Jay Leno drives household heirloom 1951 Ferrari 212 Inter

A 1951 Ferrari 212 Inter with a physique from legendary Italian coachbuilder Ghia can be the darling of any traditional automotive public sale, however this one has by no means gone below the hammer.

Just lately featured on “Jay Leno’s Storage,” the automotive is claimed to be the longest-owned Ferrari. Its unique proprietor, Rodolfo Junco de la Vega, bought the 212 within the Nineteen Fifties and was schooled by the mechanics on the Ferrari manufacturing facility on find out how to keep it. He even met Enzo Ferrari. After his dying on the age of 98, the automotive handed to his son Thaddeus Foster, who declares that the automotive remains to be “all unique aside from the paint and the carpet.”

Ferrari was nonetheless a reasonably new firm when the 212 launched in 1950, nevertheless it was starting to search out its stride. The 212 is powered by the now legendary Colombo V-12, displacing 2.5 liters and producing 150 hp. That energy is distributed to the rear wheels by a 5-speed handbook transmission.

The 212 launched a tubular chassis aimed toward creating larger rigidity, which grew to become the premise for a lot of variants. Ferrari bought the 212 in Export and extra refined Inter specs, with a number of physique types equipped by a number of coachbuilders. Along with Ghia, Pininfarina, Touring, and Vignale all equipped our bodies for the 212 collection. 

Manufacturing of the 212 lasted solely till 1953. The automotive featured right here was in-built 1951, however titled as a 1952 automotive. And due to its originality, it reveals that Ferrari wasn’t precisely a precision operation at the moment. The bolts are completely different sizes as a result of mechanics merely grabbed no matter was available, Foster explains within the video.

Restored traditional Ferraris frequently promote for hundreds of thousands at public sale, however as Leno says within the video, nothing drives like an unique, unrestored automotive.