Tag Archives: Enzo

More Than I Expected – Ferrari P4/5 by Pininfarina

In March 2005 Andrea Pininfarina grand son of Battista Farina founder of Pininfarina asked James Glickenhaus if he would be interested in commissioning a one off car to which James replied that he would like a modern version of the mid sixties Ferrari P series sports racing car. Three months later a deal was concluded in which James would receive his dream car for a cost of $4,000,000 (US$ Four Million).

Ferrari P4/5 by Pininfarina, The Quail

James bought the last Ferrari Enzo 2003 US spec and took it along with his 1967 Ferrari P3/4 chassis #0846 which won the 1967 Sebring 12 Hours to Pininfarina for them to have a car to work on and from. Today’s unique vehicle still carries it’s Enzo identity plate.

Ferrari P4/5 by Pininfarina, The Quail

The body Pininfarina came up with is in my humble opinion a huge improvement on the original Enzo, it has a drag coefficient of just 0.34 which powered by a 660 hp version of the Enzo’s V12 motor will allow the car which is some 595 lbs / 270 kgs lighter than the original Enzo to reach 60mph from rest in 3 seconds and on to a top speed of 233 mph.

Ferrari P4/5 by Pininfarina, The Quail

The interior leather trim was chosen by James’s daughter and the seats tailored to fit James and his son after their bodies were scanned to get the most accurate measurements known to man.

James publicly took delivery of this unique car in August 2006 at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, and has said subsequently “The price was agreed to in advance and if anything I feel they gave me more than I expected.” Ferrari and Pininfarina similarly probably also got far more than $4 million dollars of publicity from the project as nearly everyone who has seen the car since, myself included, has wanted to get in a newspaper story about it.

My thanks to Geoffrey Horton for sharing today’s photographs which were taken earlier this year at The Quail.

Thanks for joining me on this “More Than I Expected” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at the final incarnation of the Connew. Don’t forget to come back now !

Brighton Speed Trials Under Threat of Permanent Cancellation !

In their infinite wisdom, Brighton & Hove City Council are seeking to ban the Brighton Speed Trials from 2014.

If you care about speed and or motorsport history, please sign this linked petition to save Brighton Speed Trials in 2014 and beyond.

It’s a faf to Register before signing, but relatively painless compared to loosing the event which has been run with few interruptions since 1905.

You do not need to be resident in Brighton or even the UK to sign.

Thanks and please spread the word through whatever social media you have at your disposal.

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The Great Ferraris – The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering

A couple of weeks ago Geoffrey Horton took part in The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering Concours d’Elegance, here are a few pictures of The Great Ferraris Geoffrey has kindly shared with us.

Ferrari 166 Inter, The Great Ferraris, The Quail

Among the oldest of the Ferraris present was chassis #043S a 1950 Ferrari 166 Inter Touring Coupé of which 37 were built between 1948 and 1951.

Ferrari 212 Inter, Pininfarina Convertible, The Great Ferraris, The Quail

The Ferrari 212 Inter Pininfarina Convertible above is one of two built for Ferrari to show in the 1952 Auto Salons, chassis #0235EU, above, is left hand drive while the other is right hand drive. Among it’s owners this car counts Tony Parravano and the film director Roberto Rossellini who entered the car in the 1953 Nurburgring sports car race where it finished ninth driven by journalist Maurice Gatsonides and Ricardo Vignolo.

Ferrari 250 Europa Vignale Coupé, The Great Ferraris, The Quail

Up for auction was the 1953 Ferrari 250 Europa Vignale chassis #0313EU which appeared at the 1954 New York Auto Show. The car fetched US$ 2.8 million / £1.8, possibly a bargain for what many consider one of the most attractive Ferrari’s ever built.

Ferrari 250 Testa Rosa, The Great Ferraris, The Quail

Dick Morgensen bought this Ferrari 250 TR chassis #0756 TR in late 1958 and raced it to victory lane on at least eight occasions between 1959 and 1960. The car has been owned by it’s present owner Chris Cox from North Carolina since 2008.

Ferrari Enzo, The Great Ferraris, The Quail

Jumping forward to the start of the millenium above is one of 401 Ferrari Enzos built between 2002 and 2004.

Ferrari P 4/5, The Great Ferraris, The Quail

Costing a cool US$ 4 million to build is the one off Ferrari P4/5 by Pinninfarina which was built around the last Ferrari Enzo to be produced for James Glickenhaus. Upon taking delivery of the restyled car the owner said “I feel they gave me more than I expected”.

Ferrari F12berlinetta, The Great Ferraris, The Quail

The Ferrari F12berlinetta replaced the Ferrari 599 series last year, it’s 6.2 litre / 382 cui V12 produces 730 hp the same as a 1970 Can Am car !

My thanks to Geoffrey Horton for sharing his photo’s of of which will be seen next Wednesday.

Thanks for joining me on this “The Great Ferraris edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres”, I hope you will join me again tomorrow for a look at possibly the greatest Can Am car of all time. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Full Throttle – Enzo Ferrari

Before commencing production of the Enzo in 2003, Ferrari contacted a select list of previous F40 and F50 owners inviting them to purchase one of the 349 limited production run vehicles. All of the cars costing US $659,330 were thus sold in advance.

Ferrari Enzo, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Designed by former lead designer at Pininfarina Ken Okuyama the Enzo can generate 775 kgs / 1709 lbs of downforce at 186 mph to aid handling. The design seems to have split opinion as to it’s attractiveness between those who believe form should follow function and those who believe in higher aesthetic values.

Ferrari Enzo, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Dripping with technology from it’s Formula One programme the Enzo carries a carbon fiber body and technologies banned from Formula One like active aerodynamics, which have recently been reinstated to the top echelon of the sport, and traction control.

Ferrari Enzo, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Before it’s launch at the Paris Motor Show a bikini clad Demi Moore stepped into the show car on a California beech for a scene in “Charlie’s Angels Full Throttle“.

Ferrari Enzo, Goodwood Festival of Speed

The brakes all round are manufactured from a Carbon fiber reinforced Silicon Carbide (C/SiC) ceramic composite, another carry over from the Ferrari racing programme.

Ferrari Enzo, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Such was the demand from customers not originally invited to own an Enzo that a further 50 were made for sale and a 400th was donated to the Vatican for a charity auction at Sotherby’s where it fetched a cool US$1.1 million, which is the kind of price one would expect to pay for one today if one became available.

Ferrari Enzo, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Inside the cockpit gears are shifted using an electrohydraulic shift transmission operated by paddles on the steering wheel with LED lights advising drivers when to shift, another transfer of technology from Ferrari’s racing programme.

Ferrari Enzo, Goodwood Festival of Speed

The Enzo’s front to rear weight distribution was designed to be 43.9 / 56.1 % again to optimise the handling at speed.

Ferrari Enzo, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Capable of reaching 60 mph in a lightening 3.14 secs and 100 mph in 6.6 secs and covering the quartermile in 11 seconds the Enzo highest speed ever recorded in an Enzo is 221 mph and has been timed around the Nurburgring Nordschliefe at 7m 25.21 secs with a broken electronic damper. Interestingly the F430 Scuderia has since equalled the Enzo’s lap times at Fiorano, Ferrari’s in house test circuit.

Ferrari Enzo, Goodwood Festival of Speed

The jewel in the crown of the Enzo is the 651 hp 65 degree V12 which shares the same basic architecture as the contemporary V8’s used by both Ferrari and Maserati.

Ferrari Enzo, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Three pre production Enzo’s were disguised as to look like Ferrari 348’s, the third of which raised $195,500 in the same auction as the 400th Enzo. The Enzo was used as the basis for a number of other models including the FXX, FXX Evoluzione and one off P4/5 by Pinninfarina carrying Ferrari badges, along with the Maserati MC 12, MC 12 Corsa and one off Maserati Birdcage 75th concept car.

Thanks for joining me on this “Full Throttle” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I will be looking at a Lotus 47. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Dino Remembered – Ferrari 246S #0784

At the end of 1955 Alfredo ‘Dino’ Ferrari proposed the idea of building a twin over head cam 1.5 litre / 91.5 cui V6 motor for use in second tier open wheel Formula 2 racing to his father Enzo. Soon afterwards ‘Dino’ was hospitalised with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, while in hospital ‘Dino’ discussed the technical details of his idea with legendary engineer Vittorio Jano.

Jano translated his disscusions with ‘Dino’ into what would become the first ‘Dino’ V6 which was used in Formula 2 races in 1957, by which time ‘Dino’ had fatally succumbed to his illness.

The motor had the two banks of cylinders unusually inclined at 65 degrees by 1958 a larger version of the ‘Dino’ V6 had been installed in Ferrari’s Grand Prix cars and used by Mike Hawthorn to win the 1958 World Drivers Championship.

A 2 litre / 122 cui version of the ‘Dino’ engine was installed in a sports car, s/n #0740, for Peter Collins to drive at Goodwood in the 1958 Sussex trophy where he came 2nd. The sports car was indistinguishable from the older Fantusi bodied 250TR apart from the 3 twin choke carburetors sticking out of the bonnet /hood where the larger engined 250 TR had 6.

Ferrari 246S, Bobby Verdon-Roe, Siverstone Classic

Several more variations of the Dino V6’s were built and raced including single over head cam versions with 60 degree inclinations between the cylinders. #0784 seen here in the hands of Bobby Verdon Roe at the Silverstone Classic was the last of the 246S models to be built in 1959.

#0784 was fitted with a twin cam V6 and uniquely with Formula One derived independent rear suspension. On it’s debut Phil Hill and Graf Berghe ‘Taffy’ von Trips drove this chassis into second place in the 1960 Targa Florio. This would remain the cars best result despite the best efforts Richie Ginther, Ludovico Scarfiotti, Ed Hugus, Alan, Cornell jr, Ricardo & Pedro Rodriguez, and Bob Grossman.

In 1962 the car was fitted with the high tail body seen on the car today. Among it’s many owners since the 1960’s was Nick Mason’s friend and Pink Floyd Manager Steve O’Rourke who was briefly the custodian of #0784 in 1997. More recently in 2009 Bobby Verdon Rowe and Nick Leventis took this 246S to victory lane in a one hour race at the Goodwood revival in 2009.

Thanks for joining me on the Dino V6 edition of ‘Gettin’ a lil’ psycho on tyres’ I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Ciao Enzo – Ferrari F40

Today’s Ferrari Friday blog is dedicated to the person who first suggested Ferrari Friday blogs to me many months ago, Jr Cracker, otherwise known to me as Mike who’s Birthday it is tomorrow.

Ferrari F40, Bristol IAMF

The Ferrari F40 what was technical tour de force intended to bring together 40 years of learning and achievement in one road vehicle to celebrate the first 40 remarkable years in the story of Ferrari S.p.A.

Ferrari F40, Bristol IAMF

With a tested 200 mph capability the F40 held the title of worlds fastest production car, when it was launched in 1987, to underline it’s technical superiority.

Ferrari F40, Bristol IAMF

The F40 was not only the companies most powerful and fastest car, but at US$ 400,000 in 1987, it was also the most expensive car Ferrari had ever offered for sale.

Ferrari F40, Bristol IAMF

1,315 examples of this type were manufactured between 1987 and 1992 the last of them selling for a rumoured US$1.6 million.

Ferrari F40, Bristol IAMF

Many of the technical specifications were advanced from the Ferrari (288) GTO including the twin turbo V8 engine which in this application was increased to 3 litres / 183 cui producing 470 hp.

Ferrari F40, Bristol IAMF

Keeping such a powerful motor cool in such a small vehicle required ventilation through the rear screen.

Ferrari F40, Bristol IAMF

Until 1990 F40’s like this particular 1989 example, seen at the Italian Auto Moto Festival, were bereft of power sapping catalytic converters.

Ferrari F40, Bristol IAMF

During Bonneville Speedweek 2006 Amir Rosenbaum recorded a top speed of 226 mph in his lightly modified F40, standard versions could reach 120 mph in just 11 seconds faster than both the Lamborghini Countach and Porsche 959 which were it’s main competitors.

Ferrari F40, Bristol IAMF

Enzo Ferrari knew when setting out the specifications of the F40 that this would be his final engineering statement and it was indeed the last vehicle bearing his own name that he was to commission before his death aged 90 in August 1988.

Thanks for joining me on the F40 Edition of ‘Gettin’ a lil’ psycho on tyres’, I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

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My Word Is My Bond – Ferrari 250 GT Boano Convertible

Today’s uniquely bodied Ferrari images come straight from the Carmel By The Sea Concours on the Avenue which was held on Tuesday courtesy of GALPOTS regular contributor Geoffrey Horton.

Ferrari 250 GT Boano Convertible

In 1955 a New Yorker Robert Lee set off on a Safari stopping over in Rome for a week on the outward journey. While in Italy Mr Lee went to Modena and visited Enzo Ferrari who suggested that if Mr Lee should ever want to buy a Ferrari he should buy one direct from the factory in Italy.

Mr Lee responded that he did not think a Ferrari would be up to running on the streets of New York, to which Enzo replied “If you buy a Ferrari, I guarantee it will run in New York City”.

Ferrari 250 GT Boano Convertible, Carmel By The Sea

In 1956 Mr Lee saw this 250 GT Convertible on the Ferrari stand at the New York Auto Show, when Mr Lee enquired about the possibility of purchasing it he was informed by Luigi Chinetti, Ferrari’s New York representative, that the car was not for sale and would be returned to Modena after the show.

Mr Lee then sent Enzo a Telegram reminding him of their meeting and offering $ 9,500 dollars, all he had, for the Convertible.

Ferrari 250 GT Boano Convertible, Carmel By The Sea

Soon after on the instructions of Mr Ferrari, Mr Chinetti asked Mr Lee to bring him a cashiers cheque for $9,500 and the worlds only 250 GT Boano Convertible, which is alleged to have cost $20,000 to build, would be his.

55 years and two restorations later this unique car still belongs to Mr Lee, possibly making it the worlds oldest Ferrari in continuous original ownership.

Jaguar XK150,  Carmel By The Sea

My thanks again to Geoffrey Horton, seen above with his sister Vanessa and XK140, for today’s photographs, I hope you will join me in congratulating Geoffrey on winning second place at the Carmel By The Sea Councours on The Avenue.

Hope you have enjoyed this Boano Convertible edition of ‘Gettin’ a lil’ psycho on tyres’ and that you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a large Bristol. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Two Seat Grand Prix Car – Ferrari 312 P #0890

Last week on Ferrari Friday we looked at the catastrophe that befell the Ferrari teams Grand Prix effort as a result of Enzo’s illness sabbatical in 1972.

Ferrari 312 P, Goodwood FoS

The story of the Ferrari teams fortunes in sports car racing during this period were not quite so catastrophic but having red washed the World Sportscar Championship of 1972 winning all races except the Le Mans 24 hours, which the team did not enter allegedly because they did not believe their engine would prove sufficiently reliable, 1973 proved to be a disappointment.

Ferrari 312 P, Goodwood FoS

Matra who had only entered, and won, the Le Mans 24 hours in 1972 made a successful bid for the World Sports Car Championship in 1973. While this was by no means as comprehensive a blue wash as Ferrari had achieved the year before.

The absence of ‘Fury’ Forghieri who had been exiled to the Fiorano test track by FIAT management during Enzo Ferrari’s sabatical was tangible in terms of Ferrari’s flagging sports car results.

Ferrari 312 P, Goodwood FoS

This 1973 spec Ferrari 312 PB chassis #0890 was built for the 1972 season during which Art Mezario and Brian Redman drove the car to victory in the Spa 1000 kms.

Ferrari 312 P, Goodwood FoS

Mezario also drove to a solo non championship victory at Imola in a 500 km race in this chassis, #0890 only disgraced it’s self once from six starts in 1972 with an engine failure at Kyalami.

During 1973 #0890 was raced a further five times with 2nd place finishes it’s best results at Dijon for Ickx / Redman and at the Nurburgring for Carlos Pace / Merzario a partnership which brought the car a 3rd place in it’s final front line race in the 6 hours at The Glen.

Ferrari 312 P, Goodwood FoS

Chassis #0890 seen here at Goodwood Festival of Speed is easily recognisable being the only one of the six 312 P chassis that had the air intake modification to the drivers side chassis skin which appeared at the ADAC 1000 kms at the Nurburgring in 1973.

Ferrari 312 P, Goodwood FoS

In 1972 Ferrari built six 312 P chassis so that there could be a team of three freshly prepared cars at each of the World Championship races. The PB initials were used by the press to distinguish the car from the previous 312 P model of 1971.

Ferrari 312 P, Goodwood FoS

The 1972 Ferrari sports car team managed by Peter Schetty with Ermanno Cuoghi looking after the preparation of the cars was without doubt the class of the field,

Ferrari 312 P, Goodwood FoS

their cars powered by a water cooled 3 litre /183 cui 48 valve flat 12 motor that was in essence a Grand Prix engine detuned for reliability. Five of the six 312 P chassis originally built in 1972 are known to exist today.

Thanks for joining me on today’s PB edition of ‘Gettin’ a lil’ psycho on tyres’ and I hope that you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

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