Ferrari 1952 ? 1953 500 F2 by Exoto

The Car

The Ferrari 500 F2 is a small 4 cylinder Aurelio Lampredi-designed Grand Prix car. The 500 F2 helped establish Ferrari as the legendary marque they are now by winning 14 out of 15 Grand Prix across the 1952 and 1953 seasons. It is considered to be among the best Grand Prix cars of all time.

After Alfa Romeo decided to no longer compete in the World Championship at the end of 1951, the FIA was left in the unfortunate position of having no real contender to Ferrari to contest the F1 Championship. Seeing that the season would end up a one horse race with small fields, the FIA changed the rules to that of the Formula 2 specification.

While this opened up the competition to more teams and larger fields, Ferrari already had a car that met the new rules in this classification as well. With Alberto Ascari as the number one driver, Ferrari went on to win all seven races in the 1952 season (ex Indianapolis).  Ascari won six of those seven but  missed the season opening Swiss Grand Prix as he was racing a 375 Ferrari at the Indianapolis 500. The Swiss GP was won by Piero Tarruffi.

The following year the dominance continued with Ferrari winning all but the last round Italian GP which was one by Fangio in a Maserati.

In 1953 the 500 F2 also gave Mike Hawthorn his maiden win as well as the first win for British driver in the modern era.

The Model

Both Exoto and CMC currently have models of the 500 F2 on offer and both versions are superb models. The two manufacturers consistently deliver highly detailed and accurate replicas, however my personal preference in this instance runs to the Exoto version. To me, the detailing captures a realism that I don't see in the CMC version.

The Exoto model is built from diecast, machined, pressed, stamped, molded and photo-etched metal parts. It also features braided metal, rubber hoses, wire mesh parts and velour covered seats. All parts are beautiful representations of the real thing.

The level of detail in the engine bay and cockpit is superb. Even under very close macro photography, the cast and machined details stand up well and the nuts and screws do look over-sized or out of place.

Exoto are working their way through all versions of the 500 F2, the number 10 car featured in our Gallery is the 1953 Argentinean GT winning Car driven by Alberto Ascari, while the number 30 is the Snub-Nosed 1952 Swiss GP winner driven by Piero Taruffi. Both are now un-available having been retired after sale of their limited production. There are numerous other versions still available though.

These are superb models and highly recommended.