Tuesday 29th March 2011

Ferrari P4/5C Hits The 'Ring

First run on the Nordschleife for plucky Nurburgring 24 hours underdog

---

The Ferrari P4/5 Competizione, the one-off racer creation of wealthy Ferrari fan Jim Glickenhaus, has had its first run out on the Nurburgring.

The plucky independent outfit, which aims to take on the German big boys in the form of Porsche, Mercedes, BMW and Audi in the XP1 class at the Nurburgring 24 at the end of June, hit the Nordschleife for the first time last weekend.

By all accounts the test went well and, although driver Luca Cappellari's run was cut to one lap courtesy of a red flag, former F1 driver Mika Salo got a fair bit more bum-in-seat time with the Ferrari.

Well, we say Ferrari, but we shouldn't actually call it that. Because despite the fact that the car has been created from a mélange of a 430 Scuderia chassis and an F430 GT2 drivetrain, and despite the fact that it beutifully evokes the spirit of Ferrari's classic 1960s sports racers, it isn't an official Ferrari project. And Maranello doesn't approve of non-official Ferrari projects.

But whatever the folks over at the Prancing Horse think, we most certainly approve of the P4/5C. Take a look at the videos below and you'll see why.

 

 

 

[fatboy69]

Outstanding 'in car' footage - that is 9 minutes of my life that i wont get back but what better way to spend 9 minutes on a Tusday morning?

Just fantastic.

[Jonathan Legard]

Lovely thing, but not massively quick for a racing car. 7:23 RTG measured there - about what Nissan/Porsche would get with a standard GTR/GT2 road car.

[Don1]

Seems quite docile over the curbs as well...

[Evo]

Fantastic car and project, totally agree on the 9 inutes watching it go round the Ring though.

For anyone who plays GT5 it makes you realise how accurate they got the track even down to all the track graffiti. Now it would be nice to have that car in the game

[Howard1650]

They do need to paint it.

[Evo]

Yellow would do it for me.

[steveb8189]

Amazing in car footage. Good job that Civic was looking in it's mirrors...

Look like it could have gone a fair bit quicker. Traffic probably cost around 20 seconds and he could have taken the curbs more harshly.

I'll take mine in red please

[FourWheelDrift]

Jonathan Legard said:

Lovely thing, but not massively quick for a racing car. 7:23 RTG measured there - about what Nissan/Porsche would get with a standard GTR/GT2 road car.

A basic 430 Scuderia road car goes around the Tourist layout in 7m39s, add to that the extra mileage and time of the shorter VLN layout modern circuit and even going round on a shakedown run if it's done a 7m23s then it's still a respectable time.

[vintageracer01]

Just fantastic!

I was waitung for it to appear on PH !

Saw it alrady on my facebook account & jalopnik.
And even better in reality at the Nürburgring!

EPIC MACHINE, this car. And it looks so different among all these production derived vehicles.

The engine sound is inredible, especially listen to the over-run. This is true RACING !!!
(... just forget F1)

I am desperately looking forward to the next outing of the car next week-end.



At least 15 out of 10 points from me. Way off the scale, this!
P 4/5 competizione is a very exciting project.
This is how racing history will be made.

[Luca Brasi]

That sound on the overrun should be illegal

[TomTVR500]

I know this seems like a slightly rediculous thing to say but it seemed quite sluggish down the straights for a race car, i was expecting more. Maybe its because the engine doesnt sound like its working hard. A bit like listening to a Ducati vs a Repsol Honda or a C63 AMG vs an M3 sound can sometimes have a huge effect on the perception of speed.

[vintageracer01]

Howard1650 said:

They do need to paint it.

I agree. At least some graphics that help to show more of the form of the car.

For the moment it is too much black in black, imo. And at night at the 24hrs you might barely see anything of the car.

[Ruddmeister]

Howard1650 said:

They do need to paint it.

I understand it will be wrapped because it's lighter than paint

[DonkeyApple]

Jonathan Legard said:

Lovely thing, but not massively quick for a racing car. 7:23 RTG measured there - about what Nissan/Porsche would get with a standard GTR/GT2 road car.

Although I guess the main difference is that a replacement car is just a phonecall away for the large manufacturers.

[JMC1]

Please may I have mine in red with gold wheels and a pale blue narrow central stripe like the old Marenello Concessionaires racing colour scheme in the days of the Colonel.

[[AJ]]

Luca Brasi said:

That sound on the overrun should be illegal compulsory on every car

EFA!

[hotmelt]

Good video but not as good as Enzo FXX on Grobnik http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfF1Fzx8tmA&fea...

[Galsia]

This car should just be referrered to as a 430 with a bodykit.

Not bad though.

[fatboy69]

The Enzo sounds fabulous. Should not all race cars sound as good as that? If only......

[LukeBird]

Stunning!

That will make quite a sight when it's back on the road in New York!