My Ferrari Dino Was Found Buried In A Garden | Ridiculous Rides
Whilst this Italian classic might look like it’s been immaculately cared for since it left the showroom, it actually has an interesting story to tell. This 1974 Ferrari Dino 246 GTS was stolen and buried in the garden of a house in South Central LA. Four years after its burial, it was discovered by some young kids who were playing and digging in their garden. The car was in a terrible state and was returned to the insurance company. Despite its condition, the car’s current owner Brad Howard bought it in the late 1970’s and had it restored to how it looked originally. Brad has no plans on selling his prized car, and said: “For a car that got painted over 40 years ago, it’s still holding up pretty good.”
Transcript
00:00 Unique, sexy, fun.
00:04 What you have here now is the same car that was underground for a good almost four years.
00:13 I had brought it back to what it is today.
00:15 I like to drive it in the hills.
00:25 I like the perkiness of it, the steering capability.
00:28 In the cornering, it's incredible.
00:30 This is a 1974 Dino.
00:33 While this Italian classic may look like it's been immaculately cared for since it left the showroom,
00:39 it in fact has an interesting story to tell.
00:43 I was told the owner of the car had bought the car for his wife for her birthday.
00:51 But just days later, the vehicle was stolen.
00:56 Four years passed, then new homeowners made a surprising discovery.
01:01 It was a big drought in LA for almost four years.
01:04 It started raining and the kids were playing in the backyard.
01:07 It hit the back of the tunnel and they brought in the police and unearthed it.
01:11 Supposedly that's how it was found.
01:13 Brad bought the car in the late 70s and it's been in his care ever since.
01:18 Everything was intact except the front windshield.
01:24 They hit it with a shovel.
01:26 It had a splatter mark on it.
01:28 All the other windows in the car itself, front, back, even the chrome,
01:32 all the settings, all of the trim around the front and the back, all of that's original.
01:38 I have two wheels on there that are original.
01:41 When I got it, I bought the same wheel for the car, which is the Campanola Dino wheels.
01:46 Even in those days, I about passed out when I bought them.
01:49 I think I paid $500 a piece for a wheel.
01:55 The interior was dry and the leather itself was actually still quite nice.
02:01 It actually was in good shape.
02:03 A lot different than what people would assume a car would be, that it would be underground for that long.
02:08 The paint job that was done is the same paint job that I had done in 1978.
02:13 I haven't touched it up since.
02:15 And after four decades together, there's no chance of Brad and his Dino parting ways now.
02:21 I had many people, friends of mine, that always wanted to buy the car, and I said I didn't buy the car to sell it.
02:29 What you have here now is the same car that was underground for a good almost four years.
02:37 I had brought it back to what it is today.
02:40 Kind of preserved underground.
02:45 A car that's been painted almost four years ago, still holding up pretty good.
02:50 [Music]
03:01 [BLANK_AUDIO]