Ronald L. Spangler liked to keep fast company, according to friends and associates of the Harford County businessman. A promoter and salesman who had a career in television and sold private jet planes, Mr. Spangler’s first love was fast cars, in particular Ferraris.

“Ron was engaged in collecting, brokering and racing Ferraris, but most of all he simply had a passion, a deep respect and a huge base of knowledge about those cars ... arguably unmatched outside of Italy,” Dave Scrivener, executive producer of Maryland Public Television’s “Motor Week” program, said in an email.

Mr. Spangler died April 5 at Harford Memorial Hospital in Havre de Grace at age 81. No cause of death was given.

He had collected, raced, showed and sold the Italian sports cars all over the world. Mr. Scrivener said Mr. Spangler had been a guest on “Motor Week” several times.

He raised money for local charities through a Ferrari meet and show held at his Prancing Horse Farm in Street. The farm’s name paid homage to Ferrari’s prancing horse logo.

A native of York, Pa., Ronald Leroy Spangler was the son of Ivan and Sevlla Spangler. He graduated from the University of Miami with a bachelor’s degree in film producing.

He worked in local television and radio in York and later at NBC in New York and WBAL in Baltimore before establishing his own production company, LewRon Televison, in 1966, according to biographical information prepared for a consulting firm he owned.

LewRon used mobile production units to broadcast live sports and produce on-site entertainment programming. Mr. Spangler worked with, among others, Johnny Carson, Merv Griffin, Dick Clark and Frank Sinatra, according to his bio.

In a 2005 interview with The Aegis newspaper, Mr. Spangler said Mr. Carson gave him the nickname “Mr. Ferrari.” He said he had sold Ferraris to many sports and entertainment figures, among them another late night TV celebrity, David Letterman.

Mr. Spangler settled in Harford County in the 1960s. He learned to fly airplanes as a hobby growing up, and his love of flying became his next business venture after television.

In 1975, he formed SpanAir, a business marketing firm and distributor for Gulfstream Aviation on the East Coast, as well as in England, Ireland and Scotland. SpanAir was based at the Forest Hill Industrial Park, then known as the Forest Hill Industrial Airpark.

He later left that business and turned to brokering Ferraris from his farm.

In a 1991 interview Mr. Spangler, then 54, said he had owned 57 Ferraris. One of his cars took second place at the 24 Hours of Daytona race in 1979; another took first in the Ferrari GT Class at the 24 Hours at Le Mans in France in 1982.

“I used to race them, but I’ve got my trophies,” he said. “Why should I do it anymore?”

“Ron was one of those sort of larger-than-life characters,” John D. Worthington IV, of Churchville, retired publisher of The Aegis, said in an email. “He flew airplanes, raced Ferraris at tracks around the world and probably lived more in one lifetime than most men would in three.”

Mr. Worthington said he attended many of the annual Ferrari rallies at Mr. Spangler’s farm in Street.

“Owners would come from all over the East Coast,” he said.

“He was masterful in bringing diverse car enthusiasts together to explore their passion and perhaps open their wallets,” George Bunting of Monkton, a friend of Mr. Spangler’s and a fellow high-end car enthusiast, said in an email. “His passion for exotic cars was truly contagious.”

In 2005 Mr. Spangler said he was no longer selling the vehicles, though he continued to connect sellers and buyers of Ferraris and other exotic vehicles until recent years. He used some of the proceeds from the Prancing Horse Farm Ferrari meets to raise money for local shelters run by Catholic Charities for women and children.

He was a member of Emory United Methodist Church in Street. Services were April 11 at Heffner Funeral Chapel and Crematory in York.

Survivors include his wife, Lana A. Spangler; two sons, Dr. Ronald Spangler Jr. of Arlington, Mass., and Pavel Savoskin of Havre de Grace; two daughters, Kathleen Phelps of Lutherville, and Beth Spangler of Frederick; six grandchildren; and several cousins.

—Allan Vought, Baltimore Sun Media Group