Social media can kill excitement for a new build just as easily as it can create it.
There is so much going on at your fingertips that it gets overwhelming, and there’s almost a daily DM of: ‘Have you seen what X has done to their build? That’s (awesome/awful); it will look (so good/so bad) when it’s done!’
Much of it is the same old stuff, and it can be hard to be excited for many upcoming builds. One that’s managed to escape the usual rigamarole is Rich Colvill‘s Ferrari 328 GTS. Knowing it would be on show at The Drivers Collection‘s recent Cromford Mills event was the final push I needed to attend. Fortunately, it did not disappoint.
Rich has been building notable cars for years, with at least one of almost every Porsche 911 model under his belt – from an early model to a 991. Plus a 968 for good measure.
His last air-cooled Porsche 911 build was a multiple-award winner with custom work everywhere, including a raised floor, custom front chassis and bespoke interior.
“I bought the Ferrari as I’ve always had Porsches and needed to up the game,” Rich recalls. “I love restoring cars so I wanted a project too. This [328] was the perfect brief.”
Looking at it now you wouldn’t realise, but many years of abuse, questionable ownership and abandonment had taken its toll on the Ferrari. One owner decided to try and give the 328 some 288 GTO-esque touches and cut vents into the rear quarters before stripping the car for parts and parking it in a barn.
“I found it after searching for three years. It would have been scrapped if it didn’t have a yellow badge. It was badly crunched on the front and back corners,” Rich says. “The car was originally black, my favourite colour, plus they apparently only made 54 in this spec.”
The exterior is now immaculate, with a mirror finish to the black paint and custom rear arch flares that look like they came on the car from factory.
Rich is a creative director, and a career in design has impacted his approach to builds. The mirrors are of his own design and the angle of the stays is the same as the slant of the front wings towards the ground. “I had the mirrors made in real carbon just because it was faster [to do] than in Kevlar, and they probably look better than yellow mirrors.”
They’re the only carbon fibre touches on the Ferrari, the rest being carbon-Kevlar. The side air intakes are the first hint at the lightweight and strong composite material, and the further inside the car you look, the more yellow weave you’ll see.
The wheels are my favourite feature: genuine magnesium BBS E19s from a Ferrari F40 LM painted in a satin white gold finish. You can still see the natural rough finish of the magnesium, a detail I love. This is one of four sets of wheels Rich has for the car.
Sticking to the car’s Italian heritage, Rich chose to use a Gucci palette to elevate the build and break up the black-on-black colour scheme. The seat belts, door pulls, and fire extinguisher strap are all in the house of Gucci’s signature green and red.
The engine has remained standard, save for the bespoke intake, a refresh and a Larini exhaust system to let the 3.2-litre V8 sing.
“The suspension is air, so I can use the car whilst having it as low as I like, which is never low enough,” says Rich. Behind the engine in the rear boot is the system’s air tank, trimmed in ribbed black leather to match the seats.
Rich’s Ferrari is certainly not the most performance-oriented car I’ve featured, but as a four-wheeled object of desire, it is stunning. It’s rare to see full-on builds from ‘creatives’ these days, and the difference in the thought process behind the final result fascinates me.
“I love the car’s design, but it was hard to see the vision when I got it. I didn’t take many pictures as it was so ugly; now it belongs on a wall,” Rich finished with.
Given his 328 took home the ‘Best in Show’ award at Cromford Mills, I’m inclined to agree.
Mario Christou
Instagram: mcwpn
mariochristou.world