Some Ferrari’s are important because they won races, others because they established lasting design themes. But others are important just because they are. Such is the case of one particular Ferrari 195 Inter.
Inter, as Ferraristas know, indicated for early Ferraris that the model was a road car as opposed to a racer – always a difficult distinction for the products of Maranello, but particularly in the early years of Ferrari The Company, which was never, for the most part, distinguishable from Ferrari The Man. Enzo Ferrari built race cars, of which derivations were built for highway use.
Originally published in AutoWeek August 28, 2000; republished by author John Matras
This Ferrari 195 Inter was, in fact, also built for a race driver, Luigi “Gigi” Villoresi, and was similar to other designs by Ghia. While Vignale was experimenting with the oval grill that would become a Ferrari trademark, Ghia and developed a keyhole shape, which wasn’t particularly influential.
But early in 1951 Ferrari put this Ferrari 195 Inter on the stand at Turin. Then like now, it was painted eggshell white, and then, like now, it had a triple Weber carburetor arrangement for its V-12. That was unusual for road Ferraris, which typically had only a single Weber, and maybe had something to do with the car’s original owner, winner of the Mille Miglia and two-time Italian champion. The engine also had special camshafts and other changes. The 195 set halfway between the 166 and the 212, bored out from the smaller 166. With the single carb, it was rated at 135 HP.
The engine, of course, is art in engineering, from its dumbbell-type air cleaners to the hand-fabricated headers sweeping back from the engine in a single curve. Almost perfectly symmetrical, each side of the engine has its own distributor mounted on the end of each camshaft.
The Ghia body is equally exquisite. The eggcrate grille only slightly emphasizes the horizontal, while the fender line sweeps back through the door to meet an equally subtle crease that forms the rear fender. Subtler still is a second crease, just below the side windows, that also intersects the rear fender. The trunk drops between a suggestion of tailfins, each mounted with tail lights and turn signal lamps that, with a red circle and vertical amber line, forms an exclamation point – which is the universal reaction of all who see the car even today.
The interior of the Ferrari 195 Inter is both purposeful and charming. Early-‘50s competition buckets, with wraparound seatbacks, are ready for action, but the instrument panel is art deco whimsy. Numerals for the speedometer and tachometer are elevated on a blue ring from a graph paper-line background. The needles are painted on clear plastic discs that rotate counterclockwise for the tach on the left and clockwise for the speedometer on the right. The door pulls, window cranks, even the parking brake lever are machined billet aluminum, and the shift knob is clear amber-like plastic.
Being granted time behind the wheel by owner Nick Soprano of Motor Classic and Competition of White Plains, New York, is a rare and special treat. Clutch take-up is smooth, but strong throttle return springs complicate initial clutch-throttle coordination. The Ferrari 195 Inter engine is docile but smooth as 12 cylinders in harmony should be. The twelve may make great music outside, but inside the car reverberates with the howl of straight cut gears in the non-synchronized gearbox. Shift deliberately and the dogs slide into place. The steering wheel, its large diameter matched by a skinny wood rim, suggests a general direction of travel and, with no boost, requires affirmative input. Yet the speedometer quickly points to 120 (the 70 mph) in third, with two gears left.
All in all, by the standards of 50 years later, it’s abominable. Yet compared to a Fiat or Ford or even a Cadillac of 1951, it’s power and sophistication and maybe a bit of the gentlemanly scoundrel. And that’s important enough, thank you.
Addendum: The 1951 Ferrari 195 Inter, styled by Ghia, looks just a little too much like the Pinin Farina design on the Maserati A6 of several years earlier.
