From Scratch – Ferrari 330 GT
by Beat Imwinkelried
“The restoration of the Ferrari 330 GT was an awe-inspiring journey—every decision was guided by a desire to honor the original and, at the same time, breathe new life into it.
This book is an homage to this standard of quality. We invite you not just to see, but to feel the quality that is true craftsmanship. Every photograph, every detail is a sensory feast, meant to awaken the same passion that inspired us to undertake this restoration.”
(German / English) Those words are from the Prologue by Beat Imwinkelried, owner of B.I. Collection, the official Ferrari dealer and Classiche workshop in Switzerland that owns and restored this car. Their motto is “structurally unreasonable” which seems an odd choice for a dealer and servicer of luxury cars.
Hundreds and hundreds of hours lie between these two stages. Actually it would have taken hundreds of hours just to get to the bare metal stage! For a 2+2 this is a pretty sleek profile. The white exterior/red interior correspond to the original spec.
There is certainly nothing structurally unreasonable about this extravagantly produced, oversize book (10 x 13 3/8″) of whose 192 pages only two contain actual text. In other words, don’t expect enlightenment about this particular model or this particular car (no chassis number provided) or this particular restoration (overseen by Peter Furer).
No joke about there being only two pages of text: here they are. These are the English translations which have been bundled at the back of the book:
Imwinkelried is not kidding when, above, he refers to “a sensory feast” in regards to the images by Swiss photographer Sven Germann who captured the project during the principal phases that also lend the book its five-chapter chronological structure. Each of the chapters is introduced by a short paragraph drawing attention to specific challenges and solutions: Yellow Primer, Coats of Paint, Components, Finish, and Original Handbook. Pretty much self-explanatory except for the last one which consists of a reprint of a complete 45-page 1965 handbook. Of interest from a bookmaking point of view, that reprint is done on a different paper stock so as to emulate the papery feel of an actual old handbook.
No captions. It doesn’t really matter if you recognize everything you’re seeing because the point here is to let designs speak for themselves.
Anyone who has undertaken—or even only bankrolled—a ground-up restoration will quickly recognize the enormous quality of the work B.I. Collection is capable of. Of course it helps to own the shop . . .
Anyone who is not already taken by the design of the 330 GT (which consisted of Series I, interim, and Series II for a total of just over a thousand cars) only has to read the Foreword by industrial designer Alfredo Häberli (b. 1964) to appreciate that a professional really does notice things the casual beholder would not see or know to appreciate. He is not a Ferrari guy so it is interesting to note that he writes, positively and without prejudice, about the quad headlight arrangement, the very feature on the Series I and interim models that the market devalues.
Hard to describe in words: here the dust jacket is pulled up to reveal the embossing of the title on the linen cover. The title is also blind-embossed on the jacket, in the same position, but it was done in a separate step.
This book makes the most of being a printed book as opposed to a digital file. Sure, it’s over the top but that’s what makes it special.
Copyright 2025, Sabu Advani (speedreaders.info)
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