- 1,115
- Rivera
- Tsukishima-TDUDT
In 1962, Tom Meade named his first custom-bodied car, built on a Ferrari 250 GT chassis, Thomassima, which in Italian means “the maximum from Thomas.” It was unfortunately lost in the floods of Florence.
In 1967 he built the Thomassima II, a truly beautiful creation. It was commissioned to be built by the owner in Northern California in 1966. The car was finished by Tom Meade in 1968 and brought over from Italy. Very soon after arriving it was shown at the 1968 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. It was titled in California as a 1967 Ferrari 250 P4, paying homage to its rich Ferrari history as well as the P4 race car inspiration. This elusive piece of automotive history was then considered lost since 1971 as it was not seen in public until 2015.
In 1969 came the Thomassima III, which created a sensation when exhibited at Italy’s automobile manufacturers’ show in Turin, the most important and prestigious event of it’s kind in Europe. It was necessary to move the surrounding exhibits further back, to make room for the dense crowds surrounding Meade’s creation. The resulting worldwide publicity included his life story on 60 Minutes and a talk show appearance with Walter Cronkite and Roger Mudd. Mattel manufactures Thomassima III as one of its Hot Wheels collection. Feature articles followed in Road and Track and Motor Trend magazines.
As a result of the acclaim over Meade’s bold styling and beautiful designs some customers brought their production Ferraris to Meade and asked him to modify them into something unique and even more beautiful. Sometimes Meade fully re-bodied them, and other times he only modified parts of their factory original bodies, such as the 250 GT/L Lusso “Speciale,” offered at Monterey, which he customized with covered headlights.
Specs:
Other pictures of the car:
Related car:
-Thomassima II '68
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