Car nut leaves £500,000 Ferrari 330GT to Prince William’s air ambulance service which saved driver pal’s life
Car dealer Richard Allen's donation will fund new hangar for brave East Anglian medics
A MOTOR racing enthusiast has left a £500,000 Ferrari to Prince William's air ambulance service in his will - to thank them for saving a pal’s life in a crash.
Richard Allen, who died aged 78 last November, donated his stunning 1964 Ferrari 330GT car to the East Anglian Air Ambulance so the charity can build a new hangar for their helicopter.
The kindly act will mean the life-saving service will be able to carry out more flights in the future.
Richard, a former chairman of the Ferrari Owners' Club, bought the 1964 Ferrari Nembo Spyder 330GT from Italy in the mid-1990s.
He was so attached to it that he decided not to drive the supercar on the road and instead chose to display it regularly at Ferrari events in the UK.
The blue Ferrari, which has a 4 litre V12 engine, is now to be sold by the air ambulance service at auctioneers H&H Classics at the Imperial War Museum at Duxford, Cambs.
Patrick Peal, chief executive of the East Anglian Air Ambulance, said: "We feel deeply honoured to have been the recipient of Richard Allen's thoughtfulness and generosity – his legacy will be to help us save many more lives."
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Richard, from Suffolk, who had a fear of flying bought his first Ferrari in the late 1970s and over the years built up a stable of Ferraris' he used on both the road and the track.
Chris Butler, a fellow board member of the Ferrari Owners' Club and a close friend of Mr Allen, said: "The Ferrari Nembo was his last remaining Ferrari and of course his most prized, not least as he had always marked that special car to be sold for charity.
"The idea of supporting the East Anglian Air Ambulance was that it was very local to him in Suffolk.
"Occasionally the EAAA would have to come out to take a stricken driver to hospital as quickly as possible. They provide a valuable service to anyone who does race."
Richard grew up in Essex and became chairman and owner of the family car dealership chain, Allen's Ford.
As well as his passion for hill climbing, he was also a regular competitor in the Ferrari Owners' Club racing series with his Ferrari 328.
Before his death he chose to sell his Ferrari through H&H Classics after the auction house held a similar sale last year in which two Ferraris sold for a combined £8.5 million to benefit the RNLI.
Dominic Lyncker, managing director of H&H Classics, said: "We are honoured to be tasked with this sale which will bring help from the skies."
The auction takes place on March 29 at the Imperial War Museum, Duxford.
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