Car Show Classics also put together this engine bay porn from Mille Miglia. It’s a lot of detail.

Car Show Classic did a piece with Marcel Massini on the 212 at Mille Miglia. This is a great description of the history of the car from the master himself.

See http://carshowclassic.com/car-models/classic-car/146 for more.

This green MG was very impressive looking at Mille Miglia.

Peter Markowski and Marcel Mancini revel in their work on the restoration and accuracy of 0086E

Scrutineering at Mille Miglia is a great excuse for one of the best car shows in the world. To be eligible, cars need to be from 1927 to 1957 – the years that the Mille Miglia was run as an all out competitive race. Cars ranged from Bugattis, to Frazer Nashes, many Ferraris, and a flock of Gullwings – of course, many had raced Mille Miglia themselves.

0086E was unloaded from the trailer and brought into the building – immediately, photographers from all over the world surrounded the little Ferrari never seeming to let up. Peter Markowski and Marcel Mancini congratulated each other on the project and even the scrutineers were thrilled with the car, with many pats on the back, handshakes, and high marks.

Within minutes of bringing in 0086E, the phototographers emerged - and surrounded the car

Questions, congratulations, and praise

Every detail of the 212 is documented

Ferrari 212 throttle steers out of a hairpin at Virginia International Raceway test

We tested the Ferrari 212 at Virginia International Raceway about a month ago to prepare for the 83rd running of the Mille Miglia in Italy this May. The Osca came along to the track as a benchmark of performance as it was accepted to run the Mille just a few years ago. The testing went very well, with the 212 making enough power to warrant upgrading the tires to Avon vintage racing tires like the Osca. It is amazing the difference a few years makes, the OSCA is 5 years newer than the Ferrari and handles so much better. It is deserving of the Ferraris V-12 engine rather than the 1500cc 4 cylinder mill.

Casey and Peter remove the hood of the 212 while a pack of track marshals look on like wolves

In the mind of every vintage car enthusiast, the Mille Miglia may supersede heaven as the location of divine happiness. This lovely 250 GT Pininfarina Coupe was named 250 MM, short for the race it was designed for, the Mille Miglia. Even this carefully crafted and beautifully prepared car is not immune to the the throes of classic car ownership. The devil is in the details.

For the first time in over 50 years, these former Marzotto team cars are sitting side by side,  prepared once again to compete in the Mille Miglia.  Are these cars like working dogs, border collies or sled dogs who are anxious to work almost to their own demise or are they dreading the stress of the event?

The lighter red car is a Ferrari 340 America serial number 0030MT that belonged to my father, Peter Markowski for 35 years. He bought it as a worn out race car when he was in his late teens and restored over the course of many years then driving it for close to 100,000 miles. In the late 90′s our shop restored it again, overhauling the engine, transmission, brakes and other components. We performed a flawless pant job on the car and Peter sold it shortly after all that work was completed because he was not comfortable driving the car with reckless abandon as he used to.

The car sold to its current owner in Europe who disliked the perfection so performed some magic to make the car look more original followed by competing in many driving events which added some true “battle scars”.  My father was probably quite emotional seeing this old piece of his history next to a car that he and his sons built from the ground up.

A well known Ferrari historian is working to make arrangements to have the two cars shipped to the home of  Giannino Marzotto at Lake Como for a photo shoot and possible magazine article.  I hope this works out as Signior Marzotto may have some incredible stories of racing these cars in the early 50′s.

Ferrari Marzotto 340

Marzotto Team cars 212, 340 Ferrari

Our shop, Restoration and Performance Motorcars has a great relationship with an excellent shop in Italy – GPS Classic. For Mille Miglia, we shipped the Ferrari 212 to GPS where we were able to fine tune the car to the damp Italian air – and water. Since arriving in Italy the weather has been atrocious. Rain every hour, often falling with such force that there have been reports of rain splashing back up – through the floor drains of some of the parked racecars.

The 212 has been covered for the most part, and once inside GPS again, we were very happy to have a covered space, and a great selection of tools. Not to mention keeping good company surrounded by Ferrari’s including a 340 America and a 250 MM. Today we leave Soragna for scrutineering in Brescia, about 60 kilometers to the North.

OSCA, 2 Ferraris and Lagonda

We had some cool cars at the shop on Labor day so we lined them up and shot them. I am so happy with my new Canon Camera that is designed to take abuse but I am not happy with the photos I took on this day because they are blurry for some reason. It seems like when the sun is out in full force the camera cannot handle the bright light. Of course, there was likely to be a grease smudge on the lens!

The cars photographed are a 1956 OSCA MT-4, 1956 Ferrari 750 Monza, the 1950 Ferrari 212, and a 1934 Lagonda Rapide that was leaving for the Colorado Grand later in the day. The OSCA is going to be worked on for the 2010 Mille Miglia and the Monza is getting the camshaft replaced due to severe wear to the lobes.