Friday 23rd February 2018

Ferrari 312PB: Pic of the Week

A stunning and successful Ferrari race car, and not a halo device in sight...

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This week saw the unveiling of Ferrari's latest track-focussed road car, the aptly named 488 Pista - or Track, to you and and me. It also saw the opening of applications for places on our Le Mans Classic campsite, the biennial event already precipitating a great deal of giddy excitement in PH Towers, with much daydreaming of warm summer evenings, cold, tasty beverages and beautiful, sonorous machines.

So what could be a better candidate for Pic of the Week than a track-based Ferrari, of the vintage that might well be on display at La Sarthe this July, stretching its legs on that very same circuit. This particular car is a 312PB, featuring an aluminium monocoque with a steel spaceframe front and rear and powered by a 3.0-litre naturally aspirated flat-12. It was incredibly successful, winning every World Sportscar Championship race in which it was entered in 1972 and claiming the championship for the prancing horse.

Having been driven by such luminaries as Ronnie Peterson, Jacky Ickx, Clay Regazzoni and Mario Andretti, it was a beloved car. "I have great memories of driving it," recalled Andretti. "You could throw it around like a Formula 1 car. It was small and nimble and we won a bunch of races in that car." Unfortunately the end of the 1973 season saw the car mothballed, as Ferrari reaffirmed its focus on Formula One and left sports car racing altogether - but the 312PB's legend had already been cemented.

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[Source: Motorsport Magazine, LAT Photo]

 

[CDP]

I love this style of racing car. Light and relatively simple with a form derived entirely from function.

These and the simply mad CanAm cars are sorely missed.