Enzo Ferrari giving gifts? Surprising indeed…
Back in the 1950s, many car manufactures you may know today didn’t even exist in the mid-20th century. Brands such as Mercedes, Porsche, and Ford were common, although Ferrari which was founded back in 1947 was still a small company starting out. Surprising to think that the Ferrari we know today was a small company, although you need to start somewhere. And that is precisely what Enzo Ferrari did. Enzo Ferrari was a racer, and the prominent reason Ferrari was founded and the reason why Ferrari made cars in the first place was to fund their racing profession. To get their name out in the car world and especially to get their name out in the Americas, it took a lot of sacrifice and interesting decisions. It’s hard to process that the Enzo Ferrari would be single-handedly giving out gifts to his future rivals… but he did.
The Italian manufacture knew that to get his company started and to get his name out there he had to impress a certain market. Which was the United States market. Ford was the biggest American car manufacturer at the time, and Enzo knew if he got to grips with Henry Ford II he could easily impress the United States of America audience. As anyone else would do, Enzo Ferrari built a one-of-a-kind car to gift to no other than Ford himself. If you can’t tell already, this was before the whole 1966 Le Mans fiasco which ignited Ford and Ferrari’s rivalry when Ford insisted on buying Ferrari but not giving him a say in motorsport. Long story short Ford not only beat Ferrari at the 66′ Le Mans but also humiliated them as well. However, it was a different story back in the 50s.
To enter the American market, Ferrari dipped their toes into subtle American styling to create the 1952 Ferrari Barchetta. Yet, this specific Barchetta I’m talking about has a brilliant story behind it. As said before, it is surprising that Ferrari himself would be giving gifts to impress others, but it is true. The car named after “a small boat” represents classic Italian styling, with at the time American styling hints. It took minimalism to an extent with no weather protection at all, no windows, no window wipers, just a body inspired by racing at the time. Good old 1950s Italian styling… ironically, you may notice that the car has whitewall tires. Yes, an Italian car with whitewall tires, which was the pinnacle of American design at the time. This is what Enzo Ferrari was going for, besides he was trying to impress the top American manufacture after-all.
Chrome trimming and whitewall tires might seem like the unthinkable on a European car let alone a Ferrari, but this was during a period when Enzo and Ford were trying to merge the two companies. And for that reason, it was the best bet for Ferrari. It might have taken ideas from American styling, yet the engine was definitely an Italian racing engine. It was a 212, making it a 2.7L V12 with overhead camshafts. Enzo wanted the American to have a racing engine in the ‘stock’ Ferrari 212. The Barchetta was LHD since the Italian car was gifted to an American customer, and not just any American customer it was going to the Henry Ford II.
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Various car companies get inspired and use many ideas and innovations from other manufactures, it was very common to do that, and it still is. When styles and people’s preferences change so do car companies. Henry Ford II seemed to enjoy his one-off 1952 Ferrari Barchetta, which gave him a revolutionary idea. If you enjoy something widely, then you would want to incorporate it into your everyday life. That is what Henry Ford II set out to accomplish. There are theories and rumors that Henry Ford used the styling and idea of his 1952 Ferrari Barchetta and included it into the infamous Ford Thunderbird. The Peterson Museum of Automotive History has a picture in their archives of this car next to an mg TC next to a styling buck of the Thunderbird, that shows that Ford and Ford’s designers are very aware of the special Barchetta.
By the looks of the 1952 Ferrari Barchetta and of the 1953 first-generation Ford Thunderbird, they’re many similarities between the two cars. Details from the Barchetta were taken into consideration and made their way into the Thunderbird. The egg-crate-shaped grill, the routing of the exhaust pipes, and a couple of other details were included in the American car.
You might not be able to see many similarities, yet this car played a huge role in inspiring the Thunderbird we love today. The completely raw and stripped-down 1952 Ferrari Barchetta created an interesting bond between Enzo Ferrari and Henry Ford II. Despite the fact it ended up in a rivalry, Henry can still thank Ferrari for giving him one hell of a car.
You can visit Henry Ford II’s fantastic 1952 Ferrari Barchetta at the Peterson Museum of Automotive History in California.