March 29, 2024

Wade Through Films

The Ultimate Driving Machines

From the archive: on this day in 1964

From the archive: on this day in 1964

Ferrari race car front three quarter

Only 78 GT variations of Ferrari’s 250 P endurance automobile ended up generated, out of the 100 intended

Ferrari clash with Italian authorities after creation humiliation

Enzo Ferrari could be a difficult character even at the best of periods – and the mid-1960s was not amongst individuals. 

In late 1963, Ferrari experienced introduced the 250 LM (for ‘Le Mans’), the 250 P endurance-racing prototype formulated into a coupé, and introduced options to establish the 100 street illustrations necessary for Grand Tourer homologation. The Auto Club d’Italia (ACI) experienced persuaded Ferrari to do this, inspite of the reality that “anything less like a tourer, grand or otherwise, will have to be tough to find”. The ACI’s application was then turned down by the Commission Sportive Internationale, as it gave proof that only 78 highway vehicles were made. 

Emotion that he experienced been put in “an particularly disagreeable position”, Ferrari resigned his firm’s ACI membership and hence its ability to operate a Method 1 staff – even with the point that it was chasing the drivers’ and constructors’ titles! 

Operates autos were sent to the US Grand Prix, but they ended up entered by the North American Racing Group. The exact was accurate in Mexico, resulting in the bizzare impression of John Surtees snatching the title for Ferrari in a blue-and-white vehicle. 

Oh, and a resolution nonetheless was not forthcoming, the 250 LM obtaining to race as a prototype for 1965.