We never actually write about our members, but Armand Weyer was something very special. He was our oldest member by age and he was my personal regulator. If I made any mistakes during the update, I could always count on Armand to ask if I had replaced the staff - the immediate call was inevitable.
Armand passed away on Friday, January 26th at the age of 87 and I will miss him very much. It was one of the friends you always find in our circles - you know each other by name and by face, you know that the other person is just as crazy and also collects VINs, but in these circles you don't talk about it and if you do, it takes a long time until the ice is broken enough for people to exchange ideas. Our ice was broken, Armand was one of a maximum of a dozen for whom the "VIN exchange" was something completely normal.
He was a pioneer! Imagine if Ferrari had taken up Armand's idea back when he had his 550 #111550 delivered new in Oro Chiaro Metallizzato? Today the "Special Historical Color" is an expensive option from the factory and I remember that he, already over 60 years old at the time, snuck around like us young people and wrote down the VINs of the cars at the Racing Days with paper and pen. Today, in the age of high-performance digital cameras, when I see friends - and they exist! - they still have their little note pads and they always make me smile and in the future I will think fondly of Armand.
Armand has taken part in every edition of the Cavallino Classic at the Breakers organized by Alicia and John Barnes, where he was honoured with a dozen other people during the 25th edition. Not to mention his many appearances at the grandiose Peeble Beach gathering. And it was clear that you would meet him at the events at the Nürburgring or at the Circuit Spa-Francorchamps, both rather close to his Luxembourg home. During the 1998 Grand Prix of Luxembourg Michael Schumacher used Armand's shuttle service during a short trip in Luxembourg City to the helicopter landing pad. As Armand had the tight schedule in mind he drove accordingly fast and Michael Schumacher remarked that Armand should drive a little slower.
He was also an active member and founder of the Fondation Lenoir (Mussy la ville, former G.D. Luxembourg), which rebuilt a functioning replica of the original engine.
Armand had a collection of over 300 books on Ferrari, which he bequeathed to the Lycée Belval library. And… a collection of cars beside the Maranello mentioned above:
31639 400i Automatic Argento 1980-2010
64607 412 GT Rosso Corsa 1986-1998
98456 456 GT Rosso Corsa 1994-1998
111550 550 Maranello Oro Chiaro Metallizzato 1998-2013
154446 599 GTB Fiorano Grigio Ingrid 2007-2013
184301 FF Nero Daytona 2011-2013
The boys in heaven will be happy now, they have someone else to discuss with you. Surely there is the equivalent of “Montana” in heaven on the opposite side of the Via Abtone and I see the Commendatore sitting with all our lost heroes - a comforting thought.