I am looking for information regarding a 166 F2. Is the 166 F2 car in the Ferrari museum original or a reproduction? If original, is the serial number 112? Is the motor in the car correct? Was it race by Guastalla? If not 112, where is the car? Any pictures of the motor and stamp would be appreciated.
Sure. The motor in the car is original. Mr Litton from Arizona purchased the car in 1959. The car, for the next 47 years, sat in his back yard with some Alfas's. The stamps on the motor are correct and clearly original. As we did a mechanical rebuild, numerious other stamps were discovered that confirm the period of manufacture. The engine had never been apart. Some time in 1952 The heads were replaced and three carbs were added. The heads are date stamped 1952. In 1950 Ferrari recycling a motor or using a extra 166 F2 block (from a run of lees than 20) and componets for a 166MM saved a buck.
If the "112" on the engine is indeed referring to a s/n of a 166 F2, then it is impossible that the engine was in 0052M from the beginning. In 1949 and 1950 the monoposti had short chassis numbers only like 02C to 12C and 01F to 013F. Most probably due to changed legislation Ferrari from 1951 onwards was forced to issue real serials also to non-roadregistered race cars if they are sold to customers (this was not the case for works cars as long as they had been factory property). So all ex-SF monoposti sold to customers in 1951 were restamped with a 3-digit number (other sources say 4-digit with a zero in front). Well-known examples are e.g. 110 (0110) for Rudi Fischer or 114 (0114) for Peter Whitehead. This series went from 102 (0102) to 118 (0118). Only from 1952 onwards the serials of the monoposti had been fully integrated into the standard overall numbering system (e.g. Fischer's tipo 500 was 0184). So the number "112" was only issued somewhere in the winter 1950/51, and the engine was surplus earliest in 1952. There is a fair chance that 112/0112 was indeed the Scuderia Guastalla car which most probably was the same which Giovanni Bracco used in 1950 (under private entry) to win the Italian hillclimb championship, and which was a 1949 works car. Guastalla entered this car sporadically in 1951 for various drivers in F2 races, the last appearance I have is at Siracusa in March 1952. Possibly this car then was sold to Rosier for being used by Trintignant and Armand in the 1952 season. But all still very speculative and unconfirmed. In 1952 most of the swing axle monoposti disappear. Besides 0114 (Whitehead/Dobson), 0110 (Espadon), and 06C (Cortese) there was only the Ecurie Rosier car, and possibly also a spare car for Scuderia Marzotto. And Siracusa in March 1953 was the last appearance of the Scuderia Marzotto which owned the 3 ex-works 166/50 DeDion cars. One went to Mancini/Serena and later to Taraschi, but the whereabouts of the other 2 I do not know. So there had been a lot of potential 166 F2 engines available from 1952 onwards. And it would make sense to put one into a sports car. The race classes had been up to 2 litres and above that, and it was useless to compete with a tipo 195 or 212 against the big bangers. So downsizing to 166 made cars eligible for the 2 litre class, and a F2 engine surely was the entry ticket for a class win.
Michael, thanks for the thorough post, so it's possible 112 was used in a F2, then put in 0052, as its first engine? Mroz, I have some images of an F2 block in a book here, one fully built up over a white canvas, the other all apart. But in neither show the stamping. Are these useful?
No, clearly not. Thought I had explained this in detail. When 0052M was built a F2 engine numbered 112 didn't even exist.
0052M was entered in 1950 for the 24 Heures du Mans and the 12 Heures du Paris, 2 extreme long-distance reliability runs. It would have been nonsens to use a F2 engine for such events. Sprints like hillclimbs and short supporting sports car races on the other hand would have been ideal for such an engine, so it is likely that in her later life she has been used for such purpose. If I remember correctly the Italian hillclimb championship was not based on overall wins but on points granted in the various classes. A barchetta with a 166 F2 engine therefore could have been a serious contender for the championship.
Back to my question. I guess, nobody seems to know if 0112 has the correct motor or if any engine stamp photos exist. Thanks Michael for your thoughts. 0052M has an unusual motor with the cam gear drive. Their were a number of modifications over 0052M's life. What is known is the car started off as a single carb 166 with a dry sump. Good for endurance racing. Ran Le Mans, Silverstone and the 12 hours of Paris in this configuration. Later change to 195 spec ( ran the Targa ) triple carb with 1952 heads. Then later modified back to 166 2 liter. Regarding the 2 liter downgrade, your reasoning makes good sense. It would be competitive for a class win as the car had to race in later years against newer Ferrari's with larger displacements. I had not considered this possibility. Thanks. All the modifications were done in period. One thing for sure, the motor is stamped 0052M in period by the Ferrari factory.