Introduction
Enzo Ferrari was born in Modena, Italy, in 1898. His passion was the
race car which started to produce results when he started working for
Alfa Romeo's racing program in 1920. He drove actively until 1931 and
won several races. He put together a team that became the Scuderia
Ferrari in 1929. Alfa Romeo supplied the cars.
After WWII, Ferrari began to produce cars at Maranelo. The first 12
cylinder engine was produced in 1946, with two banks of 6 in a 60
degree vee and overhead cam shafts.
See:
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1935 Alfa Romeo Tipo C, 8C-35 is not really a
Ferrari, but was one of the race cars campaigned by Scuderia Ferrari
before World War II. The car shown is Peter Giddings #50013 shown at
the 2003 Palo Alto Concours d'Elegance. Peter says, "Perhaps
50013's greatest success was when it was driven by the great Nuvolari
to a miraculous victory at The Coppa Cieno. Contemporarily described
as his finest drive ever, Novolari retired his Alfa Romeo Tipo C
12C-36 after only two laps with a broken transaxle. Novolari arrived
back at the pits on foot and had Pintacuda in his works 8C-35 (50013)
pulled in. By the time Novolari got away in a car which did not fit
him at all well, he was seven laps down on the the entire field.
Driving like a man possessed, Novolary overtook all of his team mates,
and the rest of the opposition, including the entire Auto Union team,
to an unbelievable win." |
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1951-1952 340 America. This chassis used
the Lampredi 4.1liter V-12 a new derivation because the previous
engines where too small. There were roadster and coupes built, the
former being very nice. Ghia built a number of cars on this chassis
including several 4 place and at least 3 fast back models one of which
placed 5th in the 1952 Carrera Panamerica. Other races included Le
Mans and Sebring. Of the 22 built, there were only 8 street cars. |
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1952 212 Inter Coupe Vignale. This car was at
the 2004 Concorso Italiano an the Monterey Peninsula. The chassis had
bodies fitted by Vignale and Pininfarina, the start of the
relationship with Ferrari. The engine was a 2.6liter V-60 12 cylinder,
aluminum engine with pressed in cast iron liners. A single overhead
camshaft for each bank and 2 valves per cylinder. A five speed
transmission was fitted with rigid rear drive and semi elliptical
springs. The front suspension was indecently sprung and hydraulically
actuated drum brakes. |
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1953-1954 250 Europa. This model replaced
the 212 Inter. It was a 3 liter car that was the twin of the larger
engined 375 America. The engine was a descendant of the 250 S
'experimental' which won the 1952 Mille Miglia with Giovanni
Bracco. Bodies were from Vignale and Pininfarina. |
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250 Testa Rosa. Introduced for the 1958 World
Sports car Championships that was under a new reduced displacement
formula designed to foster more competition, the V-12 TR 250 was
produced. The prototype and distinctive pontoon fenders were designed
by Sergio Scaglietti and first seen on the 2nd prototype at Le Mans in
1957 where it got to 2nd place before dropping out with a burned
piston. The model was produced in two forms, one for the Ferrari team
and the other for customers. The design was optimized for endurance
racing, not sprints. It was big, heavy and strong compared to much of
the competition, designed to gain points at Sebring, Targo Florio,
Nurburgring and Le Mans. Surprisingly it was fitted with drum
brakes. It won the 1958 World Sports car Championship with 38 points
vs Aston Martin with 16 in second place. First place finishes were
achieved at Sebring and Le Mans. |
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250 GT California Spyder 1958-1962. This
car was produced in short and long wheel base models and was
commissioned by Luigi Chinetti a race car driver (who won the first
post war 24 hours of Le Mans in 1949 in a Ferrari) and who started
Ferrari sales in North America. The Spyder was built in small numbers
and was technically very close to the Berlinettas. The car was made of
steel with aluminum doors and deck lids. Just over 100 were produced
with the last sold in the United States in February, 1963. Over half
were short wheel base versions. |
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The 250 GT Berlinetta "Lusso" was produced in 1962-1964. This was a magnificent Pininfarina designed Scaglietti
bodied coupe of limited production. The level of comfort and finish
was closer to a competition car limited the production to about 350
vehicles. It had several names including: 250 GT Pininfarina
Berlinetta 1963; Scaglietti Berlinetta unificata; type 168/U-539/U;
and 250 GT/L. It is now known as the Lusso. A road test in Auto
Italiana Sport called it "The Best in the World". Maximum speed was
above 142mph. |
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1964-1966 275 GTB. Next in line after the
"Lusso", this Berlinetta had a bigger engine evolutionary from the one
first produced in 1947, the displacement is now up to 3.3liters. The
big changes were in the chassis and gear box with independent rear
suspension appearing for the first time in a touring model. Again the
body was designed by Pininfarina and built by Scaglietti. Both steel
and aluminum models were created and there was a GTB/C competition
model which was very different under the skin, lighter and more
powerful. |
