European Hill Climb Championship: Ferrari Turns The Mountains Red

Between the late '50s and early '60s, the Germans, as mentioned in our previous episode on Roarington.com, developed prototypes specifically for hill climbs, winning repeatedly with the 718. Meanwhile, the Italians were focused on Formula 1, with the 246 F1 and 156 F1 winning the Drivers' World Championship with Mike Hawthorn in 1958 and Phil Hill in 1961. Porsche's victories annoyed Maranello, so in 1962, Sporting Director Eugenio Dragoni convinced Enzo Ferrari to entrust a Dino 196 SP to Ludovico Scarfiotti. Alone, against Stuttgart's squadron, the Italian won the European Hill Climb Championship with two races to spare, becoming the champion right in Germany.

Ferrari's first success in the European Hill Climb Championship came in 1962 with Ludovico Scarfiotti driving the Dino 196 SP.

The score was settled: when Ferrari participates, it wins! This was true also in Formula 1, where another Drivers' and Constructors' World Championship came in 1964 with John Surtees driving the 158 F1. In the mountains, however, Porsche didn't rest and returned to dominate with its lightweight 8-cylinder boxers. The response was ready: in 1965, Ferrari struck again with the Dino 206 SP, once more driven by Ludovico Scarfiotti, this time directly entered by Ferrari, not by Scuderia Sant'Ambreus like before. It was an extraordinary season, winning the European Title again in front of their fierce Porsche rivals.

In 1965, Ludovico Scarfiotti broke Porsche's dominance once again this time in the Dino 206 SP, ultimately becoming the European Champion.

After winning the World Sportscar Championship in 1967 with the 330 P4, Maranello decided to show their strength in hill climbs again. The famous engineer Mauro Forghieri created a unique car based on the chassis of the previous years' Dino 206, equipped with a flat 12-cylinder engine of F1 origin, reduced to 2000cc. It was called the 212 E Montagna, weighing just 500kg with 300hp. This unique example was entered by Scuderia Ferrari in the 1969 European Hill Climb Championship, and once again, they won the title, this time with Swiss driver Peter Schetty at the wheel. Cat and dog, or rather, Prancing Horse and mare, would meet on the track and no longer on the hill climbs.

The Ferrari 212 E Montagna, a true prototype with an engine derived from Formula 1, dominated the EHCC in 1969 with Peter Schetty.