Ferrari’s First-ever Race Car Comes out to Play

Sorry Mr Holmberg , but the truth is not that cut and dry . In fact , there’s a raft of controversy surrounding another car that’s been featured at Pebble Beach etc and been accepted by so called ‘ experts ‘ that may in fact be a very real 125S that was modified over the years and currently brought back to its original status , body and all . And for the record . There were two 125S’s . Not one

And therein lies the difficulty when it comes to sussing out any of Ferrari’s history . The records are , how shall we say this , weak to say the least . Enzo was anything but an upfront and by the book . Almost every early Ferrari received some sort of modifications . 90\% of them off record be it major or minor . Many cars were rebodied and rebuilt as something else by Ferrari with little or no documentation . So the simple fact is : Descrepancies abound when it comes to Ferraris from its inception right on to Enzo’s passing

And the only absolute when it comes to historic Ferrari’s is : There are no absolutes . Period !

Mr Homlberg ; I was making no conclusions about the other car in my comment but several so called ‘ experts ‘as well as the judges etc at Pebble Beach have claimed the cars history as authentic . My point being no one can be completely sure about anything when it comes to classic Ferrari’s and especially pre 1969 Ferrari’s . The only thing less reliable than Ferrari’s records are the so called ‘ experts ‘ themselves in particular the so called ‘ experts ‘ at Ferrari’s official restoration department . Enzo was all to well known for his ‘ shell games ‘ when it came to his race and road cars . Taking from this to create that keeping no records in between , changing serial numbers on a whim etc . Customer cars being the worst . Especially celebrity customer cars . Many being built out of the wreckages and remains of race cars then rebuilt , rebodied , re named/numbered and then sold as new . Those realities being part of Ferrari’s many dirty little secrets that many today are trying desperately to ignore .

As to the ” most others ” comment ? I don’t know you , but all bets are you know me ( or at least of me ) And I’m telling you most in fact the majority do not agree with you . In my personal opinion ? Like I said : knowing the ‘ facts ‘ about Ferrari’s record keeping and history as I do from an inside view I have no opinion on the matter : seeing as how in reality with no accurate and reliable proof no conclusive case can be made for anything Ferrari , never mind pre 1969 Ferrari . But , the last thing I’ll say is that separating out the romantic myth from the reality and regardless of the power train as well as the name on the hood the 815 by all rights was , is and always will be the first Ferrari . With most ( including every major Ferrari historian of note ) being in agreement with that statement !

Ciao baby !

Mr Lange ; Molto grazie . But if I may . Many if not most of the owners that fell victim to the trend , and especially the celebrity owners had no clue their luxury Ferrari sports cars had in fact been built out of used and/or crashed race cars . A few after the fact coming back on Ferrari and a couple even receiving compensation from Enzo in order to maintain their silence . Someday when the topic is relevant I’ll fill you in on a couple of stories . In the mean time though suffice it to say Enzo was somewhat less than honorable when it came to the customer cars he sold : especially during the 50’s and early 60’s . The man was and is a Legend . But he’s a flawed legend at best .

As to the likes of Maserati doing the same ? Its possible but kind of doubtful . They neither had the cache or the despotic leadership -political/legal connections of Ferrari to get away with it the way Enzo did . But it was ( and is ) Italy . Therefore almost anything is possible