British expat, John Amette, is responsible for all Ferrari Classiche submissions for Ferrari of Newport Beach, Ferrari of San Diego and Ferrari of Washington.
VR: So how did you first get started in cars?
JA: Well, the interest and involvement with cars came from my father and my brothers who were very much into motor racing and cars. Fifty years ago, this July, I left school and started an apprenticeship—mechanics apprenticeship—which I did for four years at two London companies; Ian Walker Racing, which was a Lotus dealer, and then the second half with Chequered Flag Group, which was Lotus and Aston Martin. Because I’d hung around with my brothers, I really wanted to be a racing mechanic, so when I finished the apprenticeship, that’s what I did. I started in Formula 3 and then I was with Charlie Lucas and that ended up with the GT40. I started working with David Piper in 1968 so that was kind of my introduction to Ferrari. I worked with David for just over three seasons until, unfortunately, he had his accident when we were making Steve McQueen’s Le Mans film. Eventually, I went back to London and went back to working on road cars, at a workshop in London that was Ferrari, Aston Martin and we were actually the official GT40 service point. Then I decided—I got a bit frustrated—my brother was living here and so I came to California right at the end of 1973 and I got a job with an authorized service dealer.
Become a Member & Get Ad-Free Access To This Article (& About 6,000+ More)
Access to the full article is limited to paid subscribers only. Our membership removes most ads, lets you enjoy unlimited access to all our premium content, and offers you awesome discounts on partner products. Enjoy our premium content.
