He could be the only man alive to have ever stood up Enzo Ferrari. Japanese entrepreneur and Ferrari fan Kazuo Maruyama has lived a charmed and privileged life, but did manage to meet the legendary Italian supercar maker some years later. You could say that this self-confessed Prancing Horse diehard is one of the few car guys in the world to have lived a Ferrari life. Literally.
Legendary classic car owner Kazuo Maruyama shows me his exquisite Ferrari 275 GTB which he had it restored by Maranello. That’s a Daytona behind it. Photo by Peter Lyon.
Born in 1948, the same year Ferrari first opened its doors, Maruyama has lived a life intimately connected with major Maranello developments, celebrating milestones along the way as only a true aficionado could. Now, as Ferrari Japan welcomes its 50th anniversary this year, Japan’s first-ever official Ferrari owner looks back on a life mirrored in the Prancing Horse’s history.
Maruyama has owned a dozen Maranello machines over the years including a Le Mans winning car, met Enzo Ferrari, bought an F40 to celebrate his 40th birthday, convinced Modena headquarters to restore his now impeccable 275 GTB and has his sights set on purchasing the holy grail of classic Ferraris — a 250 GTO — within four years. Given that only 39 were ever made, he even knows exactly which car he’s going to buy.
To celebrate his 40th birthday, Maruyama treated himself to an F40, just after it came out. Photo by Peter Lyon.
I caught up with Maruyama at a secluded warehouse in eastern Tokyo to check out his Ferrari 275 GTB, talk about his remarkable life, and that Enzo Ferrari episode.
“To be honest,” Maruyama says, “my first scheduled meeting with Enzo didn’t happen. It was my fault. When I first visited Italy in 1974, I had managed to set up a meeting with Commendatore [as Enzo was called] to discuss the factory restoring my 275GTB. But as it turned out, I stood him up. Yes! Unfortunately, I missed my first chance to meet Enzo because I had been delayed at the De Tomaso factory and when I got to Ferrari’s HQs around lunchtime, he’d already gone home,” he laments.
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Fast forward nine years. “The day I finally got to meet Enzo, I will never forget. It was at the 1983 Ferrari Days event in Maranello,” he recalls. “It wasn’t easy getting near him as he was surrounded by more minders and security than the country’s president. But the two minutes with Enzo were like a dream. When I was finally introduced to him, he immediately realized who I was,” he says.
Legendary Ferrari founder Enzo Ferrari around the time he finally met Maruyama in 1983. Photo courtesy of Ferrari.
“You’re that persistent guy who had us restore some cars. It would have been good to meet in more relaxed circumstances, not at a busy event like this, so we could chat some more. It’s a shame you didn’t keep that first appointment,” replied Enzo.
His fond memories of that once-in-a-lifetime meeting led to his recollection of how he’d first come across the Ferrari brand. “It was in 1963. I was looking at a car magazine and saw a Ferrari 250LM. Wow! What a culture shock. To see a mid-engined supercar on public roads blew my mind. I thought I must have an LM one day.” And he did.
But before he realized his LM dream, Maruyama bought a 275 GTB that was registered in 1966, making it the first Ferrari to be owned in Japan and making 2016 the 50th anniversary of the Prancing Horse brand in Japan. He sold the first 275 GTB inside of six months before purchasing a 275 GTB/4 in the early 70s. It was then that Maruyama came up with an idea that would lead him on a frustrating but rewarding odyssey back to Italy, and Maranello.
When Maruyama first saw a photo of a Ferrari 250 LM, he promised himself he would buy one. He did when he turned 32. Photo courtesy of Ferrari.
The 275 GTB/4 needed restoration. “But rather than take it to any old classic car repair shop, I thought I’d take it to Ferrari HQs directly. What better place to get the best and most original restoration than at the company who built the car,” he insists.
On his first trip to the Modena factory, staff told him to turn around and go home. Not phased, he just wrote more letters, some directly addressed to Enzo, and kept going back each year. After six trips, dozens of letters and phone calls, and numerous discussions with Ferrari-related companies, Maranello relented and a plan of action was decided. Ferrari decided that celebrated coachbuilder Scaglietti would borrow the 275 GTB’s mold from famed designer Pininfarina, who penned the car, and that would be given to coachbuilder Bizzarrini to restore inside of two years. That made Maruyama happy.Japan's First Ferrari Owner Talks About That Time He Stood Up Enzo Ferrari
