MOBILE Ala.
Darrell Westfaul’s 1950 red Ferrari, purchased 41 years ago
in his student days for $1,500, has been sold for $1 million that will generate
scholarships for University of Alabama
students.
Westfaul said he sold his classic auto to a collector and
put the $1 million into a charitable trust that will fund UA scholarships, with
graduates of his alma mater, Murphy High
School, receiving preference.
“Essentially, what I’m doing is giving students a
scholarship to follow my path,” said Westfaul, a 1963 Murphy graduate.
He drove the Ferrari around the UA campus as a senior and on
trips to and from Mobile on
holidays. The car still bears Westfaul’s student parking decal.
After his senior year, Westfaul started converting the
Ferrari from a racing car to a vehicle better suited to his daily needs. But
before he could finish, Westfaul had to devote his time to other matters and
the car went into storage, where it stayed for some 40 years.
The car is now in need of a “total restoration,”
Westfaul said, which could cost around $300,000.
“It’s a very historic car, and … it needs to be
brought back to perfect condition,” Westfaul told the Press-Register for a
story Thursday. “You can’t do that in your home garage.”
Westfaul, who owns Dixie Novelty Co., a Tuscaloosa-based
novelty vending business, will enjoy some of the proceeds from the trust
throughout his life.
After his death, the trust will begin to fund at least
$60,000 per year in scholarships to the university, according to Phillip B.
Adcock, assistant vice president for development at the university.
“When I’m gone, it’s going to make a lot of students
happy,” Westfaul said. “From my standpoint, hopefully, those
scholarships are going to be a long time in the future.”
Mike McNair, a 1970 Murphy graduate and member of the Murphy
High School Alumni Association’s executive board, said Westfaul’s gift was
“very unusual” and “very generous.”
“You don’t see something like this every day,”
McNair said. “I think this will be fantastic, for both the university and
Murphy.”
Information from: Press-Register, https://www.al.com/mobile/
– Associated Press
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