Tom Meade | |
|---|---|
| Born | Thomas Gabriel Meade (1939-01-19)19 January 1939 |
| Died | 1 August 2013(2013-08-01) (aged 74) |
| Occupation | Automobile designer |
| Years active | 1961–early 1970s |
| Notable work | Thomassima Ferraris |
| Children | 1 |
Thomas Gabriel Meade (19 January 1939 – 1 August 2013) was an Americanautomobile designer and dealer best known for hisThomassima series ofcustom cars based onFerrari engines and chassis. He was based inModena, Italy from the early 1960s through the early 1970s, where he met and collaborated with many Modenesecarrozzerie, manufacturers and mechanics.
Tom Meade was born inHollywood on 19 January 1939, to asingle mother. He spent his youth with her inAustralia andHonolulu, Hawaii. When he reached the high school age, they moved inNewport Beach, California. He graduated at 17 and enrolled in theU.S. Navy where he was trained as anavionic engineer, until his leave in 1960.[1]
One day, during his walk home from work inCosta Mesa, he spotted through the open door of a garage the back of a 1957Ferrari 500 TRC, calling it the most beautiful car he had ever seen. The owner initially tried to sell the car to Meade for a disproportionate amount with no avail; then he revealed to have bought the car inRome, Italy, where there was a warehouse full of oldracecars for sale at a low price.[1][2][3]: 89
Fascinated, Meade decided on impulse that he would put his hands on one of those cars at any cost. In the autumn of 1960, he left home with only $50 and hitchhiked toNew Orleans where he signed on to a freighter heading forStavanger, Norway, assteward's assistant. Once he arrived, he crossed Europe and made his way to Italy.[1][2][3]: 89
Once in Rome, Meade found a job as anextra inDino De Laurentiis’ 1961 filmThe Best of Enemies: he played a background English officer at night, and fruitlessly searched for the fabled warehouse during the day. In the end, he realized that the warehouse was only a myth and thus left Rome forModena, where the headquarters of Ferrari andMaserati were located.[1]
Meade had no contacts in Modena and no money for lodging, sleeping outdoors when he first arrived. Shortly after his arrival, he visited the Maserati factory during the evening, after operations closed for the day. By chance, engineerAurelio Bertocchi, the son of Maserati race directorGuerino Bertocchi, was working late and gave Meade a factory tour, thinking Meade was a potential customer for a newMaserati 3500 GT. During the tour, Meade spotted a retired racing car in storage at the factory, aMaserati 350S, chassis 3503. Meade made a deal with Bertocchi to purchase the car for $420. It was missing an engine and needed body repairs. Through Bertocchi, Meade made contact with the shops ofNeri and Bonacini andMedardo Fantuzzi, in order to find repair facilities. Meade metLloyd "Lucky" Casner of theCamoradi racing team while visiting the Maserati factory, and was subsequently able to purchase aChevy V8 engine from him. This engine originated from anArkus-Duntov engineered racingCorvette that was wrecked by Camoradi team mechanicBob Wallace. Meade and his collaborators rebuilt the 350S with the Chevy engine and customized the body with a removable hard top. Meade shipped the car toSan Francisco in 1962, where it was subsequently crashed by an associate and sold for $2700.[1][4][5][2]
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This first project allowed Meade to establish a network of contacts in Modena that would allow his future projects of rebuilding, customizing and dealing cars. In addition to Bertocchi, Neri, Bonacini and Fantuzzi, Meade's contacts includedPiero Drogo,David Piper,Alejandro de Tomaso,Count Giovanni Volpi,Road & Track journalist Peter Coltrin andCarroll Shelby. Meade took up residence in the Carrozzeria Fantuzzi workshop and took instruction in hand-forming and repairing bodywork from Medardo Fantuzzi. He briefly left Italy in 1962, returning in 1963 whereupon he began renting an apartment and garage adjacent to theAerautodromo di Modena. Soon after, Meade began buying and selling a higher volume of cars, including many which were exported to the United States. These included another Maserati 350S, aMaserati Tipo 63,Ferrari 250 GTOs, a330 P3, a250 LM, a250 GT SWB,250 GT Lussos and others. Meade's customers included Richard Merritt (founder of theFerrari Club of America) and Los Angeles–based Ferrari importer Edwin K. Niles. During this period from 1963 to approximately 1970, Meade constructed hisThomassima series and several other projects based on various chassis and engines. At one point during this time, Meade shared a storage space with David Piper's racing team. By 1970, Meade established a business in Modena under the name "Tom Meade's Used Sports Car Center of Italy," where in addition to buying, selling, rebuilding and customizing used cars, he sold and manufactured spare parts and accessories with an emphasis on selling to overseas customers.[4][1][5][2][7]
During the early 1970s, multiple circumstances coincided to end Meade's business in Modena. Due to the1973 oil crisis demand for sports cars was lower, while increasing safety regulations, speed limits and changing public opinion further limited the market for Meade's cars. Meade also claimed that his Modenese collaborators were discouraged from working with him, as established interests in the region believed he was getting too much publicity. Meade left Modena and briefly opened a restoration shop inMilan, where he became friends with former Ferrari engineerCarlo Chiti.[7][3]: 92–4
Meade left Italy at some point during the 1970s, storing the cars and parts he had accumulated for his business in a warehouse nearLake Como.[1][5]
After leaving Italy, Meade spent approximately two decades traveling in Asia. In 1993, Meade returned to Los Angeles in order to take care of his mother. He began planning the construction of aThomassima IV (sometimes styledThomassima IIII), which was to have acarbon fiber body and aFerrari 333 SP engine.[1][4]
Meade died in August 2013.[7] His estate is maintained by his adopted son, who works in the luxury goods industry.[7][5]
Once he gathered enough parts and experience, Meade began to conceive cars based entirely on his own design. He christened this car series "Thomassima", a contraction of his first name andmassima, the Italian feminine form of the English "maximum", meaning that these were his ultimate works.[7][5]
The first full-body, Meade-made car was based on aFerrari 250 GT and finished in 1964.[2] Meade made the car more aggressive with a longer and lower snout, gill-like vents behind all wheels, and a roof consisting in a straight line sloping from the windshield to the car tail. This car was destroyed in the1966 flood of the Arno inFlorence where it was being exhibited.[2][8][3]: 91 Nevertheless, it was influential on later Meade cars, with a source retroactively – and unofficially – calling it theThomassima Zero.[3][7]: 91 [a]
TheThomassima I was made under the request of an unknown Swiss baron who sought a replacement for hisCorvette in order to remain competitive against theShelby Cobras.[3]: 91 Meade based this "anti-Cobra" on a Ferrari 250 GT chassis fitted with a powerful Chevrolet V8 engine in its front,[2][1] and covered with a heavily altered bodywork which includedgullwings that could have been removed and put into the car trunk, an idea which Meade considered unprecedented at the time.[1][3]: 91
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TheThomassima II[b] was requested in late 1966 by Harry Windsor fromLos Gatos, California. Windsor wanted amid-engine car resembling the Ferrari 330 P3 orP4.[2][3]: 91 Meade then proceeded to create his idea of how the P3/P4 should have looked like, but it proved very challenging.[3]
He had to radically modify the frame of aCooper T43Formula One car, and fitting it with a Ferrari 250 GTColombo V12 engine coupled to a 4-speedZFgearbox.[2][4][3]: 91 [1] For the bodywork, Meade was greatly helped byPiero Drogo ofCarrozzeria Sports Cars. The final result was ready in the 1967, and was a little longer and more muscular car than a P4, weighing less than 2,000 pounds (910 kg) and sporting 240 horsepower (180 kW), with adetachable hardtop.[3]: 91 [1]
The Thomassima II was shipped to California, where Windsor rebranded it as a "Ferrari 250 P/4 Roadster" and exhibited it at the 1968Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance where it won a class award.[1][3]: 91 Despite the fact that it was improperly called a Ferrari, the Thomassima II made Meade a well known figure in his field.[1] In 1971 the car made a cameo appearance inGeorge Lucas’ directorial debut filmTHX 1138.[9] In later times the car was crashed, then purchased in the early 1980s by Larry Hatfield and later restored. It starred at the 2015Concorso Italiano at Monterey.[1][3]: 91 As of December 2016, the car is still in Hatfield's possession.[10]
TheThomassima III was not built before 1968, and its completion required over a year of work.[3]: 91 [2] The donor car was a 1958Ferrari 250 GT Pininfarina Coupé (chassis number 1065GT) powered by a3L V12 engine. The gearbox was replaced with a 5-speed ZF and the brakes were upgraded.[2][4][3]: 91 The bodywork was altered dramatically, even further than the earlier "Thomassima Zero", resulting in an extremely low, muscular, front-engined coupe featuring gullwings, twisted exhausts on both sides andcenterlock wheels. Interiors were lavish, with a cast-steel steering wheel. Meade claimed to have put a particular emphasis into the finish.[2][3]: 91–2 [1] The car was brandedTom Meade Modena Italy with a standing goat as its logo.[3]: 92
The Thomassima III was the car that brought Meade the most fame, and he often used it for promoting himself. He considered it his masterpiece and decided not to sell it to anyone.[2][1] In December 1970 it was featured onRoad & Track, appeared on Italian TV,60 Minutes[11] and onWalter Cronkite's talk show, won awards in car shows in Italy and the U.S., and became aHot Wheels scale model.[2][4][3]: 92 Prior to Meade's departure from Italy, the Thomassima III was placed in long-term storage in a facility near Lake Como, Italy.[1] It was exhibited at theMuseo Ferrari in Maranello during 2014, as part of the "California Dreaming" exhibition.[5][12] As of March 2020, the Thomassima III is owned by Meade's son and still kept in Italy.[7][3]: 94
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In addition to theThomassima cars, Meade constructed multiple other custom cars with the help of his Italian collaborators. These included theNembo series of Ferrari 250 GT–based road cars, built in collaboration with Neri and Bonacini. Three Nembo spiders and one Nembo coupé were built.[13][14][15]
Meade modified seven or eightFerrari 250 GT Lussos with330 LMB-style front bodywork, including triple "nostril"-style air intakes and/or aerodynamic covered headlights. These cars were mostly purchased in wrecked or non-working condition from theEmilia-Romagna region near Modena, rebuilt and modified, and then resold.[1][16][17][18][19]
