Guide: One Off Works Export - a Historical & Technical Appraisal of the Ferrari 212 Mille Miglia
BACKGROUND
Having established his auto making firm as arguably the dominant force in Sports car racing during its debut 1947 campaign, Enzo Ferrari’s Maranello-based operation went from strength-to-strength in the years that followed thanks to a rapid development programme that kept his V12 engines ahead of the competition.
1947 had seen the Gioacchino Colombo-designed 1.5-litre V12 enlarged to 1.9-litres before the season was out and this was in turn transformed into a full 2-litre capacity in time for 1948. That year, the first Ferrari customer car emerged in the shape of the fuselaged 166 Spyder Corsa which was in turn joined by the wholly enveloped 166 Mille Miglia for 1949. In addition to these fully fledged racing cars, Ferrari added a 166 Inter to the range for 1949 which was conceived for road use.
While Scuderia Ferrari had achieved an unprecedented level of success in Sports car racing, the Italian team had not attained quite the same level of domination in Grand Prix racing where its supercharged Monoposto entries were sometimes beaten by cars with much larger capacity engines.
With this in mind, for 1950 Enzo Ferrari commissioned Aurelio Lampredi to develop a big block V12 that could take the challenge to Alfa Romeo for the inaugural 1950 Formula 1 World Championship. In addition, the Lampredi motor would be used for a new line of Sports racing cars while the Colombo motor was further enlarged to 2.4-litre ‘195’ trim.
Despite its considerable output advantage, the Lampredi motor was in no way expected to replace the lighter Colombo engine which would continue to prove itself a formidable power unit well into the 1960s. Accordingly, development of Ferrari’s small block V12 continued apace and, for 1951, the Colombo engine was further enlarged to 2.6-litre ‘212’ trim.
The new-for-1951 212 Export was conceived for customer use. Meanwhile, Scuderia Ferrari generally campaigned the Lampredi-engined 4.1-litre 340 America and, on occasion, 166 Mille Miglias in the fiercely contested under 2-litre class.
In addition, the Italian team constructed and briefly raced a car that was uniquely dubbed the 212 Mille Miglia which made its one-off appearance for Scuderia Ferrari at the important Monza Coppa Inter-Europa two hour race for fixed head Grand Tourers in mid April.
CHASSIS
The 212 Mille Miglia was built on numerically the first 212 Export chassis: 0070 M.
From a technical perspective, the 212 Mille Miglia / Export chassis was little changed from the 2250mm wheelbase version used by the 195 Sport (which had incorporated a 50mm extension over the 166 Mille Miglia).
A conventional tubular steel affair manufactured by Gilco Autotelai in Milan, track was once again 1278mm front and 1250mm rear. Given the 212 Mille Miglia was destined for endurance racing, it seems likely 0070 M would have received the largest available 120-litre rear-mounted fuel tank.
Independent front suspension was via double wishbones and a transverse leaf spring. The back end incorporated a live axle with semi elliptical springs and an anti-roll bar.
Houdaille hydraulic shock absorbers were installed all round along with drum brakes.
For this latest application, diameter of the Borrani wire wheels was increased from 15 to 16-inches. Wheel width was officially 5.5-inches but 6-inch wide rears were most likely used as well.
ENGINE / TRANSMISSION
Compared to the 2.4-litre 195 engine, Ferrari increased the 212’s capacity by enlarging the cylinder bores from 65mm to 68mm. Stroke was kept at the familiar 58.8mm for an overall displacement of 2562cc (a gain of 221cc).
Compression was dropped from 8.5:1 on the 195 Sport to 8.4:1, but otherwise the specification remained much the same.
These were all-alloy 60° V12 engines which featured single overhead camshafts per bank, two valves per cylinder and wet-sump lubrication. Ignition was via a single spark plug per cylinder and two coils. As had been the case on the 195 Sport, a trio of Weber 36 DCF downdraught carburettors were employed.
Peak output was 165bhp at 7000rpm which represented a 5bhp drop compared to the 195 Sport (170bhp at 7000rpm), but whereas the 195 Sport was reserved for works and special client use, the 212 Mille Miglia / Export engine was created primarily as a customer unit with greater longevity in mind.
Transmission was through a Ferrari five-speed gearbox, twin-plate clutch and open differential.
BODYWORK
As the 212 Mille Miglia was created to contest Italy’s most important long distance races, Ferrari commissioned Carrozzeria Vignale to clothe it with a slippery Berlinetta body of a similar type to the works 340 America that was being readied for the 1951 Mille Miglia: chassis 0082 A.
Unlike Vignale’s road car designs, which often featured avantgarde profiling and elaborate body trim, the firm’s competition bodywork was simple, minimalist and elegant.
0070 M’s front end was characterised by a massive central intake complete with egg crate grille. Outboard of this were the indicators, horn covers and exposed headlights.
Curvaceous front fenders swept back to a five window Fastback cockpit. In order to handle potentially bad weather, no less than three wipers were fitted to clear the windscreen (two on the scuttle and one on the roof).
Two-piece sliding windows were used for the doors while the rear quarter items were hinged at the leading edge to aid cockpit ventilation. Much care was taken to ensure the windows lay flush with the all-aluminium bodywork to optimise airflow. Flush-fitting door handles were also installed.
The rounded tail was home to a rear hatch that gave access to the fuel filler cap. The rear lights were housed in an elegant chrome shroud sunk into the body.
No bumpers were fitted and, aside from a Vignale insignia at the base of each front fender, nor was there much in the way of unnecessary body trim.
INTERIOR
The minimalist cockpit was home to a full width body coloured aluminium dash. Directly behind the wood-rimmed steering wheel with its three highly polished aluminium spokes was an oval binnacle that housed two large read outs. On the right was a 240kmh speedometer inset with a fuel read out and clock while off to the left the 8000rpm rev counter contained supplementary water temperature and oil pressure dials.
Bucket seats were trimmed in leather as were the partial door cards (with simple pull straps), the cut-down rear bulkhead and front and rear sidewalls. Mounted atop the fuel tank behind the seats was the spare wheel.
Instead of carpet, thin rubber matting was used to cover the footwells and rear deck.
WEIGHT / PERFORMANCE
Ferrari quoted a dry weight of 850kg.
Top speed was 138mph while 0-62mph required comfortably under six seconds.
1951 MONZA COPPA INTER-EUROPA
Scuderia Ferrari’s single outing with the 212 Mille Miglia came at the 1951 Monza Coppa Inter-Europa, a two hour race for fixed head Grand Touring cars which took place on April 15th. Chassis 0070 M was allocated to Luigi Villoresi who was already on a roll of three consecutive wins in 1951 following victories at the Syracuse and Pau Grand Prix races (on both occasions driving a 375 F1) and the Marseilles GP (behind the wheel of a 166 F2).
44 starters began the race with Villoresi’s closest challenger expected to be Louis Chiron in a 4.5-litre Delahaye 175S. Other Ferraris in attendance included a trio of privately entered 195 Inters for Franco Cornacchia, Salvatore Ammendola and Federico Munz. However, no-one was able to stop the irrepressible Villoresi who ultimately finished over ten miles clear of second place man Ammendola while Chiron came home third. Villoresi covered 178.2 miles over the course of two hours at an average speed of over 89mph.
SALE TO FRANCO CORNACCHIA
After Monza, Ferrari sold chassis 0070 M to Milan car dealer and racing driver, Franco Cornacchia, who was a personal friend of il Commendatore and the patron of Scuderia Guastalla.
SUBSEQUENT HISTORY
Cornacchia’s first outing with 0070 M came alongside navigator Guido Mariani at the Mille Miglia which took place over April 28th and 29th. The 212 MM came home 17th overall which was good enough for sixth in the over two-litre Sports / GT class.
Cornacchia then recorded class wins at the Coppa della Toscana road race (with navigator Del Carlo on June 3rd) and the Coppa Valsassina Lecco-Ballabio Hillclimb (July 1st). Unfortunately, he then failed to finish the Coppa d’Oro delle Dolomiti road race on July 15th when he went off course and then incurred sufficient damage at the Stella Alpina Rallye (August 23rd to 26th) that 0070 M played no further part in the 1951 season.
Over the winter of 1951-1952, Cornacchia sent 0070 M back to the factory for repair and then on to Vignale where the car was rebodied in the latest Berlinetta style.
Highlights of the 1952 campaign included a win at the Messina 10 Hour night race (Franco Cornacchia / Clemente Biondetti) and a second place finish at the Monza Coppa Inter-Europa (Cornacchia).
In September 1952, Cornacchia sold 0070 M to privateer Bruno Moroni in Milan who raced the car with moderate success into 1954.
Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: unattributed
