The 250 series is today Ferrari’s most sought after, and
while the 250 GTO is the most valuable of the lot, it is the 250 LM – of the
type that Derek Bell is racing in the RAC TT Celebration at the Goodwood
Revival this afternoon - which was the last Ferrari to win France’s
most famous motor race.
The LM was developed from the 250 P (for “Prototype”), a car
which was almost entirely unrelated to the rest of the 250 series, thanks to
its mid- rather than front-engined layout. Indeed, it was Ferrari’s first
mid-engined racing sports car, following hot on the heels of the first
mid-engined Ferrari Formula
One car, the “shark nose” 156.
The 250 LM kept the 250 P’s layout, and with the exception
of the first few examples, which were powered by the 250 P’s 3.0-litre engine,
all used a 3.3-litre V12 rated at 320bhp.
When it was conceived, the LM was meant to replace the 250
GTO as Ferrari’s Group 3 Grand Touring competitor for the 1964 season.
However, when the company suggested it was merely a modified version of the
road-going, front-engined 250 GT, the motor racing authorities disagreed,
meaning Ferrari would have to produce 100 250 LMs to race the car in Group 3.
That was an unattainable number, of course, for a car which
was designed to be a racer. So the only way Ferrari could enter the 250 LM was
as a prototype – something of a problem, because it already had the much faster
275 P and 330 P models in that class.
Consequently, the 250 LM found itself without a raison
d’etre for the 1964 season. And while Ferrari did manage to sell a few to
private teams, the only example entered in that year’s Le Mans, by the North
American Racing Team (NART), failed to even make the start.
Instead, it was at the following year’s race that it all
came good. Most of the other prototypes failed to finish due to reliability
issues or crashes – even Ferrari’s cutting-edge 330 P2 Spyders. And as a
result, it was a 250 LM, again entered by NART and driven by Jochen Rindt and
Masten Gregory, which swpt to victory. Who'd have thought then that we'd still
be waiting for another Ferrari winner 50 years on.
source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/goodwood-revival/11861070/Ferraris-last-Le-Mans-winner-at-Goodwood-Revival.html
by Alex Robbins
http://www.fzrestoration.com
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