1952 ferrari 212 inter, 0243eu - john starkey carsgiorgio then told me that his father, giovanni...

1952 FERRARI 212 INTER, 0243EU

Giovanni Volpe, on the right, stands proudly by his newly acquired 212 Inter, after having taken his friend, on the left, for a ride in it.

1952 Ferrari 212 Inter, 0243EU

© John Starkey 2016 www.johnstarkeycars.com (727) 384 1179 USA

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1952 FERRARI 212 INTER, 0243EU

Long missing: The story (or the beginning of it!) of 1952 Ferrari 212 Inter, 0243EU I recently received a telephone call from a very nice man. He was interested in a Lola T70 coupe for the street and we talked cars. He told me that he had owned an E Type Jaguar FHC for 35 years and sent me a photo. It looks very nice. We carried on chatting and I told him that I owned an XK120 and sent him photos and he came back to me to tell me that he and his brother had owned an XK120 when the family had lived in Venezuela, back in the 1950s. Giorgio then told me that his father, Giovanni Volpe, had owned a Ferrari 212 Inter from new and that he had collected it from Modena, after Ferrari had sent him black and white photographs of the finished car at the factory. He remembered that, at that time, the price was approximately US$10,000, equivalent to about US$90,000 today. Right behind the 212 Inter was parked one of the 340 Mexico Vignale Berlinettas that were shortly going to run in the Carrera PanAmericana, with the distinctive 1-2-3 Sinclair sponsor’s logo on the side. Giovanni immediately fell in love with it and asked if he could trade the 212 for it. “Sure” was the reply, “but first it has to go to Mexico to race. When it comes back, we’ll rebuild it and then you can buy it but it will cost you a lot more than you have already spent for your 212!” Giovanni decided that he was better off with the 212 and set off back home to Naples with his brother, Antonio, who had come along for the ride. At some point on the journey, a rear leaf spring broke and so the Ferrari had to be returned to the factory in Maranello to be repaired. When Giovanni took the three carbureted 212 back to Naples, he entered it into a street race there but rapidly discovered that the long wheelbase 212 was no match for the assorted Ferraris and Maseratis that were also entered.

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After this, Giovanni took his new wife for a trip to Switzerland, however, with luggage in the trunk, the rear tires rubbed the inside of the fenders. Besides this, with the curve of the side pillars from the roof to the top of the doors, Giovanni discovered that the top of the windows would not wind all the way down… Add to this that rain came in from leaks around the windshield, making Giovanni’s wife complain and also that Giovanni had to change spark plugs frequently and you get some idea of what life was like with a supercar in those days! Mr. Volpe had business in Venezuela and he sent the 212 by ship to the port of La Guaira. Unfortunately, the people lifting it off the boat there tried to lift the car from the bumpers and, having been constructed of thin aluminum, they were damaged. The bumpers were replaced by proprietary items, which looked good and Giovanni drove the 212 Inter for several more years, before selling it for cash plus a 1956 (or 1957, Giorgio is not sure) Chevrolet. However, “we heard that the 212 was crashed, I don’t know if it was ever repaired.” My interest piqued, I pulled out the book on Vignale Ferraris by Marcel Massini and took a look to see which Ferrari my man’s father might have owned. I compared the photographs in the book with those that my correspondent had sent me; and there it was – unmistakably 0243EU, about which apparently, nothing was known. Well, now we know that the first owner, for four years, was Giovanni Volpe of Naples. He is 94 now and still living in Venezuela. Giorgio is going to see his father next week and says that he had better get him to sit down before he gives him the news. Oh, and he’s probably going to send me more photos too. The accompanying photo of the 4-cam 275GTB shows this car when owned by Giovanni Volpe, the son of the previous owner of the 212 Inter.




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1952 ferrari 212 inter, 0243eu - john starkey carsgiorgio then told me that his father, giovanni...

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