Welcome to the latest car from our Analogue Archive, where we delve into our records to showcase some of the fabulous sports cars our engineers have restored and preserved back in the days before digital imagery and computerised job cards were commonplace. This time we go back to 1991 with the full restoration of a 1951 Ferrari 212 Export, one of only eight with Barchetta coachwork by Touring. The car was restored by Kevin Jones and Mark Lyon while they both worked at DK Engineering.
Ferrari’s early commercial interests relied heavily on the 212 in 1951, where 27 examples of the Export model were sold for racing in the GT and Sports classes, becoming the racer of choice for events such as the Tour de France, Mille Miglia and Carrera Panamerica. The 212’s finest hour was when Pagnibon and Barraquet drove this very chassis, 0078E to victory at the 1951 Tour de France.
The 212 served Ferrari well until it was replaced with the 225 Sport with its 2.7 litre engine. Many 212s were upgraded to 225-spec engines and these cars are often referred to as type 212/225.
Our engineers, in many cases, were fortunate to be involved in the very first restorations of these iconic cars and therefore gain unique expertise in the originality and authenticity of how these were built. They carry this knowledge forward to this day and can apply it to cars even that have been restored on multiple occasions where certain areas may have moved away from original specification.