose, you know, I think I want to bring bring people to, you know, it's a rare call out of
people don't even see it. And so I want to be able to bring that experience of me discovering
about the car and during the car and kind of, you know, put that online so that people other
people can experience it through that, you know, to that experience. I want to, you know, bring it
to concourses, car shows, I mean, a car show, local car show, I might roll up in it. And then
people will be like, you know, I do that, I do that. And, you know, and I have a spot on Jay
Leno's garage in April, you know, we're going to go and Jay's going to, you know, drive over to me
and do that. I have concourses that I'm already kind of signed up for. And also, you know, because
everything, you know, I do, I have, I do with synergy, you know, so my business has a lot of
synergy with with being like this Saturday, I have cars and chronos. But what I what the cool
thing is, it's going to be the unveiling of the 2502. So, you know, people going to drive their
cars are going to be in my lot and socialize and meet. And at some point, I'm going to open my
garage. And I'm going to allow people to come and see all my cars, of course, including the 250GTO.
So, I let people have access to the cars. And which which I think people appreciate. And, you
know, I'm not I'm just not like, oh, you know, I'm super scared, I'm not going to let anybody see it.
And I do plan to you mentioned the philanthropy. I do plan to, I don't give rides to, you know,
what does it make a wish or other other different charity functions that
that or functions that that raise money for charity. You know, if that if that helps to
bring awareness and bring people to support these kind of philanthropy
charities and nonprofits, I don't mind doing it if I have the time to do it. I do.
You do mentor young men as well, don't you? That's part of your is that a business on the
business side of things? Well, I've been I'm on the board of the USC Business School. So,
I give back and I speak get speaking at USC in the business classes. I do have a mentorship,
a professional mentorship program that successful entrepreneurs, young entrepreneurs
have joined up to 20 mentees right now that I coach them weekly to, you know, about about
business, but about life to and about what's important about life and what's life about,
but but about business and me and USC senior USC professor, we both do it together as kind of a
really giving back. But but so those those those people that that join our Titan education
inner circle, I think they're getting a lot out of it. They really love it. And the group has
become very tight themselves. And they'll get to see white 250 GTO with the right hand drive.
Oh, yeah. Yeah. 100%. Can you give us a little background on on your family? Obviously,
you are the owner of him while he group was that was a family business, right? Can you tell us
about you? How how have you arrived at this position to be able to afford these cars and to
be mentoring give us some of your your background and what you learned from I'm assuming it was
your father who who passed the business down to you. So so I'll share with that. So just to kind
of put out there, a lot of people said, Hey, you know, how did you for this car? Is it is it drugs
or laundry money or whatever? None of that is happening. It's through hardworking, making money,
doing business grinding to achieve that. But anyways, I'll give you the background. You know,
we're from Hong Kong, we're Chinese, we're from Hong Kong. My I was born in Hong Kong,
but I immigrated here when I'm very young. But we were always going both coasts. And
my father in 1965 started a gemstone carving manufacturing in Hong Kong. And so he was doing
that. And you mentioned in the in the early 80s, we immigrated to US, we were selling, you know,
again, selling the gemstone carvings and maybe find jewelry, jay jewelry, and host in a wholesale
capacity to other retail jewelers, like us throughout the United States, we've done that in
the 80s. I think my father was successful in that because the 80s was very just, you know, strong
economically. And so so so he had done that if we had bought our real estate very conservative,
my father was. And when I joined the business in 1990, after graduating from USC Business School,
I joined it during the bad, the worst kind of, you know, bad recession, it was probably the
worst one since the sub prime. And, and I, and so I was, I joined the family business as a second
generation. But then it was, you know, people, I was going out going around, we're not making money,
because people were couldn't buy couldn't afford, you know, that economy was bad, they weren't buying
stuff, the jewelers, and, or they buy they couldn't pay. So I had to come up with a new plan. I,
and I after a year of working with my dad, I said, I suggest that hey, why don't we change to retail,
you know, because retail is cash and carry some, you know, you don't have the risk there.
And you kind of control your, your, your smaller local demographic better with marketing. And so
he says, okay, let's do that. But you have to run it. It'll be your gig. And you have to run it
because I'm kind of tired. I don't, I don't want to do that anymore. I don't want to, you know,
because it was, it was something I we've never done before retail. Actually, we were in wholesale
and manufacturing. So I said, yes, I'll do it. So I, you know, started in that founder store,
built the store, hired people, you know, they had so many people working for us before I had to,
you know, at that time, the company was small, I had to be the sales manager, I put my sales
manager hat on, I put my marketing hat on, put my accounting hat on, my purchasing hat on,
and all that. I had to wear all the hats, worked seven days a week. I opened the store first,
I closed the store, and I didn't really have a life. And, and just to find out, but, you know,
what I did, what I, what I was thinking was, I'm not going to let my dad down. He says, okay,
do this. And, and I'm not going to let my family down. I'm not going to just, there's a failure
was not an option to me. So I just, you know, grind that. And so, you know, in 1993 is when I
opened the store. So I've been at this for quite a long time over 30 something years. And, but, but
with, with, with, you know, I was able to get the Rolex franchise for the Chinese market or the
Asian market and the, and the, and the Senkyebo Valley, which is a strong market with Rolex in 1995.
And that was a very special moment, a change in the, in our, in the milestone of our, you know,
business. And, and, and other brands start coming and, and, and we're wanting us to represent them.
So we represented more than 25 different really luxury high end brands. We started expanding.
And at some point, we also said, you know, I don't, we won't want to rent the store from,
from landlords to have our store. We want to, you know, own and build our own store. I think
that was a very important element. So all our stores right now, stores and offices is our own
property. Because, you know, when you, when you, when you pay, when you pay every month, let's say
a rent, you can be paying mortgages that are rent and you would own the property. And then,
as time goes by, the property appreciates. So that's also what people don't understand.
Because there's a lot of jewelers, but a lot of times they rent and, and all the money they pay
every month is gone, you know, you know, the, the, the biggest expense to a, to a retailer is,
is the employee payroll. Second is the rent. So it's a big number. But, you know, so we were
able to do that. But I think through my two, two meeting on the helm, and of course, you know,
I own, I own the company, have owned the company now for quite some time. You know, I was able
to diversify where my father was a little more conservative, diversify into, you know, investment
of cars, investment in tech, investment in the other entrepreneurial companies, and,
and then go on my, my company. So I think they, while the group as together, the retail, the,
the real estate and the investment side all come together is, is after 35 years, it's become quite,
quite a strong company. And I'm happy to say my son will be, have, have committed to join as a
third. I was just going to ask, I was just going to ask if you're passing it on to the next generation.
What is your son most interested in? Does he like the watches? Does he like the cars, the
investment, the real estate? What's his gig? So, so, okay. Yeah, yeah. So I'll tell you,
you know, he graduated from USC undergrad, which was great for this school. We worked for a few
years for a big corporate. And now he's at Wharton, UPenn Wharton for his MBA. He's got two years there,
and then he'll come back. And so he'll be fully equipped to handle everything. But he, he is
into the watches, you know, a lot of my friends, they, they're, you know, they have successful
business, but their kids don't want to take over their dad's business. It's kind of boring. It's
not sexy or whatever. You know, you know, the tech is really drawing a lot of people that want to
do that. We're not, we're not a tech company. We do have tech component because we invest, but,
but, but he likes the watches because watches is popular right now with, with everybody, with,
with all the young people. And so that, that, that side kind of has encouraged him to want to
be part of the business. So let's take a break here. We're going to have one more quick pause
and then more with David Lee right after this.
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We're back with David Lee and we're hearing, I mean, initially we wanted to talk about the
Ferrari 250 GTO and I think we got enough out of the way. I'm fascinated in the business and
just as a, you know, I'm not deep into the watches either, but I love a nice watch.
I prefer to wear, you know, I have a C-dweller that my wife got me when I turned 50, which
is cool because it's also the 50th anniversary edition. So like me and the watch turned 50 at
the same time. What is interesting to you just quickly in the watch world because we know you
love the Ferraris. I've seen your 250 Lusso and the 275, the 330, the 365 and all. What do you
think is more of the expert on the horological side? Yeah, well, you know, actually it's funny
car guys and watch guys are many times are the same, you know, because just as cars are
mechanical and the way you look at it and appreciate it and buy it, the watch is the
same. It's also mechanical. So mechanical, you know, the brand has a certain DNA, just like the
Carson brand of DNA, the functions, you know, a watch can be really high function, complicated,
which that's the area I like. I like the high complication watches to see what a human
workmanship and technology can make. Yeah. And cars, I mean, watches can do that as well as cars.
So it's very, it's very aligned. It's very easy to appreciate a watch, a fine watchmaking.
If you appreciate cars or the other way around, appreciate watches, you appreciate cars. I just
see that really merging. Do you have to be, David, do you have to be brand diagnostic because you
represent so many brands or can you tell us a couple of your favorites? Oh, you know, yeah, no, no,
I think, you know, I think Rolex, I really do appreciate Rolex. Rolex is almost like the Mercedes
of watches, right? It does, it's high branding, you know, the brand, the name is so good.
The quality is unbelievable. I went to the Rolex factory and the way they go through the R&D and
making it, it's unbelievable. And so, you know, and they got the two sides, the manufacturers,
the German side of the Swiss people. And then, and then the marketing is the French side of
the Swiss people. So like, they kind of, you know, you know, yeah, they got it covered,
you know. And so they're great. I think they're great. I think, you know,
brigades are really great, you know, Blanc Pong's really, really great. I think
Cartier also makes a great product. Yeah, they're just, yeah, they're just so good.
And so, no, I actually, I think the way I would recommend to people is that it's not
just a only one brand, it depends on what you're looking for, right? If you're looking for a sport
watch, or, you know, or you're looking for a dress watch, or you're looking for kind of a daily
watch, or you're looking for something that's really high complication, you know, I can steer
you to a brand that's good for that, you know, and it's not just one brand at all, you know,
it's the best of everything, you know, there's no one brand is best of everything. So that,
and that's why I carry 25, I represent 25 different brands. Wow. Wow. Well, David,
say that last part, I missed it. I said, there's also, there's also different price points too,
right? Let's say, for example, you know, you know, you like Rolex, but you, you know, it's a little
bit over your price range, or a Tudor, which is a brand that they make is a sister brand. It's the
same technology, but it's, and it looks very similar. It's, it's price a lot lower. So for
people to afford, but it's got the same Rolex technology, Tudor, for example. So that's kind of
cool. Yes, it is. David, I'm going to put you on the spot a little bit. We, we've been talking
a lot about what we think is the car of the century, Matt and me, because I'm writing a story
about what I'm saying, I'm going to call the car of the century, the car that's had the most impact
since 2000. And I'd love to know if you had to say your car of the century, what would that be? It
could obviously be with anything. It doesn't have to be a Ferrari. We'd love to know what you would
think. So it would be a car that is built after the 2000. Yes. Okay. That's the tricky part. It
can't be. Okay. Okay. It's the last 20, 26 years. So which car do you think is the most important?
There's so many. The most important vehicle in the last 26 years. Well, yeah, let me think
about this for a second. Wow, there's so many that's coming to mind right now. It's like,
we're not going to hold you to it. You can say I had the same thing. She asked me live on air
last week. It took me a second. I had to go through a few guesses before I came up with my
ultimate answer. Can I have a couple? Yes, please. Yes, please. All right. So I would say one is the,
I'm sorry, I know, I'm, I guess I emerged myself in Ferrari. So I only know Ferrari really well.
I don't know the others really well. So I would have to, you know, it would have to be a Ferrari
for me. I would say two cars I'm thinking right now off my top of my head. One is the SP3. The
SP3 is because, you know, it's part of the Icona series. There's SP1, SP2, and then the SP3.
And it's a V12 naturally aspirated mid-engine, mid-position engine, carbon fiber chassis.
And but the design of it looks so beautiful, you know, and people right now, I would think of you
do the survey. Most people would say that's their favorite Ferrari that Ferrari came out with.
It's not the fastest, because it's not about being fast. It's the highest performance, but it's
about the nostalgic and the rich, the nostalgic feeling of the car, which this SP3 is. And so
that I would say that one has a big impact on the generation, today's generation right now.
And for Ferrari and so forth. The other one would be the F80, which is the newest, the
sixth supercar that Ferrari made in the supercar family. Now, the supercar family for Ferrari,
every 10 years, they come out with the ultra high performance car to kind of celebrate their
anniversary, every 10 years. The sixth supercar F80 is a car that is, believe it or not, now V6
turbo with electric engine hybrid, combining together to give 1200 horsepower or something.
The aerodynamic is really in place to give it the highest edge of performance.
The technology they use, borrowing from F1 to place in this road car is also really revolutionary.
It may not, a lot of people look like the prettiest cars, because a lot of times the most
aerodynamic cars are not the prettiest cars, but it will perform to the crazy situation. A lot of
people will say, well, it's not a V12 or anything. The new technology, the new engine, it doesn't
have to be V12. It's a V6 engine and it's going to produce so much horsepower and performance
that I think it's going to be the car that defines the generation going forward.
I love these. What do you think about that progression from a beautiful design, a V12 with
carbs, a gated shifter to, now we're at Ferrari just sells you a box of computer chips that drives
itself. It doesn't even have to be something you own. It's an NFT. It can be just in the
interwebs. How come you're okay with them getting away from the mechanical intimacy
and embracing just technological supremacy? Yeah. Well, I think Ferrari is, first of all,
the racing is very important to them, being the best and the fastest and the highest performance.
But they don't win. They're not the best. They make the best effort, but they're still short of it.
I'm just saying that's important to them. That's important. Then filtering into the road cars
that they want to make it also high performance. Where do they get the highest performance? It's
the hybrid. Maybe it's even the all electric, which are people like, wow, how can Ferrari be
doing that? Again, that's why they came out with another line, this Icona series, which is the
SB1, SB2, and SB3. They're going to come out with the SB4. I heard it was, the rumors are saying
it's kind of a redo of the F40 with gated shifter. We're bringing back the gated shifters, manual
drive. Thank goodness. Those are not the fastest cars, but it's cars that we're going to enjoy
driving. We don't want the fastest car right now. Tesla is plenty fast, but that's not a car that
I like. I want to have more engagement with the car, which is why I actually like the classic
cars. The 250G2, I like it because there's no computers. It's all you driving. It's all your
technique. It's a heel and toe because there's no synchro in the shifting. All the gauges is
important. You got to watch all the gauges because if it overheats or something is too hot, the car
is going to have a problem. You have to watch all that. When you drive that car on the track or
anywhere, you're the pilot. You have to be the one fully engaged to do that. There's no computer
that's going to make it semi-drivable for you. I like that. I think a lot of people like that too.
Maybe not to the extent that I do, but they still want to be able to control their car and not let
it be fully automatic. For Ari, in today's being a publicly held company, the pressures from the
Wall Street and the stockholders, they want to have more product. They are definitely having
more product to meet more of the various demands of the people. It's people that want electric cars,
people that will hybrid, people that want. But you do see in the auctions, a lot of the cars have
gone up in price. I knew the 458 was always going to go up. The 430, the 360 challenge cars, a lot
of those cars have gone up because they're still not the hybrid or with the computers and everything.
They still have a lot of just a visual feeling to it. Those prices of those cars are going up
because of that reason. I think you're going to continue to see that.
They're trying to obviously reach more of the masses of the various people's blikings.
Do you think they'll come back with? I figured a Roma or a Malfi would be a perfect car to put a
heated shifter back in for the masses. I say that in the air quotes because obviously not everybody
can afford a $200,000 or $300,000 car. But I would like some access, not just the Icona series,
but their daily driver should be for the three pedals. The thing is, as you know,
a lot of young people, they don't even know how to drive stick shift right now, manual transmission.
So I don't know if that represents the mass right now. And believe it or not, a lot of young
people, I mean, I know for my kids, they don't even like to drive. They just call it Uber and
that's like, you know, they just want to go from A to B. What's the fastest? They don't have to worry
about it. They don't even know how to like, like, like, I mean, it depends so much on the GPS, you
know, they tell them how to go somewhere, you know, like they don't know how to do it themselves
without GPS, they don't know how to go anywhere, you know. And so it's a different mentality
of how they are. So I think it's a certain market that likes the manual drive like you and I do,
the stick shift and stuff. And I think that's why, unfortunately, as I heard, they're not going to
they're not going to offer that to Black Porsche that do offer, which is cool. But we're always not
going to offer those in their regular production cars. And they are just they're like doing us a
favor to give it to us in that corner. They're telling us we should be grateful.
Well, David Lee, thank you so much for your time. We are thrilled to have you here. Please come
back and educate us more. We need it. Oh, sure. Anytime, anytime. I love you. I really appreciate
it as well. Thank you so much. That does it for this week's show. Remember to follow and subscribe
to Hot Pursuit on Apple's Spotify and anywhere else you listen. You can also send us your comments by
emailing us at hot pursuit at Bloomberg.net. And you can check out my columns and stories on
Bloomberg.com and the Bloomberg Business app. Go there for car reviews, events and stories that
you won't find anywhere else. Find it all at Bloomberg.com slash pursuits slash autos. I'm
Hannah Elliott, along with Matt Miller. We'll be back in your podcast feed again next week.
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About this episode
A fascinating dive into the world of high-stakes car collecting, featuring a detailed account of a collector's recent acquisition of a Ferrari 250 GTO for $38 million. The discussion highlights the rarity and historical significance of the GTO, including its racing pedigree and unique engineering. The collector shares insights on the buying process, the importance of condition in valuation, and the driving experience of this legendary vehicle. The episode also touches on the nuances of classic car ownership and the emotional connection to these automotive masterpieces.
The $38 Million Dollar man! Car collector David Lee paid 38 million plus for the ultra-rare White Ferrari 250 GTO. He is our guest this week. Plus we continue our conversation about the car of this century. Hannah reveals her winner!
