The Ferrari Hillclimber : The 212E Montagna
by John Elliott
11.7.01

Since its establishment in the late 1950's the European Mountain Championship became the preserve of Porsche. However, on those few occasions when Ferrari gave it serious attention, the German cars were well and truly beaten.

In 1962 Ludovico Scarfiotti in an open 196 SP s/n 0804 took the Championship for Ferrari ahead of the Porsche of Heini Walter. 1963 and 1964 were again Porsche years with avengance. Ferrari returned to the mountains in 1965 with a prototype 166P s/n 0834 and again Scarfiotti took the Championship.

1966 could have seen a repeat performance but Ferrari was experiencing industrial action back in Italy and so Dino s/n 0842 did not appear at all the events and Scarfiotti only managed a second place.

1969 was the next concentrated attack by Ferrari on the European Mountain Championship. Work on a new car had actually started at the end of 1967 and a new open sports 2-litre car was built. It was powered by a flat -12 engine developed by Jacoponi from Forghieri's original 1.5 litre design which had briefly appeared in 1964-65 at the end of the 1.5 litre F1 era. When tested for this new "Sport 2000" the engine produced a healthy 290 bhp at 11,800 rpm.

The car that finally raced in the 1969 European Hill Climb Championship was the 212 E Montagna, s/n 0862. The 212 represents the 2 litre flat 12 configuration of the engine while the E stood for Europeo and Montagna of course for mountain.

The development of chassis 0862 was explored in an excellent article by Marc Sonnery in Cavallino 97. Was this a new chassis or the development of an existing car? The 212 was an obvious development from the 206 and thus an existing car which had been modified. Initially it was thought that Dino s/n 028 was the car but this had been with the Italian Lualdi from 1966 to 1970. The most recent conclusion is that Dino chassis s/n 020 was used and renumbered 0862.

The late 1960's, just prior to the merger with FIAT were difficult times for Ferrari. 1968 was the first year when there were no works-entered Ferrari sportscars in international competition. The Dinos had been reasonably affective in the 2 litre class during 1966-67 but had not been victorious in any major events. The new "Sport 2000" would be more suited to a sprint event and it was decided to enter the European Mountain Championship in 1969.

The Swiss-German Peter Schetty from Basel was selected to drive this potent little barchetta. In 1966 Schetty had come second in the GT category of the hillclimb championship driving a Ford Mustang and in 1967 he was employed by Abarth as their main development driver as well as competing in hillclimbs and sports car events. In 1967 he came third overall in the European Mountain Championship behind the faster Porsche 910's of Gerhard Mitter and Rolf Stommelen.

Schetty did most of the development of the 212 E at Modena and Vallelunga during 1968. The engine gained another 10 bhp for an even 300 and the bodywork was simplified. Headlights were not necessary, a minimal fuel tank was fitted and minor aerodynamic tabs on the front wings and a rear spoiler were also added. There was no brake cooling which was a deliberate omission to ensure their rapid warm-up on the shortest courses.

When the hillclimb season commenced in 1969 Porsche were notably absent. They had decided to give the championship a miss and concentrate on the 908 prototypes in the international endurance races as well as the development of the flat-12 917. Ferrari, too, had its 3 litre 312P and had begun to develop its 512S and of course was also active in Formula 1. Ferrari was also flirting with the Can Am series and Group 7 with the 612/712 Can Am Cars.

The absence of Porsche meant that the 212 E was totally dominant. On the 30th March 1969 the 212 E was rolled out at Ampus in France for a non-championship event. Schetty won easily and repeated the process at the second non-championship hill at Volterra, Italy on the 11th May. The first championship hillclimb took place the following weekend, May 25th at Montseny near Barcelona in Spain, a 2000 foot climb over 10.13 miles in the foothills of the Pyrenees. Schetty won easily and set a new absolute course record.

Then to Germany to Rossfeld-Berchtesgarden and the relatively short tortuous climb of 3.66 miles. Schetty was again victorious with Ortner second in the Abarth 2000 half a minute in arrears. Thick fog prevented Schetty from setting an absolute course record.

It was back to France for round three of the championship at Mont-Ventoux near Avignon -one of the oldest of the European hillclimbs, rising some 6000 feet in 13.4 miles. A new course record was achieved for 0862 and Peter Schetty and, of course, first place. The 13th July 1969 saw the team on home soil for the Trento-Bondone event from Montevideo to Vason on a tight and twisty mountain course of 10.75 miles in length. A time of 10 min. 58.61 sec. brought another victory and new course record for Schetty.

The story is repeated four more times: event 5, Freiburg-Schauinsland in Germany, a relatively short hill of 6.93 miles on 27th July 1969; event 6, Cesana-Sestriere back in northern Italy on the border with France. Then to Switzerland for round 7 at Ollon-Villars near Lausanne and finally to Gaisberg in Austria on the 7th September 1969. At all of these events, bar the Rossfeld climb, Peter Schetty not only won but also set a new outright record for the hill.

Some would claim the victories and championship were devalued due to the absence of Gerhard Mitter and Porsche. Certainly the absence of the German team blunted the attack of the opposition but the performance against the clock was near faultless. Schetty's record time at Cesana-Sestriere was to last for a full thirteen years until finally beaten by Mauro Nesti in an Osella BMW.

The Ferrari effort and the driving of Peter Schetty were beyond question a supreme achievement. Mauro Forghieri, who managed the hillclimb team, was most complementary about Schetty since he had very few incidents and was always a responsible driver. Hillclimbing has been described as a motorised version of 'Uphill skiing' and although the locations of these events in the Alps and Pyrenees could be spectacular any mistake could prove most disastrous.

Schetty would later go on to become Ferrari team manager for the successful endurance championship races in the early 1970's with the 312 PB. The 212E was the technical base for this most successful of sports racing cars.

At the end of the 1969 season s/n 0862 was sold to the Italian privateer Edoardo Lualdi-Gabardi. A new body designed by Piero Ferrari was placed on the 212 chassis since Enzo Ferrari did not want to sell the car with its original clothing. Enzo was convinced, and proved right, that Lualdi would not succeed in the same manner as the factory. Although Lualdi-Gabardi was an experienced and successful hill climber he did not have any victories with the car. It was then passed on to Pierre Bardinon and the Mas Du Clos collection, still with its later body. In the 1980's Bardinon sold the car to the collector Jack Setton who removed the 1970 body and replaced it with the successful 1969 version.

The 212 E Montagna is a special one-off. It was built to do a specific job and achieved the success it deserved due to a simplistic well-engineered design. Today the car is part of Carlos Monteverde's collection and has recently undergone complete restoration.It was shown at the Bond Street concours in London in June and, on 18/19 August, will be driven at the famous Shelsley Walsh hillclimb by former British hillclimb champiopn, David Franklin.

I'd just love to hear that flat-12 engine at full revs. True Prancing Horse Music!

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