After joining Ferrari’s Formula One team in 1974, Niki Lauda won the 1975 Drivers’ Championship, the team’s first in eleven years. To celebrate this, ItalyCar of Bologna produced five 1:2 scale Ferrari 312 T2 motorized kids’ cars. This is one of those five. It is currently for sale by Erredibimotori in Modena, Italy. While it will cost around $120,000, and about $8,500 more to ship it to the United States, its still a good deal.
According to the listing, the first Ferrari 312 T2 ItalyCar was produced by the company’s owner for his daughter. He was able to contact several contracted Ferrari suppliers directly to negotiate the building of authentic half-scale items (Momo built a half-scale steering wheel, Goodyear made half-size tires, etc).
The first example was shown at the 1976 Bologna Motor Show and it is believed Niki Lauda himself later ordered one for his son. Unfortunately, this authenticity proved to come at a cost as, after only five of the cars were produced, ItalyCar went into bankruptcy. Pony Car, another kids’ car maker in Bologna, acquired the production rights to the half-scale 312 T2 and built two more cars. They too then realized the production costs were too high. A total of seven, therefore, were produced.
The car is powered by a 60 cc two-stroke, single-cylinder engine with a top speed of around 37 MPH. The transmission has two forward gears, as well as a reverse. The car also includes independent suspension, alloy wheels, slick tires, and working gauges including a tachometer that goes up to 12,000 RPM. Period correct attention to detail, such as including the front rollbar behind the steering wheel as well as brake cooling ducts next to the front tires, are truly remarkable.
You might still be thinking $120,000 is a bit steep for a glorified Formula One “Power Wheels”. You could either get a modern, safer and slower motorized kids’ car or a fully focused actual racing go-kart for a fraction of the price. Its still a bargain. Back in 2019, an actual 1975 race-winning Ferrari 312 T was sold at auction by Gooding and Company for $6 million. If you want a scaled-down, Formula 1 mini racing thrill for your child, grandchild, or niece or nephew (and have $120,000 lying around), the 312 T2 ItalyCar might be for you.
I love it, but I have no words for the price. If I had 12 million in the bank, sure… But for this money I would rather have three real cars that I like. I didn’t know about these though, so I learned something today. I watched a ton of F1 back in the 80’s, I loved it. Mansell, Prost, Senna, all the rest… Good times.
It’s a go kart with cool bodywork for 120k. An adult would barely fit in it, and where are you going to drive it? It isn’t a “good deal,” it’s a curiosity for the well-heeled and bored.
This Kart would not hold an adult for sure. With the body on you are looking at a 65lb kid or smaller. My secretary is 5’0″ and weighs about 95lbs and cannot fit in mine.
Yes, expensive but it is a piece of art for sure.
Maybe an Austrian can slam into it like he did last weekend – in the real car while racing at Monaco.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LPWH8PzHY5k
I watched the Monaco GP vintage races online….
The carnage in that race alone made me cringe!
Poor Jean Alesi…..
Wow, that is awesome! If I was 12 I’d want that so badly. I still want it now and I’m 57.
Drop a 125cc 2 stroke motor in it and you’d have a 100mph go-kart!
But I might consider a high-revving 250 twin 4-stroke….
Ah, no.
Yes very cool, and yes very pricey!!
These are great and worth a lot of money but I would say the $120,000.00 is a stretch but I HOPE THEY GET THAT PRICE. I own one and several of the American version as twelve were built the exact way and sold in America.
Curious if it has the serial number? or Kart number? The only difference in the American version is the seat material.
This Kart would not hold an adult for sure. With the body on you are looking at a 65lb kid or smaller. My secretary is 5’0″ and weighs about 95lbs and cannot fit in mine.
Yes, expensive but it is a piece of art for sure.
Do you have three of them?
No, I actually have 5 of them. But, one is the European version and the other 4 are the American version. They all run except one that is currently being rebuilt. The one you see for sale was one of the European version. All of the information I have shows that there were 5 of the European version built and 12 of the American version built.
Of the European version, one was said to be in Nikki’s private estate, one I have, one you see here is the third, one was destroyed by Ferrari to prove a point (myth), and no one knows where the last one is, but I have been on the hunt for a while now.
The 12 American version, I have 4, a gentleman in Tampa has one, one was destroyed in a fire I was told, one is in Fort Myers, and the others have not been seen in years.