The Ferrari 328 is widely regarded as a classic, with many fans keen to point out that it’s not just one of the best looking, but one of the most reliable too. So, what happens when you play around with a classic? Well, it’s sure to divide opinions. Casil Motors, an Italian American company, seem to be undeterred about the potential backlash when it comes to their bespoke tailoring service for the legendary car.

The Ferrari 328

Whether you’re a Ferrari fan or were just around in the 1980s, there’s a good chance you know all about the Ferrari 328. The car went into production in 1985 as a successor to the 308 GTS and GTB. While it was very similar, mechanically, to its predecessor, it did come with an impressive 3.2L engine and quite a boost of power. Back in the late 1980s, you could get your hands on a 328 for anywhere between $58.400 and $62,500. In today’s money, that would be around $130-140,000! The distinct look of this vehicle is synonymous with the 1980s and was on many posters around the world, even after the car stopped production in 1989. So, you wouldn’t want to play around with that classic look, right?

Enter Casil Motors

It seems as though Casil Motors are keen to cause some controversy with their new bespoke tailoring service for the Ferrari 328, and it’s certainly ruffled some feathers. The BB3X8 Fuorilegge Development Program, as it has been named, was developed alongside Mitchell Button who actually spent three years building the first car. He admits that he’s “no purist,” which probably comes as no surprise when you see the gray BB3X8 riding on its air suspension and all of the modern additions… Let’s point out the Carbon-Kevlar widebody panels as just one example.

Keeping It Analogue

While Button admits that he is keen to modernize some aspects of the Ferrari, he also says he’s an “avid historian” and so there are no electronic aids in the vehicle. Purists can breathe a sigh of relief. Since Casil Motors and Button went public with the design, it’s definitely caused a stir. However, there are 29 more to come according to the company…

Is this sacrilege on a classic or something a little bit different? It’s certainly divided opinions for most.

It is amazing what can be found in time capsules. These ingenious boxes of history unlock secrets about the past. Now, an expert has found a capsule that sheds a new, exciting light on American history.

During the early stages of construction of the Massachusetts State House, the time capsule was inserted inside the building’s cornerstone. Three years later, and the iconic National Historic Landmark was finally completed and is still standing up until this very day in the Beacon Hill/Downtown area of Boston, the state capital. Of course, the building is difficult to miss due to its golden dome. However, its hidden time capsule has added a new dimension to the building’s rich history…

The capsule had been forgotten for so long. Then, on December 11, 2014, similar to the last time it was discovered, a group of plumbers inadvertently found it buried inside. The first person who the workers informed about their discovery was Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts Head of Objects Conservation, Pam Hatchfield. “We received a call from the state house about a time capsule found in the cornerstone of the building,” Hatchfield said. “There were a lot of historical reports about the time capsule.”

The team of experts and riggers assumed that it wouldn’t take too long to remove the time capsule from the cornerstone. However, the operation ended up taking seven long hours. “We didn’t really know what we were getting into until that day,” Hatchfield said. “We had riggers working with us to make sure the stone could be safely suspended so that I could get underneath.” This begs the question: did Hatchfield and the team get what they came for?

Despite underestimating how tough this delicate operation would be, Hatchfield maintained her grit and determination. After chiseling away for so long, she finally broke through to the time capsule, which comfortably fell into her hands. Immediately, she was surprised by a couple of old coins that were sitting on top of the box. It is believed that this may have been Winslow Harley’s way of wishing the capsule good luck before inserting it back in the cornerstone.

With an instrument usually used by dentists and a porcupine quill at hand, Hatchfield was ready to open the box and inspect its contents. The opening was a major event and everyone in attendance took it so seriously that the room was absolutely silent. “I think the most exciting thing about this process really was the big reveal that evening to finally have an opportunity to look inside that box and see what was there and be able to show it to others,” Hatchfield said.

When the box was opened, the people surrounding it gasped. Although it was a random assortment of items, each object was instantly recognizable. These include five newspapers that had been published in the mid-19th century. The experts chose not to unfold papers such as the Boston Bee and Boston Daily Traveler, out of fear of damaging the pages. However, this was just scratching the surface of the many wonders that had rested inside this time capsule for so long…

Another expert who was involved with the opening of the time capsule was executive director of the Massachusetts Archives, Michael Comeau. What stood out to him were the coins inside the box. “They deposited a number of items in the initial insertion in 1795. They included some coinage of the time,” he said. Not only were there a variety of coin denominations, but they were varying in condition. However, there was something absolutely fascinating about one of the coins…

Out of the 24 coins, one of them had an extra level of historical importance. “There were a couple of things that were found that I found so exciting,” Libby O’Connell said, who is HISTORY’s Chief Historian. “One was the pine tree shilling from 1652 and the 17th century Massachusetts Bay colony produced their own currency which was illegal from the point of the King of England…So, having these coins was a way of saying ‘we have been an independent people for a long, long time.'”

It wasn’t just the coins that painted a picture of the era this time capsule had come from. Other remarkable items included a copper medal with George Washington’s face on it and a paper seal of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, which was the official emblem of the state during the time. There was even a handful of colonial records dating as far back as the 17th century! However, there was something else inside the capsule that took this investigation to another level…

Without a doubt, the most important item inside the time capsule was a mysterious silver plate, which carried an important message on it. “They had put in a silver plate which basically said the purpose of the mission they had,” Michael Comeau said. Essentially, this silver plate told the experts why the time capsule had been stored in the first place. But what exactly did it say on the plate that got Hatchfield and her team so excited?

What surprised the experts so much about this silver plate were the names that they found on it. These were the people who created the time capsule. Hatchfield read the plate’s message: “This cornerstone of a building intended for the use of the legislative and executive branches of government of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts was laid by his Excellency Samuel Adams Esquire, governor of said commonwealth, assisted by the most worshipful Paul Revere, grand master, and the right worshipful William Sculley, deputy grand master.”

Hatchfield knew well enough that Sam Adams and Paul Revere were two of the most important names during the formation of the United States. The former had a huge hand to play in the Declaration of Independence. “This is the stuff that leads us to Sam Adams, to Paul Revere,” Michael Comeau said. “[It helps us to] better understand not only what happened before us but also helps to better understand ourselves, because it’s this power of memory, of shared memory and heritage.”

Time capsules have been regularly created since the 19th century. However, this one actually predates the period and is potentially the oldest one ever to be found. What makes this time capsule even more special is that it was put together by some of the most important figures during the formation of the United States.

Along with Sam Adams, Paul Revere was also an incredibly important figure in American history. Having served as a militia officer during the American Revolution, Revere was a silversmith by trade and it is highly likely that it was him who engraved the silver plate. Revere is arguably best remembered for his “midnight ride,” which saw him ride through the night to warn rebel forces about British soldiers who had come to arrest Adams. Because of him, the rebels successfully fought them off.

According to Libby O’Connell, many of the Freemasons’ values heavily influenced the American values of the present. “What’s important about the Freemasons is that they believe in very radical, revolutionary concepts of equality and liberty,” she said, “Today, those are things that we take for granted but 400 years ago, these guys were on the cutting edge of what became an ideology of the republic.” Adams and Revere’s masonic beliefs were synonymous with what it meant to be American.

The third important party in the formation of the time capsule was a lesser known person by the name of William Scollay. Originally a real estate developer, Scollay had important ties with the mason lodge of Massachusetts, just like Revere and Adams. However, when the American Revolution came around, he became a militia officer and even had a square named after him. As a result, the time capsule is one of the only remnants of William Scollay’s legacy.

While the time capsule’s third creator wasn’t as famous as Sam Adams and Paul Revere, there is no doubt that William Scollay was just as important in this particular chapter of history. Scollay was a real estate developer from Boston and, just like Adams and Revere, was heavily involved in the Masonic Lodge of Massachusetts. The three had important roles and it is their masonic ties that explain why and how the time capsule was stored inside the cornerstone of the State House…

There was no doubt in Michael Comeau’s mind that the three men in question performed a Masonic ceremony to bury the time capsule. “Samuel Adams was a mason. He was attended by Paul Revere, who was the grand master of the grand lodge of Masons of Massachusetts,” he said. “This was a mason ceremony, start to finish.” Not only was the ceremony of Masonic tradition, but it also commemorated a date that is important to millions of people…

“The date that they chose of the laying of the cornerstone was highly significant because remember, this was July 4th,” Comeau said. “This is 1795. This is the 20th anniversary of American independence.” According to the experts, Adams and Revere were well aware of the importance that this 20th anniversary signified. Bill Galvin firmly believed that these men recognized that the State House was more than just a building; it was a symbol of everything that made this young country so great.

That’s not all though. Michael Comeau also speculated that Sam Adams, Paul Revere, and William Scollay knew that they were living in a special time and that they wanted to share a part of it with future generations. “They were aware of the fact that they lived in turbulent and important times,” Comeau said. “What was happening then was really something very special. I think they were aware of that fact. I think they were trying to pass that message on forward.”

What sent the experts into a real frenzy was the idea that the founding fathers of their country were essentially communicating with them from another era. “Paul Revere touched these things. Sam Adams touched these things,” Libby O’Connell said. “This is like a voice coming to us 200 and many years later.” Then there was Michael Comeau who described it so beautifully as “a tangible bridge to history. It’s a tangible bridge to people like [Paul] Revere and [Sam] Adams.”

It was clear to the experts that the time capsule that these important historical figures had created was just one example of all the great things that they had done during this era. “I think that those two remarkable, big figures were men of action,” Bill Galvin said. “They clearly were people who not only debated things in a time when so much of politics is a conflict with words and inaction. They were men of action who got things done.”

One thing is for sure: Sam Adams’ and Paul Revere’s values have, like their time capsule, stood the test of time. “I think that’s why our founding generation always resonates with Americans because the ideals that they pass forward never really are absent from our lives,” Comeau said. “In a time when…on a global scale we see these basic concepts…threatened and at risk. I think it’s really important to remember that where they came from…how hard people fought to give them to us.”

With all the fascinating things that were found inside the time capsule, it is also important to understand the numbers behind this game-changing piece of history. Weighing in at just 10 pounds (4.5 kg) and with measurements of 5-1/2 x 7-1/2 x 1-1/2 inches, this small metal container was much more important than its size suggested. CNN Correspondent Alexandria Field actually described the box in a fairly straightforward way in her report of the capsule: “The box itself is actually pretty small, just 5 and a half by 7 and a half inches.”

Ever since she conducted the unboxing of the time capsule, Pam Hatchfield has become something of a celebrity in this part of the world. She has since appeared on a number of news channels such as Greater Boston on WGBH News. It was here that she discussed the events that transpired along with Michael Comeau. There is no doubt that historians from both Massachusetts and beyond have praised Hatchfield for her grit and determination to unearth one of the murkier corners of American history.

As far as William Galvin is concerned, the discovery of the time capsule is so much more than just a history lesson. It actually proves just how significant the state of Massachusetts is in the formation of the United States. Without this New England state, America looks a whole lot different. “These symbols, when they were placed in the State House in 1795…represented the aspirations of the founding fathers and those who came after,” he said. “The history of Massachusetts is the history of America.”

While the city was unsure when the time capsule would be reburied, another box of history was recently sealed once again. In 2015, a time capsule that was unearthed in Boston, dating back to 1901, also turned the heads of many historians. It was placed in a lion statue, with a number of new letters and even an iPhone 5 being inserted into it. This was a way of showing just how far the U.S. had come in terms of technological advancements.

At one point, the time capsule remained in the Bostom Museum of Fine Arts and the items that were found inside it were put on display in an exhibition. This meant that for a limited time, members of the public were able to see these important tokens of history with their own eyes. The items were placed alongside The Passage of Delaware, an epic piece of art that was painted in 1819 by Thomas Sully. However, the exhibition has since ended and the capsule is back in the cornerstone it once came from.

As previously mentioned, there is a good chance that this particular time capsule is the oldest ever to be found in the United States. It is believed to be have been buried way back in 1795, which is 20 years after the American War of Independence began. However, there is no doubt that this ten-pound metal box will put a smile on the faces of many people from the state of Massachusetts. It is also bound to make a lot of Americans happy who live outside of the state too. So what’s next for the time capsule?

A few months after this amazing discovery was displayed at the Bostom Museum of Fine Arts, the experts decided to rebury the time capsule, and with a few interesting updates. The new additions include a set of 2015 American coins with the faces of former Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower, Harry S. Truman, John F. Kennedy, and Lyndon B. Johnson. The experts also placed the items inside a new stainless steel container and placed it back inside the cornerstone of the State House of Massachusetts for future generations to discover.

Amazingly, this is not the first time that the time capsule has been discovered, or re-burried. In 1855, sixty years after it was originally inserted inside the cornerstone, a group of workers stumbled across the box. They took out the items and put them inside a tougher brass box with a handful of new items. Governor Winslow Harley then took the capsule and organized a ceremony, inserting the box back inside the cornerstone. Recently though, the time finally came to unearth the time capsule once again…