0233 EU - 212 Inter Cabriolet Ghia - COMING SOON

Was it in the barn because someone had previously shot at it (mercy killing) when seeing the condition it was in? With smiles, David

 

Marcel, in these engine numbers, you have included 173 E, do you know if this car survived?

Best

 

Even in this condition, there is no hiding the art of Vignale.

 

We call them "barn finders" here but I guess we are talking about the
same occupation, i.e. rooting around dusty records until you find a Ferrari
everyone else but you has forgotten. So in this case, while the numbers are interesting, what I really want to know is:


--was the successful "garage picker" start down that trail armed only with a 40-year old ad in a newspaper? Or did they run their own ads looking for a sighting?

--what price did the barn finder --he or she-- get it for? (round numbers in the tens of thousands would suffice)

--did he or she buy it from the owner who owned it 40 years ago or his or her heirs?

Did the "Picker" have to be prepared to buy the car at the first lift of the tarp or did he or she have the luxury of shopping it around to potential buyers (as I used to do before the internet raised the stakes considerably...) If the answer is "Yes" they had to buy it immediately then that greatly cuts down on the chances that any of us wanna-be barn finders can seize the opportunity if we find a car, because as soon as we began to float pictures on the net, then someone else will be following the same research trail (In the old West, they had something called "claim jumping" to do with registering finds of gold ore, similar in concept)

Your pictures of SN's shows how dilgently you do your work--you're the man, Marcel...

 

I have the same ideas bouncing around in my head....

This isn't the type of thing that someone stumbles upon. If they know what it is, they have to make a couple of calls to figure outthe details, and those calls don't come cheap or without letting out info.

It is such a cool story, but I find it hard to believe that someone had no idea what they had sitting around. They might not be aware of current values or such, but it obviously was kept around for some reason.

I am guessing te questions we ALL are asking won't/can't be answered now, but will be in time....but, still, what a cool find.

 

Thanks for the great thread and find.

I swear I saw one of these for sale a few months back in of all places the Samba Classifieds.
Don't hang or flame me please.

 

There is no plural for this car. It is one of a kind.

 

0173E is listed with David Cottingham (of DK Engineering) in the Ferrari Owners Club (UK) 1980 Register. Was it the complete car or only the engine? He certainly knows.

 

True, I like to hear these stories but am certain that I myself, were I to attempt to be a Ferrari finder, wouldn't be up to the task today because of the internet has changed the rules of the game.

Back before the internet (it is getting harder to remember exactly when that was...) you could leisurely write letters about cars and get answers by mail. I know there was already the FAX for more instantaneous communication or Fed Ex but anyhow It seems to me that today's finders have to be ready to buy instantaneously because once word gets out that they found something the word is out everywhere.

I can throw in an obsolete morsel as an example. Between 1970-'73 I came across Bob Kountz, Vincent Black Shadow restorer, on Western Ave. in LA who had two V12 Ferrari coupes, '50s models, in a pile of old parts, which he said were given to him by the son of Jack Nethercutt (famous collector in Los Angeles who founded a museum) who was temporarily miffed at restoring cars. Now armed with that knowledge, today with the internet those cars could be found, but back before the net you wouldn't know where to start on a 40-year old lead. I have actually written a story both praising and damning the net, on the plus side how fast you can find something out, and then showing the bad side, because unfortunately everyone else reading the posts finds out what you find out the same moment you do (not counting private posts but you can never count on someone reading the original post to choose to reply privately) . The story is on the Iso Grifo one-off spyder, but I didn't post it here because it's awaiting publication on another site.

But overall, I can sum up by saying that, even with this blindingly fast communication offered by the net, one cannot count out the value of printed material as a ref. source, because not everything that has ever been printed is on the net (try explaining that to a 20-year old who has grown up with the net!).

 

Wallace, you just have to be a little more tenacious in todays internet world. Having cash on hand is always very helpful. The cars are out there.

My last 4 cars were all "barn finds" and none of them were advertised on the internet. Infact, only one was advertised, and that was in print; to your point.

Half the challenge of the barn find is who you run into. I know of a 250 Europa that hasn't been out of the garage since 1984. I met the gent. buying small parts. It would be my next "barn find" if the funds were available.


Marcel's find is amazing!!!!!!

Ciao and best!


~Trev

 

I think having a removal option was a great idea! I hope you are well.....patiently waiting for updates. Best, David

 

You can own a Gnome-Rhône without knowing much about what it really is, but not a Ferrari. The irritating thing about owning a Ferrari for 40 years is all those dealers calling you in the middle of the night pouring glass beads through their fingers. Or just to hang up dissapointed once they realize you haven't died just yet. Best wishes, Kare

 

Trev the funds ARE available, and the europa can stay as. " your" barn find.
Oh compensation available too!

 

WOW!!! Congrats Tom, what a cool car.

 

Fantastico! Congratulations, Tom!

 

There are still s/ns in barchetta with little or no info and many have no or very limited info in any other web sites like Google, Bing and even F Chat etc. So many thanks to T. S., M.M. and the others out there on the prowl. just one man's opinion tongascrew

 

Ilario-model Ferrari s/n 0233EU.
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Tom,

Fantastico!!! Great work!

By the way,...compensation is always appreciated.

 

Tom,
You da man!