The Blue Ferrari Club
Inside One of Seattle’s Most Unique Clubs
STORY | Chris Seely
Photography | Cole McKnight & Karl Noakes
The Seattle car scene is diverse, but intimate. Every corner of the city has its own niche, its own crowd, its own motif. In the center of the city, you have the weekly cars and coffee events; Porsches fill the square, and a little bit of everything shows up at Lake Washington each Sunday. Move to the west, and lowriders cruise through Alki Beach during the West Seattle sunset. To the North, 944s and 968s fill gas station parking lots and driveways of Fast and Furious-looking houses. At the foot of the mountains, rally cars and drivers bond over getting sideways and throwing gravel at the old mill now known as DirtFish. In Seattle, there is a local hang for every corner of car culture, and everyone is just a friend of a friend away.
On the Eastside, a new crowd has popped up. One that is a niche within a niche, but open-minded and welcoming. A group of three friends that appreciate the finer things in life, and all have one thing in common — they drive classic blue Ferraris.
BRIAN WHITE’S 348
The ringleader of this group and founder of the unofficial Blue Ferrari Club, Brian has owned his blue over red (Superman spec) 1992 Ferrari 348 since 2017, importing it from the UK the second it became legal. His love and search for the 348 started first with a grey over red 400i that he still has today.
He wanted to round out his eclectic collection of cars with a sportier and more tossable Ferrari, and the 348 was the perfect intersection of what he was looking for — manual steering, dog-leg gearbox, mid-engined, targa top, and most importantly, a flat-plane crank V8. “I really wanted another red interior Ferrari. One day, looking on Google image search for red interior 348s, I happened upon this one in the UK. When I saw it, I was like ‘holy crap, it’s blue on red’. I tracked the owner down, and it turned out he wanted to sell it. I imported it in 2017 as soon as the clock hit 25 years.”
Brian’s 348 is his dream car, his prized possession, and the product of his hard work. The car fits him perfectly, and the size, handling, power, and presence are all just right.
ANDY QUIG’S 328
Andy is the owner of the club’s blue over white 328. He owns a lot of cars, Porsches, BMWs, a little bit of the good stuff we all love. The 328 is his cool and sporty driver. Back in 2024, he was shopping for something wedge-shaped and from the ‘80s that he could drive hard.
In his search, Brian (the blue Ferrari ringleader) was pressuring him to buy a Ferrari. Jokingly, they made a deal. If they found a blue over white 308 or 328, Andy would buy it. A few days later, they found the 328. Owned by a Ferrari mechanic in Ottawa, Canada, it had been both treasured and trusted. Mechanically, the Prancing Horse had been taken care of, but there was no paper trail as many great mechanics don’t document their own work. As it sits today, it wears rock chips and scuffs and is on its second motor. Purists and showroom collectors may take a hard pass, but Andy is a true driver, and this 328 is his perfect car to drive hard and put away wet.
“It handles well, but you have to shift it with intention. It’s not as fun to drive it lightly; you have to drive it hard.” Andy says. “It loves an Italian tune-up. When I first got it, it was leaking coolant and oil, but when you drive it regularly, the leaks and weird noises just go away.” Andy’s 328 is seen frequently in the Seattle area; sometimes at shows, but mostly on the backroads being driven with force.
BRIAN MCLEAN’S 400I
The most unique and best-traveled of this group of blue-hued Ferraris is Brian M. and his 1981 400i. Compared to the 328 and 348, the 400i is a quirky grand tourer; think of it as a mid-‘80s version of the original Ferrari Daytona. Like the Daytona, power comes from a Ferrari V12 up front, but for redundancy, the engine has two of everything. Two oil filters, water pumps, alternators, fuel injection systems, etc. In typical front-engined, V12 Ferrari fashion, the 400i was made to eat as many miles as possible in comfort and style, and that’s precisely how Brian uses his.
After being persuaded by Brian White to buy a 400i, Brian M. and his wife flew to Italy and bought this beautiful blue example sight unseen. They spent the next eight days living the car enthusiast’s dream. They drove their new V12 grand tourer 1,000 miles over the Italian Alps and through small mountain towns before shipping it back to the U.S. Once Stateside, Brian M. continued to drive the 400i regularly. It has made the trip down to car week in Monterey and is a regular sight at Avants events. The car is complex, picky, and can be expensive to fix, but as a member of the Blue Ferrari Club, Brian drives it every chance he gets.
“None of the cars that I own are garage queens,” Brian told me as I admired his car. “When I bought it, there were only 50,000 km on the clock, and I told them, ‘I’m going to put a lot of miles on this thing.’ The sellers told me that they were very happy to sell it to someone who wants to drive it. When we arrived, they had champagne flutes and pulled the cover off the car in front of us. It was a really cool moment.”
Every car scene has its tribes — from JDM purists and French hot-hatch fans to lovers of American muscle and Italian exotics. In Seattle, Brian, Andy, and Brian represent one of the most distinctive groups around, united by passion, purpose, and friendship. Their blue Ferraris may turn heads, but it’s their genuine enthusiasm and kindness that truly stand out. Here’s hoping we all find our own dream cars — and our own crew to share the road with.
