One to Buy: ex-Bruno Sterzi 1952 Ferrari 225 Sport
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To replace the 2.6-litre 212 Export which had served privateers so well throughout the 1951 season, Ferrari introduced the 2.7-litre 225 Sport for 1952. In total, 21 examples of the 225 Sport were produced, the majortiy of which were ordered with Spyder coachwork from Vignale. By contrast, just six 225 Sports originally emerged with Vignale’s handsome Berlinetta design to include this car: chassis 0178ED.
Currently being offered by Classic Motor Hub in Ablington, Gloucestershire, chassis 0178ED was completed in May 1952. It was commissioned by one of Ferrari’s most important early customers, Count Bruno Sterzi of Milan who, together with his close friend Prince Igor Troubetskoy of Paris, had established Scuderia Inter.
Having purchased a fleet of 166 variants, Scuderia Inter played a key role in Ferrari’s rise to prominence. As a reflection of gratitude to his noble patrons, Enzo Ferrari went on to name his 166, 195 and 212-engined road cars Inter in their honour.
Chassis 0178ED was the first of two 225 Sports delivered to Bruno Sterzi, the other having been Vignale Spyder chassis 0160ED. During the 1952 season, Sterzi raced his new Berlinetta with considerable success on road courses, hillclimbs and circuits. Having failed to finish the car’s maiden outing on the gruelling Mille Miglia which took place over the weekend of May 3rd and 4th, Sterzi most notably went on to record outright victories at the Coppa della Toscana (June 1st), the Bolzana Mendola Hilcllimb (July 6th) and Monza Coppa Inter-Europa (September 7th).
For the 1953 season, Bruno Sterzi acquired a pair of new Ferraris: a 4.1-litre Lampredi-engined 340 Mille Miglia (chassis 0286AM) and a 3-lire Colombo-engined 250 Mille Miglia (0258MM). Chassis 0178ED was eventually sold in March 1954 to Florentine racing driver, Siro Sbraci, who did not use the car in competition. Twelve months afterwards it was acquired by Guglielmo “Mimmo” Dei, proprietor of Scuderia Centro Sud.
Some time later in the 1950s, Dei sold the 225 Sport to Roberto Federici of Rome. It then crossed the Atlantic to become part of the renowned collection of pioneering American Ferrari enthusiast, Carl Bross. During its early years with Bross, chassis 0178ED suffered some minor fire damage. The car was disassembled and remained dormant for almost 50 years.
More recently, the current custodian (who acquired 0178ED in 2001) commissioned Ferrari Classiche to carry out a complete restoration back to 1952 trim which was completed in 2016.
According to Classic Motor Hub: “As virtually no documentation survived describing the original interior, Ferrari’s specialists examined every comparable Vignale-bodied competition Ferrari of the early 1950s to ensure that every detail accurately reflected the appearance of 0178ED during its successful 1952 season.”
“Mechanically, the restoration was equally painstaking. During the Ferrari Classiche certification process the factory took the highly unusual decision that, although the original matching-number crankcase remained with the car, they could not guarantee its long-term reliability for continued competition use. Rather than compromising the certification, Ferrari preserved the original numbered crankcase as part of the car’s historical record and supplied a specially prepared reinforced replacement crankcase carrying the original engine number.
The engine, transmission and chassis were comprehensively rebuilt, while the Vignale coachwork was restored in the attractive two-tone livery worn when the car won its class at the Coppa InterEuropa at Monza in September 1952.”
“Upon completion Ferrari Classiche issued its coveted White Book, and in 2016 the finished restoration was invited to the Ferrari Competition Cars class at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.”
