Less Than a Few - 1962 Ferrari 330GTO
This is not a Ferrari 250GTO. No seriously it’s not a 250. It is in fact the @ferrari 330GTO . A little known project from the heyday of the Scuderia.
Cast your minds back to 1962. Ferrari were hard at work with their dominance of GT racing. The fabled 250GTO’s were beating up the competition, everything was working. But, in the back corner of the Modena workshop, something was being worked on that had the power to push Ferrari even further. The 330 GTO.
The engine was selected for the job, it was put on the bench and stripped apart. This engine neededto be powerful and it needed to work. The Scuderia got busy fitting better pistons, TR cams which would give the 4 litre a power figure of between 390-400BHP. Not bad, the Tipo 163 was in many ways similar to the 250 engine but had more torque from the longer stroke but less RPM.
The chassis’s for 330GTO were taken from the 250’s and modified. They were slightly stretched to accommodate the bigger V12 and also to try and increase the wheelbase for better stability. Later in 1963, Ferrari would begin building longer chassis for the 330 LMB’s based on what they’d learnt from the 330GTO’s.
The 330GTO’s began they’re racing career with a trial by fire. Chassis 3673SA was entered into the 1962 Nurburgring 1000KM. The car placed 2nd overall behind its prototype cousin, the 246SP. Then, it was Le Mans. The car destined for Le Mans was badly damaged in testing so a second car, 3765LM was built to replace it.
At Le Mans, legendary Ferrari driver Lorenzo Bandini was behind the wheel. However, because of the increased engine size but no increased cooling system, 3765LM retired.
In 1965, 3765LM was bought by Ferdinando Latteri and converted back to 250GTO spec for racing.
Just one road car was ever built. Chassis 4561SA is still to this day in full 330GTO spec but with additions by its very lucky owner from the factory.
This, is the only 330GTO left.
-
📷 by @daveadams_daai
Comments
Post a Comment