Ferrari 212 Inter Coupe

FERRARI is perhaps the most legendary and most successful sports and competition car company. Enzo Ferrari was an equally intelligent and shrewd manager of cars, people and his drivers. Equally extraordinary was his ability to recruit Italy's most creative designers so that his cars ultimately combined great performance with fantastic looks.

In 1951/1952 it became clear that the model 195 had its performance limits, reason why the Colombo design V12 engine was enlarged to 2562 cc, increasing performance to 155 or 170 hp respectively, depending on the carburettor layout, and a highly innovative 5-speed gearbox became part of the specification. The engine bore was increased to 68mm, the stroke remained at 58,8mm – the same as the final version of the 166 model. Confusion often arises over the exact list of names, as the 212 Inter series used three different suffixes after their chassis numbers (E, EL and EU). Mechanically, the 212 Inter could be very different, as FERRARI was open to the customer's request of wanting a normal performance with one carburetor, or a better tuned engine with 3 carburetors. The Vignale designs were by far the most exciting, and some of those on the long chassis were equally daring and compelling.

This particular car, the Ferrari 212 Inter Vignale Coupe Chassis No. 0221EL, is very special for several reasons. Firstly, the FERRARI Build Sheet (Foglio de Montaggio) strongly indicates that 0221EL was ordered with competition in mind. This is emphasized by the wheelbase of 2500 mm (2600 mm for road cars) and by the tuned engine with 3 Weber DCF / 3 carburettors and 170 hp (the simple variant had only 1 single carburetor). Secondly, while some of the Vignale Coupé designs can be a bit “wild” at times; This example has extremely beautiful and elegant Vignale design features, which are accentuated by the very special two-tone color combination of gray over beige. Third, 0221EL has an extraordinary ownership history. Originally delivered to Swiss enthusiast Eugene Lanz on August 11, 1952 (remarkably the original FERRARI certificate of origin signed by Enzo Ferrari still exists), 0221EL was driven extremely hard in its early years, so much so that it was in 1963 in such ' It was in such a worn condition that the owner sold 0221EL to Mr Messerli from Kaufdorf. Mr. Messerli was a salvage dealer, but he had a strong preference for the 0221EL, as well as a plan to preserve and eventually restore the car for his personal use. Mr. Messerli never got around to his plans, and it so happened that the car was totally forgotten on his property for the incredible period of 40 years (!) until a German enthusiast turned up in 2003 and made a very substantial offer, selling Mr. Messerli the car and put an end to his lifelong dream. After a careful restoration by the German specialist Methusalem, while retaining the beautiful original interior, the 0221EL returned to its original glory.