#thomassima

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After meeting Tom Meade of Thomassima fame, I began spending a lot of time with him down at his 'Swiss chalet' in Costa Mesa. We'd talk about his plans--Tom always had plans--and I'd listen to him calling potential Ferrari buyers or sellers all over the world using numbers from an overstuffed precursor to a Fil-o-Fax putting together deals one after the other. One day, we went to visit Dan Gurney who took us through his facility in Anaheim before Tom got down to his pitch. He wanted to buy a Gurney-Weslake V12 Formula 1 engine from Dan to put in his next Thomassima; an altogether reasonable request, I thought. It was interesting to see Dan processing the idea no doubt trying to fathom what it would be like attempting to drive a Formula 1-powered car on the street. In the end, Dan chose to hold on to his iconic engine--he may have said how many of them he had but I don't remember--and we left with Tom having to face the prospect of resorting to yet another Ferrari V12 for his next creation. (Continued in comments) #tommeade #thomassima #dangurney #gurney-weslakev12 #mustang #thebiglebowski #filmmakerslife #ferrari https://www.instagram.com/p/ByxDOSaF2_U/?igshid=3rmgt18lfsdt

I saw a photograph of a Ferrari 288GTO the other day and it made me think of Tom Meade and before I launch into my story about Tom, I feel it incumbent upon me to denounce the habit of naming contemporary Ferraris after glorious models from the past--Tour de France, Lusso, GTO--for it only serves as a reminder that those glory days are well and truly behind us and highlights the fact that none of the sublime aspects of these cars found their way into their modern-day namesakes. Nothing wrong with a 288GTO but it didn't win the GT championship three years in a row--or even once--and I'd have more respect for it had they named it a Barracuda or a Dart or a Metropolitan--at least the buyer of the present-day model would know that his or her purchase was superior to the namesake original. Try finding even a trace of the original Lusso's elegance in any part of the current 'Lusso' and your search will be endless and futile. To say that Tom Meade was his own man is to indulge in understatement of monumental proportion. To write that he knew some interesting people would be damning with faint praise. I nicknamed him 'Ferrari's Rasputin' which more or less captures all of Tom's qualities, in my view. I met Tom in the 70s and where ever he was, he seemed to be traveling out of a suitcase. He gave the impression of living like a homeless person albeit one with a garage full of exotic Ferraris half of which he designed and built himself using donor Ferrari chassis and engines. He kept company with some of the most beautiful women in the world--he once told me that Julianne Moore had been a flatmate of his in Italy when she was modelling under another name--and he and I frequented Milano's Nepenthe immersed in and surrounded by gorgeous models from around the world at catalogue time. As important as this aspect of life might have been, Tom never let it impose on what was really vital--his cars in general and the Thomassima cars specifically. (Continued in comments) #tommeade #thomassima #ferrari #ferrari288gto #ferrariberlinettalusso #ferraritourdefrance #enzoferrari #filmmakerslife https://www.instagram.com/n3actes/p/BwogBUpFzVK/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=16ni5dgf0g6ga

I knew Tom Meade for a period of forty years spending time with him in southern California in the 70s, buying cars from him in Italy and, later, getting him out of the West Los Angeles VA Medical Center for dinners in restaurants a couple of times a week after he suffered a stroke. When I decided to combine these outings with casting sessions I was conducting for my (Interview) version française series, Elysée Wednesday was born and the weekly, Wednesday gatherings continued from 2009 until 2014. Tom created a number of extraordinary designs that he built, usually, on a Ferrari chassis (a notable exception being the Thomassima II on a Cooper chassis with a Ferrari 250 engine). Though best known among them were the Thomassima series, Tom also produced the Nembo designs and lesser known works like a Dino 246 with enlarged fenders looking something like a P4. (Continued in comments) #ferrarilife #tommeade #thomassima #thomassima3 #thomassima3 #filmmakerslife https://www.instagram.com/n3actes/p/Bt-rYV3lIrf/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1oc7h4hozii7a

This photo of Peter Helm and his long-time friend Joey Heatherton was taken at one of my Elysée Wednesday gatherings. These Wednesday evenings began as an excuse to get my friend Tom Meade out of the VA hospital where he was languishing in deplorable surroundings after suffering a stroke. I was casting for the French version of my television series (Interview) so these evenings doubled as a night out and casting sessions which grew into something more when Ferrari pals began showing up from as far away as Japan ( @275gtb08191 ), Germany ( @thefilmportal ) and France. Peter was one of the most enjoyable characters in the Ferrari world and I never had so much fun as I did hanging with him and participating in his amazing antics... #ferrari #ferrariworld #ferrarilife #peterhelm #tommeade #thomassima #filmmaker

At my Elysée Wednesday gathering in Westwood Village before relocating to the Sunset Strip. Tom Meade of Thomassima fame can be seen on the right. #ferrariworld #ferrarilife #tommeade #thomassima #filmmaker

My son Sean, Tom Meade and actor Gérard Ismaël at one of my Elysée Wednesday gatherings. Gérard is looking at a drawing of the proposed steering wheel for Tom's Thomassima 4...#tommeade #thomassima #ferrari #actor