Originally Posted by Marin Independent Journal

Motor sports in Marin: Love still flogging his Ferrari after 45 years

14 August 2009

MOST 1958 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossas live a sheltered life, driven a few dozen miles each year with one eventual destination in mind: the auction block. There they can fetch six and even seven-figure prices.

But that never seemed to be the destiny of chassis No. 0754, owned and driven since 1964 by San Rafael's David Love. After it was taken down from the tree which a previous owner launched it into at Laguna Seca in 1960, its appeal for collectors seemed to be forever compromised.

The only thing to do was race it. Love has flogged that Ferrari throughout most of the last 45 years, competing in over 250 races, a feat few Ferraris on earth can match. This Saturday the 73-year-old Love will again take the green flag at the Monterey Historic Automobile Races at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

And if he finds victory lane he'll be no stranger to the locale; he won his class in the very first Monterey Historics in '74.

He has always been a formidable competitor. That comes not only from all the seat-of-the-pants understanding of what the car tends to do on the track, but also from what the car's mechanical weaknesses are. Since he's done most of the repairs and maintenance over the years, he has learned how to best eliminate mechanical surprises.

"It's more of a time machine than a racing car," Love said from his San Rafael home. "When you're in one of these things it's doing what it did when it was new with all the flaws as well."

The primary challenge for the car is not so much a flaw as technology frozen in time. His model of Testa Rossa is the last to rely on drum brakes. Disc brakes were introduced the following year.

The sound of the 3.0-liter V-12 when it roars to life can take your breath away. Enzo Ferrari called it "the song of the 12." Fed by six Weber carburetors, the Ferrari generates 290 horsepower pushing less than 1,900 pounds unladen.

Long before he knew that there would be a market for thoroughly used race cars, Love had the foresight to save the original block which was unusable through wear and improper machining in rebuilds from previous owners. He had to wait nearly 20 years for welding and metal curing technology to progress to the point where the original block could be returned to factory spec and durability. Now the car is once again in "matching numbers" condition which is a big part of what has restored its appeal to collectors.

While the car has stayed the same, the driver hasn't. Around 23 years ago Love was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. While life off the track can sometimes be compromised, it doesn't carry over to his racing.

"That's the curious thing about it. I've talked to (former racer, writer and TV commentator) Sam Posey about it and he has Parkinson's and we've both come to the same conclusion: when you get in a racing car that's where you feel the most normal.

"Adrenaline is a brain chemical like dopamine, which the lack of is Parkinson's disease," Love said. "It seems to me that the adrenaline that this particular activity generates seems to compensate somewhat for the lack of dopamine. I've noticed over the years that after I've finished a (race) weekend and I go back into the real world everything works better."

His neurologist of 23 years agrees, even to the point of validating his racing appetite. Love couldn't ask for more.

"Who else gets to race under doctor's orders?"