1998 Ferrari 125-166 (1949) reconstruction

F1-F2 Peter Whitehead Swing Axle Reconstruction. Introduced at the ‘Circuit of Florence’ in 1948 the Ferrari 166 F2 was fitted with a 2litre V12 engine. Unlike its F1 counterpart the engine was not supercharged but was enlarged to the F2 capacity limit of two litres. The second version of the 125 F2, built during 1949 had a longer wheelbase and this car was sold by Ferrari to UK privateer Peter Whitehead together with two motors, a 1.5 L supercharged and a 2L F2 spec. Competing in thirteen races during 1951 Whitehead was one of the most active privateers however the Ferrari was shelved the following season as he concentrated on F2 with an Alta and sports car events in a works Jaguar. The Ferrari was revived for 1954 culminating in the Tasman Series where it proved capable of winning despite its age. The car remained in Australia having been sold to Richard Cobden who continued to race both at home and in Europe. Following Cobden’s sale of the car the Ferrari motor was replaced with a Chevrolet V8 and the 2-litre V12 found its way into a powerboat. Some years later the still V8 powered 125 was purchased by Tom Wheatcroft for the Donington collection. Top restoration firm Hall & Fowler were retained to carry out a complete refurbishment including locating and recovering the original 1.5-litre supercharged V12 engine. The 2-litre gear driven engine was later purchased by Tom and together with some original parts Hall and Hall built an exact replica of the 2-litre car during the early 2000’s. The lengthy build was fully documented and recorded photographically. Essentially this is now a new car incorporating many original parts including the very rare 2-litre engine.