I'm not really part of the "that's sacraledge" school of thought when it comes to re bodying the older cars in a new suit, but I would make an exception here.. That touring body looks in fine condition and is drop dead georgeous.. I'd re marry the body and chassis as per original and the hunt out a rotted/tired/crashed 400 and drop the Barcetta body on that.. With a bit of work it could turn it into one hell of a hotrod!
As Tom suggested, I gather that the original sin of separating chassis and drivetrain was committed some time ago. Someone here must know where 0259's engine ended up. Hard to tell how much of 0259 is contained in the so called "Touring" barchetta. Here is the 2006 RM Arizona catalog description of the history of the barchetta: One of only 80, this genuine 212, chassis no. 0259EU, left the factory in 1952 and from factory records was delivered new to Mr. Nocentini of Florence as a Pinin Farina two door coupe. Two or three years later it appears to have passed initially to the inaugural President of the SCCA, then to long term owner John Buonanno who kept it for over 40 years until his death, the car being maintained by European Racing & Preparation. Next the car went to the UK where it was purchased some five or six years ago by the vendor who enjoyed driving the car for some time but decided he wanted something a little more sporting. To this end he decided to remove the bodywork and, having an original Barchetta body to copy, he embarked upon a meticulously detailed rebuild of the entire chassis and coachwork. (To maintain the car’s continuity the original bodywork and trim have been retained and are included in the sale – shipping extra). In total, the no-expense-spared restoration took approximately four years to complete and the results are nothing short of stunning. The original chassis is also fitted with its original five-speed gearbox – 212/234EU and rear axle. The engine, although of the correct type, has been changed at some time and bears the Numero Interno `E40´ denoting that it would have come from an earlier car. It is fitted with the competition type horizontal distributors and drives and has the correct early type forward mounted Magneti-Marelli dynamo with external regulator box.
Here is a prior thread discussing 0259 and tracing its sad history. http://ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=88539&highlight=0259 The current owner and eBay seller owns both the barchetta and the 212 body.
Sold at $61.1K. Seller was Gene Ponder, who owns the barchetta car. If the buyer is here, please PM me.
BTW, I saw the real thing today at Ferrari of Houston. Unbelievably gorgeous car. If Ferrari built something like this today, they would sell a jillion of em. Dale PS If it were me and I had this 212 body, the temptation would be overwhelming. I understand it would not be the real thing. But I would have one of the coolest cars in the world.
You know a gentleman never tells. I didn't get the number, but it was robin blue with Montana plates. It had been recently restored by Bob Smith. But if you really want to know, pm me and I'll find out the rest of the details for you. Again, this was one of the best looking cars I have EVER seen. And, unlike somebody I know blue is not my favorite color. Dale
There are a lot of Ferraris registered in Montana. It will be a few more years before we have 1million people living here.
Is Montana part of the Union? Last time I was there, most folks were talking like they wasn't too keen on the whole idea. Kinda like Texas. I'll see what I can find out about this car. Dale
I repeat that this is a VERY VERY VERY stupid thing to do. I hope someone in near or distant future will have both the money and taste to return 0259EL into a wonderfull old car again. Best wishes, Kare
The buyer of the body is sitting on a gold mine. Leaning back and wait until 0259EU is in the market again.....
Tom Shaughnessy (post 24) and others have suggested that 0259's drivetrain is gone - not in the "barchetta," though the eBay ad claims otherwise. So, to put 0259 back together, you need the barchetta, the body and the drivetrain from 3 diferent sources ... will be hard to do. Very sad, this one may be lost. I own one of these cars, and would love to know where the others are. I know 0263 is in the US, restored by Wayne Obry. FWIW, IMO the person who broke up 0259 should be named. Seems to have happened in the past decade or so, when all should have known better. Tom's post, if I read it correctly, suggests an fchatter bought the engine and left the body, so someone here had a hand in this desecration.
Ferrari didnt mind how one of their rolling chassis was bodied - 0165 got an Abbott body and is now a barchetta - where is the line between right and wrong regarding bodies when the manufacturer didnt appear to care?
The much maligned Abbott body appealed to Mike Hawthorn - later F1 Champion for Ferrari - who was the car's first owner. In the 80s, I believe, someone ruined a unique piece of Ferrari history by junking the Abbott body and building a fake Touring Barchetta. Thus the only Abbott bodied Ferrari is gone. There are a handful of Pininfarina bodied 212s left. I'd like to think that the owners of the cars will take good care of them, keeping in mind their rarity and importance to Ferrari's early history - rather than just dropping in a big ole Chevy engine to impress the boys at the country club. There's just no excuse for destroying these cars today. The 212 in this thread apparently was disassembled in the past decade, when everyone whould know better. It was beautiful, and done by the coachbuilder Enzo chose to body many, many of his cars. I think it's now lost forever. A shame.
think it was his Father rather than Mike. my question was that if Ferrari didnt mind what body was put on to any chassis why do we ?
Ferrari also cannibalized all of the World Champion 156 sharknose F1 cars; probably the most famous/recognizable Ferrari next to the 250GTO and TR. Ferrari never gave a rat's ass about its history until recently.
