This rare 1952 Ferrari 212 Inter once belonged to Argentinian dictator Juan Peron.
On January 18-19, it will cross the block in RM Sotheby’s hugely anticipated Arizona sale.
The 212 Inter is a spectacular grand tourer first shown at the 1951 Brussels Motor Show.
Juan Peron bought this Ferrari 212 Inter at the 1952 Paris Motor Show
This example is the 49th of the 73 built.
Peron acquired it new at the 1952 Paris Motor Show. Due to deep economic troubles in Argentina he was nervous about the public reaction to his returning home with a brand new Ferrari.
There was also the small matter of the enormous tax bill he’d incur.
However, he really loved this car.
Peron had a quiet word with Ferrari and arranged for the 212’s chassis and number plate to be changed, making it look like an older model.
After Peron’s government collapsed in 1955, Peron’s extravagant possessions were publicly exhibited as evidence of his decadence. The car remained mothballed until the early 1970s, when it was sold on to an Argentine collector.
In the late 1990s it became part of a serious collection of Ferrari show cars.
RM Sotheby’s values the model at $1.6m-2m.
The auction house comments: "Few early Ferrari road cars offer such extraordinary cachet, and the Ghia coupe’s current availability should merit the attention of the world’s most serious collectors and Maranello connoisseurs."
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