By Christopher Smith, Motor1.com
The actual restoration project spanned three years.
[post_ads]Auto restoration videos are not uncommon, and most are usually quite interesting. Casual fans and full-blown auto enthusiasts alike typically enjoy seeing the process of bringing a classic car back from the brink, but the folks at FerrariChat aren’t necessarily typical. Sourcing parts to restore an old Chevy can be challenging enough, but the subject of this video is a 1984 Ferrari 512 Berlinetta Boxer – a rather rare Prancing Horse that's a freaking amazing 12-cylinder masterpiece.
When we say rather rare we really mean extremely rare. For starters, the Boxer was never officially imported into the United States so it's already very thin in the North American market. Even if it had been available when new, just over 1,000 of the later 512i models like this were built worldwide. Despite the rarity, this particular Boxer had actually been sitting outside for several years, so the restoration project would involve considerably more than just some new tires and a bit of polishing compound.
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| © Motor1.com 1984 Ferrari 512i BB Restoration |
There’s a corresponding thread for this video montage over at FerrariChat, and it’s absolutely worth reading all the way through. The Boxer’s savior is a forum member named Newman who lists himself as being a professional Ferrari tech from Barrie, Ontario, and judging from the photos, he definitely knows his way around a 512 BB. The restoration began in late 2014, and as you can see in the video, the project took the Ferrari right down to a bare shell.
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The neglected supercar needed body work and a fresh coat of paint, but the real magic happens with Newman’s disassembly and refurbishment of the fabulous Ferrari flat-12 engine. It appears to have suffered the worst from sitting outside in the elements, but the end result is an amazingly beautiful Ferrari mill.
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| 1984 Ferrari 512i BB Restoration |
In fact, the whole car looks positively awesome. Going by the posts in the FerrariChat thread, over three years elapsed from when the Boxer came apart, to the final test drive earlier this year. To Newman’s credit he captured hundreds of photos of the process, and are we ever glad he did because they serve not just as a timeline of the progress, but also a time capsule showing an all-original Berlinetta Boxer. With so few manufactured, simply having that kind of historical reference is almost as good as having the fully restored supercar. Almost.
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| 1984 Ferrari 512i BB Restoration |
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