Adventures in Ferrari Land by Edwin K. Niles

    The greatest Ferraris carry stories with them, and part of the value of each unique car lies in its provenance. In a fascinating new book, the story of some of the rarest Ferraris in existence is told through the eyes (and driving gloves) of Edwin K. Niles.

    The avid collector bought and sold Ferraris for most of his life, with some of the rarest and most storied examples among the one hundred or more cars that he owned. Available now from Octane Press, Adventures in Ferrari Land will take you on a riveting ride through Ferrari history, meeting the historians, collectors, and celebrities who have lived and breathed some of Maranello’s finest vintages.

    Adventures in Ferrari Land is available as a two-volume set. Volume 1 encompasses the complete inventory of all the Ferraris owned by Niles, with archival photography, drawings, records, and diverting anecdotes about each one.

    Reliving his encounter with each car, Niles touches upon its history and includes colorful stories like the time he discovered a 1954 250 Europa Coupe in an underground storage garage while on holiday in Italy, buying it immediately after the owner took him on a screaming ride through the narrow streets of Rome.

    Volume 2 collects Niles’ writings about Ferrari, including his vibrant column, “Oldtimer’s Corner”, that ran in the FCA Southwest Region’s Sempre Ferrari magazine. Included are accounts of a ring of Italian car counterfeiters, the Berlinetta in the barn, the ill-fated but fast Dino, and more tales of living and loving the legendary Italian marque.

 

 

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    Ed Niles was a larger-than-life character, not in a P.T. Barnum way, but through his knowledge of Ferraris and his quiet demeaner.

    Few people have had such a great influence upon bringing Ferrari to America.

    It would be easy to name Luigi Chinetti who helped Enzo Ferrari recognize the potential of the American market.

    Or Richard Merritt, who recognized for Ferrari to become collectable a support group would be needed and helped to form the Ferrari Club of America.

    Others like Kirk F. White developed a following to place derelict useless race cars into the hands of collectors who had the capability to save them for the future.

    Ed Niles easily falls into that rare category of importing Ferraris from Europe at a time when a used Ferrari was as wanted as last year’s shoes.

    He bought, sold, fixed, and restored so many of the cars he saved from certain destruction. From his Los Angeles base he would sell cars throughout the car-crazy southern California area.

    It was well known that Niles could not resist purchasing any Ferrari. He often would buy, and sell, the same Ferrari several times.

    This book is filled with stories in his own words of the trials and tribulations of buying, owning, and selling the many cars that went through his hands.

    The articles he wrote for the FCA, FOC, Ferrari Market Letter and others have all been captured in Volume 2.

                    JW

 

Adventures in Ferrari Land 
from Octane Press

Standard two-volume set $125.00 or
Beautiful leatherbound two-volume set 
for $275.00.

www.octanepress.com