Tom Meade
Tom Meade | |
---|---|
Born | Thomas Meade January 19, 1939 |
Died | August 1, 2013 | (aged 74)
Nationality | American |
Occupation | Automobile designer |
Years active | 1961–early 1970s |
Notable work | Thomassima Ferraris |
Children | 1 |
Thomas Meade (19 January 1939 – 1 August 2013) was an American
Biography
Early life
Tom Meade was born in
One day, during his walk home from work in
: 89Fascinated, 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 to New Orleans where he signed on to a freighter heading for Stavanger, Norway, as steward's assistant. Once he arrived, he crossed Europe and made his way to Italy.[1][2][3]: 89
Life in Italy
Once in Rome, Meade found a job as an extra in Dino De Laurentiis’ 1961 film The 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 for Modena, where the headquarters of Ferrari and Maserati 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, engineer
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 included
During the early 1970s, multiple circumstances coincided to end Meade's business in Modena. Due to the 1973 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 in Milan, where he became friends with former Ferrari engineer Carlo 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 near Lake Como.[1][5]
Later life
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 a Thomassima IV (sometimes styled Thomassima IIII), which was to have a
Meade died in August 2013.[7] His estate is maintained by his adopted son, who works in the luxury goods industry.[7][5]
Works
Thomassima series
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 and massima, 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 a
The Thomassima I was made under the request of an unknown Swiss baron who sought a replacement for his
The Thomassima II
He had to radically modify the frame of a
The Thomassima II was shipped to California, where Windsor rebranded it as a "Ferrari 250 P/4 Roadster" and exhibited it at the 1968 Pebble 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 in George Lucas’ directorial debut film THX 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 2015 Concorso Italiano at Monterey.[1][3]: 91 As of December 2016, the car is still in Hatfield's possession.[10]
The Thomassima III was not built before 1968, and its completion required over a year of work.[3]: 91 [2] The donor car was a 1958 Ferrari 250 GT Pininfarina Coupé (chassis number 1065GT) powered by a 3L 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 and centerlock 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 branded Tom 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 on Road & Track, appeared on Italian TV, 60 Minutes[11] and on Walter Cronkite's talk show, won awards in car shows in Italy and the U.S., and became a Hot 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 the Museo 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
Other projects
In addition to the Thomassima cars, Meade constructed multiple other custom cars with the help of his Italian collaborators. These included the Nembo series of Ferrari 250 GT–based road cars, built in collaboration with Neri and Bonacini. Three Nembo spiders and one Nembo coupe were built.[13][14][15]
Meade modified seven or eight
Notes
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Crane, Larry. "Meade of Modena. An American Dreamer In the Land of Artful Science". thomassima.com. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Coltrin, Pete (7 November 2014) [December 1970]. "Tom Meade's wild Ferrari Thomassima was the P4/5 of its day". Road & Track. New York: Hearst Magazines.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Sonnery, Marc (March 2020). "Maximum Dose". Octane. Wollaston, Northamptonshire: Dennis Publishing. pp. 86–97.
- ^ a b c d e f g Wyss, Wallace (1 May 2016). "Tom Meade: An Americano In Italia – Doing What All Of Us Wished We Could Do…". mycarquest.com. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f Barlow, Jason (15 August 2014). "ITALIAN HEART, AMERICAN BLOOD". The Official Ferrari Magazine. Archived from the original on 31 August 2014. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
- ^ "250 GT LWB California Spyder". www.barchetta.cc. Retrieved 2020-04-25.
- ^ a b c d e f g Sonnery, Marc (31 January 2020). "1969 Thomassima III". Drive. Retrieved 2020-04-19.
- ^ "Meade'n Voyage". The Auto Channel. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
- ^ Breeze, Joe (5 January 2015). "The police drove Lola T70s in George Lucas's directorial debut". Classic Driver.
- ^ Stone, Matt (8 December 2016). "Mimicking Maranello". Forza. No. 155.
- ^ Burdett, Winston (1970). "Tom Meade". 60 Minutes. CBS. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
- ^ Sharp, Jonathan (25 November 2014). "California Dreaming at the Ferrari Museum". www.velocetoday.com. Retrieved 2020-04-20.
- ^ "1960 FERRARI 250 GT 'NEMBO SPYDER'". www.christies.com. Retrieved 2018-09-10.
- ^ Sonnery, Marc (1998-04-25). "The Nembo Ferraris - Part I". Ferrari Market Letter. 23 (9): 1–5.
- ^ Thompson, Jonathan (November 1966). "Neri and Bonacini". Road & Track. 18 (3): 42–44.
- ^ Crane, Larry (2017-12-17). "Meade of Modena: Cars as sculptures of personal expression". ClassicCars.com Journal. Retrieved 2020-04-19.
- ^ "1963 Ferrari 250GT Lusso Speciale by Fantuzzi". www.fantasyjunction.com. Retrieved 2020-04-19.
- ^ "250 GT Lusso s/n 4587GT". www.barchetta.cc. Retrieved 2020-04-19.
- ^ "250 GT Lusso s/n 4383GT". www.barchetta.cc. Retrieved 2020-04-19.