Page 24 - Demo

FERRARI PROFILE 24
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FERRARI PROFILE
Darin Schnabel ©2019, courtesy of RM Sotheby’s
1952 Ferrari 225 S Berlinetta by Vignale
A risky, no-reserve auction for a lesser-known Ferrari makes solid money
by Steve Ahlgrim
Chassis number: 0164ED
competition capabilities. These were race cars and were thus
The 225 S was envisioned as a fiercely performing model with
assigned even-numbered chassis numbers. They were also fitted
with more competition-appropriate right-hand drive and triple
Weber carburetors. Campaigned extensively in Europe during 1952,
and later in SCCA events, the 225 S was piloted by some of the era's
greatest drivers, including Piero Taruffi, Giovanni Bracco, Eugenio
Castellotti, Jim Kimberly and Roy Salvadori. It emerged victorious at
the 1952 Monaco Grand Prix, Bari Grand Prix, Coppa d' Oro di Sicilia,
Coppa della Toscana and Coppa d’Oro delle Dolomiti.
This exquisite 225 S is accompanied by a well-documented history
file, service invoices, period racing photographs and an original fac-
tory listing of mechanical refinements. The beautiful Vignale body and
fastidiously detailed engine compartment showcase one of the rarest of
Maranello's 1950s berlinettas. It offers serious Ferrari enthusiasts an
unusual opportunity to acquire a well-maintained example with bona
fide period racing history.
This car sold for $2,810,000, including buyer’s pre-
mium, at RM Sotheby’s Elkhart Collection sale in
Elkhart, IN, on October 24, 2020.
The 225 is indeed a serious Ferrari race car, one of the unsung he-
roes of the marque’s storied legacy. A small army of examples attacked
endurance racing with valor and success. If you are fortunate enough
to come across one, you’ll want to give it a long look. But you’ll also
need to know what you’re looking at, as the 225 is not as well known as
its 250 brethren.
Get out your decoder ring
The prefix number in a Ferrari’s type is traditionally the key to what
is under the hood. Often the number indicates the displacement of a
single cylinder. Multiply the number times the number of cylinders
and you have the displacement of the engine. In the case of a 250 GT,
multiply 250 times 12 and you get 3,000 cc, or three liters. Later cars
were often named with a combination of the total displacement and the
number of cylinders, ergo a 308 GTB with a 3-liter, 8-cylinder engine.
Of course, Ferrari threw some curves, as in a 365 Boxer where the
prefix tells us the car has a 4.4-liter engine, whereas the 512 Boxer
prefix tells us the car has a 5-liter, 12-cylinder engine.
Competition rules dictated the size of Ferrari’s competition engines,
but the production side had no such constraints. Throughout the years,
the size of Ferrari’s engines has steadily grown. The first Ferrari, the
SCM Analysis 56 FEBRUARY 2021 Sports Car Market