Knowing there is some interest on here,for historic cars.This months (Oct '07)Forza magazine,has an interesting feature on a one off sportscar(s/n 0253eu)that was built in 1952 for Henry Ford by Ferrari.For those that say this is o/t,it's one of a kind,pre 1964,and rides on wide white bias plys.Unfortunately i don't have a scanner,so you'll have to check it out on the magazine rack.It's not on the website yet.Forza is a Ferrari magazine that is very high quality with a mix of history,streetcars,racecars and tech. www.forza-mag.com
sounds interesting..is there any can you give us a little more info/pictures of it? i'm not familiar with that magazine do you mean Henry ford II ? Henry ford died in 1947
I failed to mention,that the car is part of the permanent collection,at the Petersen Automotive Museam.Here's a photo from their site.
A clue?? How about it's a beautiful car with lots of history that I'm sure most have never heard? If it's in the Peterson is not OT.
Ford and Ferrari , had a deal going many moons ago , I believe Ford was to buy Ferrari, It all fell apart as to who would make the race cars if Im not mistaken. Maybe it was just a beer induced dream I had?!
That relationship was much later. The failure of the deal was why Ford built the GT-40s to kick Ferrari's ***. I've never heard about anything this early.
Lets see: Pre 1964 One of a kind custom build (just like some hot rods) Henry Ford Ferrari Many on this forum board love vintage exotics including the boss Cool story in history Expand your horizons out there!!
Thanks for posting that! Aside from the V12 engine those early Ferraris were not that special ch***is wise. Is this a "One Off" because of the body or were ther mechanical differances. Years ago I did the final body work and paint on the 1953 Ferrari 166 that was used in the movie "The Racers" with Kirk Douglas. Great car, with a great owner that really liked the car, he was a real pleasure to work with.
The Ford family members always drove exotic, custom built, non-Ford automobiles. Henry (the 1st) was seen in custom built early Renault limousines, a Minerva, and other foreign vehicles. His son Edsel had at least one custom built Bugatti, a Delage and a Minerva. The "post war" family members (especially Henry II) had alot of foreign cars-including Ferraris, etc. I believe the current Edsel Ford has at least one new Ferrari in his stable.- GZ
The car was bought,along with some others,so the Ford designers could study and measure,in anticipation too designing the T-Bird.Mechanically similar to other Barchettas,the longer wheelbase and body was a one off.Car was never really used as a driver much,still only has 17k on the odometer.
HELL YEAH- I used to work at a place that specialized in early Ferrari's- and there was a 1952 model that was the definite daddy of the A/C that became the Cobra. It was powered by a Ferrarri in-liner. I drove most of them and this one was no sloutch.
Funny the article states that it came with blackwall pirrellis,but Ford's relatives,the Firestones gave him the whitewalls.
The Ferrari / Ford connection was in place long before Ford attempted to buy Ferrari, as seen above. Ford actually DID acquire Ferrari, at least in principle, but Enzo wanted to maintain full autonomy over the racing program and Ford was having none of it. Enzo then knocked on the Agnelli's doors (Fiat family) and the deal was made - Ford left at the altar. Ford was pretty pissed off and hence the GT40 program designed pretty much to kick Ferrari's *** on the FIA sports car championship (LeMans, Daytona, et al). As a lifelong Ferrari fan, I must eat humble pie - Ford smoked 'em, end of story.
The Ferrari's body was likely done by by Pininfarina who designed the Cisitalia in the late 40's that inspired most of the sports car bodies that are similar in the 50's. The Cobra is a descendent of the AC Ace based on the Tojeiro Bristol another a car inspired by the Pininfarina "barchetta" bodies.
Whitewalls were a real Noth American thing in the 50's. My dad being from the old country used to complain how awfull he thought old Jag XK's looked with wide whites.
Batista "Pinin" Farina did pretty much all Ferrari designs, save a few (Bertone designed the 308GT4, a dog). Scaglietti built all the bodies to the Pininfarina design, and I am almost certain the 212 was the first Pininfarina design. Prior, Ferrari used Ghia and Vignale to design/build the bodies - good choice he made to go with Pininfarina, Ferrari's designs over the years are as good as they get IMHO.
Here are some pics of the car from the Pebble Beach Concours last year. You can see some of the styling cues that made it DIRECTLY onto the T-Bird. The exhaust tips are a prime example. Even the T-Bird logo is a rip off of the Touring logo (as the T-bird head to the touring wings and bingo). Great car, all original paint, nicely kept.
A Ferrari prayer: Our Enzo, who art in Heaven Hallowed be thy exhaust music Thy 30k service come Thy will be done, in Modena, as it is in Heaven Give us this day, our daily 93-octane And forgive us our traffic tickets, as we forgive those who honk their horns against us And lead us not into street racing But deliver us from Lambos. Amen
The Jalopy Journal
