Ferrari 212 Inter Ghia 1952.

FERRARI 212 INTER GHIA COUPE EXPORT LUNGO 1952

This Ferrari has travelled a lot in the 60 years of its existence, but it has a very special history in Holland. It was bought in 1952 for 50.000 guilders by the Dutch businessman and gentleman racing driver Eddy Hertzberger. He was a great lover of fast cars, before the Ferrari he drove a Blower Bentley, an Aston Martin and a Bugatti Type 57. He was a very good driver, he won the Grand Prix des Frontières in 1936, on the racetrack of Chimay, in the south of Belgium. By doing so he became the first Dutchman ever to win a Grand Prix.

The 212 Inter bought by Eddy Hertzberger was bodied by Ghia, in aluminium of course, with beautiful blue paintwork. Eddy had not ordered it with the normal ‘Inter’ V12 but with the ‘Export’ engine, with three double Weber carburettors, instead of one. Eddy Hertzberger’s 212 (chassis number 0225 EL) was the first Ferrari delivered in Holland by an official dealer (Maasland).

Eddy not only drove the car to work, but he also raced it: he won on Zandvoort with it, and that feat makes this 212 the first Ferrari that won a race on Dutch soil.

One of his most enthusiastic passengers was his son Anthony, who was 4 years old when the Ferrari left the Hertzberger family. His father Eddy loved the Ferrari, but he found it to susceptible to mechanical problems, and he decided to buy a Mercedes 300 SL and sell the Ferrari.

Eddy Hertzberger drove the Ferrari usually with 150 to 180 km/h. The speed, the sound of the V12 and the smell of the leather made an everlasting impression on his son Anthony.

At the beginning of this century Anthony started to look for his father’s old 212, together with his friend and Ferrari specialist Jean-Louis Bezemer. After a lot of detective work they found the car. Is was not in good condition, it was damaged and it had been driven for some time with a Corvette V8 in it. In fact it still had the Corvette rear axle. Finding the car was difficult, but buying it proved even more difficult. Anthony Hertzberger and Jean Louis Bezemer even stopped their efforts for some time, but Anthony could not forget his father’s car. The 212 had changed ownership in the mean time and in 2013 both men tried again and succeeded in buying the Ferrari. The Hertzberger 212 finally was back again in the hands of the family that bought it in 1952.

Pastorelli Classics carefully restored the car for Anthony Hertzberger and brought his father’s old Ferrari to its former glory.