0233 EU - 212 Inter Cabriolet Ghia - COMING SOON

Wow.

 

Make that, I've written up.

 

Steve, this begs the question, (and I don't know if you are at liberty to respond), but did the garage picker i) purchase the car or get others involved to purchase the car? and ii) was the car purchased for "a song" or was the seller cognizant of the car's significance?

 

The car was in a small town where everybody knows each other. The picker's family and the owner's family were both horse people. The families weren't close friends but it was a situation where taking advantage of the seller would later be awkward. The picker was originally offered the car at what would be an unrealistically low price to you and me but more than many new cars. When the picker did some research and established an approximate market value, he recongized he would be taking advantage of the seller. In the end the car was sold at the market price with the picker getting a commission. As for the price, it was a fair deal all around.

 

I don't suppose that there is any chance that this charming car would only receive a "sympathetic" restoration? Really, to my eye, all it needs is an engine rebuild, a refurbishment, and someone who likes to drive!

 

All-in-all, probabley the best approach. At least people weren't screwed and taken advantage of. It seems to me that this is a WIN for everyone, especially us, the car community, where we get back a car long since thought gone and lost.

 

Congratulations Marcel!
Brilliant find!

 

refreshingly ethical

 

Just read the FML...Great write up Steve, can't wait for the next chapter in the story.

 

my compliments for the people involved, this should lead to a great friendship.
There is more than money that makes the world go round..

 

Can some one post the FML article so those that are not subscribers can see Steve Algrim work.

Thank you

 

Yes please do. It will encourage new subscribers to join up. just one man's opinion tongascrew

 

Volume 36 Number 25 | 10 December 2011
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ISSUE ARTICLES

Back to Articles
Diary of a Barn Find, Part One: 0233 EU
by Steve Ahlgrim
A post on a Duesenberg forum asks for "an open Duesenberg that needs a resto." A somewhat sarcastic "good luck with that" was posted next and after that an explanation that in the last 10 years only three or four unrestored open Duesenbergs have changed hands. A following post notes, "There hasn't been a 'real' Duesenberg discovery in 40 years."

Like the Duesenbergs, the discovery of a long-lost Ferrari is rare, but recently a former show car, the Ghia bodied 212 Cabriolet S/N 0233 EU has surfaced. The car has been sleeping in a garage in Michigan -- owned 40 for years -- bought in 1971. It has now been passed to a new owner who hopes to show it at Pebble Beach in 2013.

Here is how the find unfolded:

Saturday, Nov. 1, 2011 - The Adventure Begins


Bobby Gene Goins, a Michigan entrepreneur with a knack for turning trash into treasure, hears from his wife that a family friend is having an estate sale. The 70-year-old friend was known to be a bit of a pack rat, and there was no telling what might be found at the sale. While looking over the items at the sale, Goins spots an old car buried under junk in a storage building. There's too much debris to tell much about the car, but on the nose the badge indicates it's a Ferrari.

The car looks pretty derelict, and Goins doesn't know much about Ferraris, but he senses he's found something. The owner says he'd sell the car for $35,000. Goins thinks that's a lot of money for the dusty hulk, but the hook is set.




Sunday Nov. 2, 2011 - Discovery

Goins makes a trip back to the garage. Some boxes are moved, and the Ferrari gently awakens from its sleep. There is a handwritten "For Sale" sign was on the windshield indicating it was a 1953 Ferrari, Alum Body, Tri Power, Vet Engine, 4 speed. The car was taken home, backed into the garage, and seldom brought out again.




Armed with some pictures and his new knowledge, Goins hits the Internet, and a Google search turns up an East Coast Ferrari buyer, but he's not interested in the car. He tells Goins to call Peter Sweeney at Forza Motorsports in Connecticut. Sweeney is interested in the car, and he tells Goins where to find the chassis number. A trip back to the garage and some rubbing with a kerosene-soaked rag, and the Ferrari gives up its true identity -- 0233 EU. (Note: 0233 EU has been incorrectly been called 0233 EL in historical documents. Marcel Massini has factory documents confirming 0233 EU is the correct number.)




Back to the Internet, and it's quickly established 0233 is a 1952 212 Ghia Cabriolet shown at the 1952 Geneva Motor Show.

Monday Nov. 3, 2011 - The Race Is On

Armed with new information, the game has changed. The car is more valuable than previously thought and recognizing that it would be unfair to take advantage of the seller, a much higher price is agreed upon. His research has also turned up the name of his local Ferrari dealer and the Ferrari Club of America.

My wife is the membership services director for the Ferrari Club of America. The membership office is a spare bedroom in our house, and the club's toll-free number goes to that office. She fields calls for all types of Ferrari information, and the ones she can't handle get forwarded to me. This day she calls to tell me a guy's found a car in a barn and he wants to know if the club knows anything about it. She's given him my email address and he's going to send pictures.

Tuesday Nov. 4, 2011 - Now or Never 11 a.m.

The email came in Monday night, but not sensing urgency, I didn't open it until late Tuesday morning. I've been in the Ferrari business for more than 35 years and seldom rattled. These pictures stopped me cold. There in a dingy garage surrounded by clutter was an early Ferrari Cabriolet. The car was dirty and well worn, but it was immediately apparent that it was a high profile coach-built example and a major find.




A quick call to Goins established that the car was missing its original drivetrain, but the coachwork and interior was quite complete. More importantly, rather than going the frustrating, make an offer, route, there was a set price. The price was steep for a car missing its driveline, but it was reasonable. I passed along that my employer, Motorcar Gallery, was interested in the car, but that I needed to do some research and would get back to him.




Unfortunately my research turned up virtually no additional information except a reference to a different car with the same chassis number. That information later turned out to be inaccurate.

At 3 p.m., Goins called back to see if I had turned up anything. I passed along that I hadn't turned up anything else. He passed along that he had an offer from the Ferrari dealer and was close to making a deal.

Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2011 - Enter the King of the Barn Finds 4 p.m.

The clock was ticking, and I didn't have enough information to pull the trigger so it was time to call someone who would. Tom, aka The King of the Toasted Ponies for his fondness of derelict and abandoned Ferraris, is also known as the King of the Barn Finds for his discovery of S/N 0202 A, a long-lost 340 America. Shaughnessy explained that he was already on the car having been called by Sweeney. Sweeney was already making an offer on his behalf. I filled in what I knew and explained another offer was on the table, and if he wanted the car it was time close the deal.

Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2011 - Game Over 7 p.m.

Shaughnessy calls me back, and the deal is set. He made a full price offer on the car, which was accepted. Funding was in place, and a check was ready for FedEx. It's another barn find for Tom.

In a future issue: Part II...

Where's the Engine?

 

Cool stuff Tom!!

 

Good stuff. Thanks for sharing!

 

http://www.autoblog.com/2011/12/19/barn-find-1952-ferrari-212-ghia-cabriolet-found-collecting-dust/

link to video: http://www.wnem.com/video?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=6552281
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Bravo Tom!

Regards, Alberto

 

Fantastic story!!!

Thank you for sharing it!!! I look forward to seeing more and more of the story unfold and how the condition of the car progresses!!!





PDG

 

Knowing you Tom; the engine has probably been sleeping under an avocado tree for a few years now...

 

Hardly. Was in a high end ferrari engine builders shop and cost more money than a chairs and flairs dino in concours condition.

Live by the sword, die by the sword.

 

Gulp.

 

WOW!!! Pretty amazing on many fronts...

I am sure comfortable guessing what a Chairs and Flares concours Dino might cost, but was that price determined before or after they figured out the car had been "FOUND"?

One other dumb question, If the engine wasn't known to be somewhere, I am guessing the Classiche Department could have hobbled one up. I am all for original vs new Classiche stuff, but would the Classiche engine have been that much or would it have been more or less than that? Just trying to figure out how to guess what is the right direction. Either way, this is pretty darn cool to see unfold....

And I love how the Media story ends with "it was bought by a Ferrari collector for just $150,000".......like they even have a clue what they are talking about

 

This is precisely what I was wondering. Classiche could fab up a new motor, place a sequential serial number on the thing, throw some Holy water on it and call it 'the real deal' which is good enough for most people lately isn't it. Or would the mere fact that the original motor were still in existence and available hamper the entire deal. I can't imagine Ferrari would condone such extorsion (lol) but the substantially lowered price for a Classiche motor compared to the original could potentially be a source of leverage in the deal for the original.