I was reading a very interesting thread at FerrariChat.com forum about late Sandra Ilene West and her wish to be buried in her favorite Ferrari and since there was much of debate which Ferrari she was buried in I decided to do some research. The most sources I found claim it was 1964 Ferrari 250GT, but quite a few claim it was Ferrari 330 America. One thing is sure, the color of the car was the powder blue.
And when I thought that the story was over something extraordinary happened, a member of the FerrariChat.com forum sjg posted this message:
"If you really want to know... Sandra West was my aunt and she was buried in her 1964 250GT
This story has more twists and turns than you can imagine but I will let you know about the one that relates to Ferraris. Sandy’s favorite Ferrari was a 1972 Ferrari Daytona 365 GTS/4 Spyder. She and I used to cruise down Sunset Blvd in this car. She was a VERY attractive woman and you can only imagine how heads turned. Anyway, the Daytona was her favorite Ferrari (everyone in the family knew that) and she wanted to be buried in this car.
Sandy had crashed the 250 about a week before she died and Sol figured that he would just put her in the wrong car! Yup, the Daytona was too valuable so he substituted the crashed 250 to save a buck. This from an oil heir already worth over 50 million (and this is in 1977!)
Takes all kinds..."
And after he was asked for more details:
"Hmmm, how could I prove my story is true? The only things I have left from Sandy are the gold Rolex that she gave me after her husband died and the pamphlet from Christies dated 6/13/79 that previews her jewelry sold at auction after her death. I have attached a picture from the brochure.
By the way, her jewelry sold for over $885,000 in 1979! It included a world record per carat (at the time) for her 4.97 pink diamond that went for $305,000 alone.
Art, Sandy had 3 Ferraris at the time of her death and I was fairly sure it was the 250 but I could be wrong. Bottom line was that she was not buried "in my favorite Ferrari" as requested."
Is he telling us the truth? I don't know why, but I believe he does.
The informations I have so far tell me that Sandra Ilene West, a Texas millionaire oil heiress, was buried, as she requested, "in my lace nightgown", sitting upright behind the wheel of her 1964 powder blue Ferrari 330 America s/n 5055 at the Alamo Masonic Lodge Cemetery in San Antonio, Texas in 1977.
Rest in peace Mrs West.
And when I thought that the story was over something extraordinary happened, a member of the FerrariChat.com forum sjg posted this message:
"If you really want to know... Sandra West was my aunt and she was buried in her 1964 250GT
This story has more twists and turns than you can imagine but I will let you know about the one that relates to Ferraris. Sandy’s favorite Ferrari was a 1972 Ferrari Daytona 365 GTS/4 Spyder. She and I used to cruise down Sunset Blvd in this car. She was a VERY attractive woman and you can only imagine how heads turned. Anyway, the Daytona was her favorite Ferrari (everyone in the family knew that) and she wanted to be buried in this car.
Sandy had crashed the 250 about a week before she died and Sol figured that he would just put her in the wrong car! Yup, the Daytona was too valuable so he substituted the crashed 250 to save a buck. This from an oil heir already worth over 50 million (and this is in 1977!)
Takes all kinds..."
And after he was asked for more details:
"Hmmm, how could I prove my story is true? The only things I have left from Sandy are the gold Rolex that she gave me after her husband died and the pamphlet from Christies dated 6/13/79 that previews her jewelry sold at auction after her death. I have attached a picture from the brochure.
By the way, her jewelry sold for over $885,000 in 1979! It included a world record per carat (at the time) for her 4.97 pink diamond that went for $305,000 alone.
Art, Sandy had 3 Ferraris at the time of her death and I was fairly sure it was the 250 but I could be wrong. Bottom line was that she was not buried "in my favorite Ferrari" as requested."
Is he telling us the truth? I don't know why, but I believe he does.
The informations I have so far tell me that Sandra Ilene West, a Texas millionaire oil heiress, was buried, as she requested, "in my lace nightgown", sitting upright behind the wheel of her 1964 powder blue Ferrari 330 America s/n 5055 at the Alamo Masonic Lodge Cemetery in San Antonio, Texas in 1977.
Rest in peace Mrs West.
