primotipo…

Peter Collins photographed by Louis Klemantaski aboard their Ferrari 335S during the ill-fated 1957 Mille Miglia…

This stunning, evocative shot, one of motor racing’s most famous, was taken by acclaimed photographer Louis Klementaski who navigated for Collins capturing the essence of the event and times which seem so long ago.

Klemantaski picks up the story in Automobile Year 44…’In the fateful Mille Miglia of 1957 I was in the Ferrari Team in the car driven by Peter Collins, a 335 Sport. This model was the ultimate achievement of Ferrari’s creativity of that period. Peter said it was the best handling sports-racing Ferrari he had driven so far. It was certainly the most powerful and I had to adjust my course notes accordingly’.

‘This photograph was taken as we went through a series of hairpin bends in the Abruzzi Mountains on the way to l’Aquila and Rome. There were no trees around and Peter could see the whole road for quite a way ahead, so I was able to take some time off from giving him signals as to the severity of the next corner and take some shots of the cockpit and him in action. As the G-forces were considerable, I had to make the exposure on the right-hand corner, so that I would be thrown outwards and away from him. We had no seat belts in those days and it was very difficult not to impede Peter on occasion. In those very tight corners, first on one lock and then the other, Peter could cope without changing the position of his hands on the wheel, which was just as well, as the corners came up with remarkable rapidity. This is my favourite Ferrari photograph because it was of a Ferrari in action, taken from a Ferrari cockpit – and how much closer to the spirit of these wonderful cars can you get?’

Scuderia Ferrari entered five cars in the 1957 event: 315S models for Piero Taruffi (his car was fitted with a 335 engine) and Count Wolfgang ‘Taffy’ von Trips, and the latest 4-litre quad-cam 335S models for Collins/ Klemantaski and Marquis ‘Fon’ de Portago and Ed Nelson. Finally, a 250LWB was entered for Olivier Gendebien and his navigator M Washer.

Taruffi won the race and then retired, Von Trips was second. The Collins car retired at the 5 hour 3 minute mark with a broken driveshaft. Sadly, and infamously, De Portago/ Nelson perished in a gruesome accident which also took the lives of nine spectators – five children – in the village of Guidizzolo, Lombardy, 110km east of Milan.

Some reports say De Portago should have changed his tyres earlier, a blowout was the cause of the accident. The race was banned as a consequence, and so ended a tradition which commenced in 1927, the event was run 24 times from then until 1957.

The Mile Miglia was started by Count Aymo Maggi and Franco Mazzotti…after the Italian Grand Prix was moved from their home town of Brescia to Monza. They chose a race from Brescia to Rome and back, a figure-eight course of 1500km or 1000 Roman Miles.

Various courses were used over the years with many of the greats of the day winning. Tazio Nuvolari, Alfa 6C 1750 in 1930 and 8C 2300 in 1933, Rudy Caracciola in a Benz SSK 1931, Achille Varzi, Alfa Monza in 1934 and Alberto Ascari in a Lancia B24 in 1954 included.

Over the years Italians won the race the most. From 1953 to 1957 the event was a round of the World Sports Car Championship, Stirling Moss famously winning navigated by Motor Sport‘s Denis Jenkinson, the pair setting the fastest ever time of 10 hours 7 min 48 secs.

The duo covered six reconnaisance laps, Jenkinson making pace notes on a scroll of paper contained in an aluminium housing. Dennis called the corners and the stunning ability of Moss resulted in an emphatic, famous 1955 victory in their Mercedes Benz 300SLR.

The 1957 Ferrari 335S…

The machine was a development of the 1956 860 Monza and 290 MM sports-racers.

A tubular steel chassis frame was fitted with independent unequal length wishbones, coil springs and hydraulic shocks at the front. A de Dion rear axle located by twin radius arms, transverse leaf spring and hydraulic shocks was fitted at the rear.

Drum brakes were used all round, steering was by worm and sector. A strong four-speed transaxle took all the torque of the big V12 with 6X16 inch and 7X 16 inch tyres fitted front/rear, the whole lot weighing a relatively light 880kg dry.

The 335 Sport was the height of development of Ferrari’s complex but powerful four-cam, two-valve front-engined sports cars which won the World Sports Car Championship in 1957, defeating arch rivals Maserati in the process.

The engines of the 290, 315 and 335S were primarily designed by Vittorio Bellantani. The ex-Maserati engineer received assistance from Vittorio Jano, some elements of the engine having a passing design relationship to Jano’s fabulous 1954-55 Grand Prix D50 Lancia V8. Jano of course came across to Ferrari from Lancia in the deal which saved-Ferrari’s-bacon, devoid as it was of a competitive Grand Prix car at the time.

The 60-degree all aluminium V12 displaced 4023cc with a bore/stroke of 77 X 72mm. Four overhead camshafts were deployed with two-valves per cylinder. Six Weber 44DCN carbs fed the engine with twin plugs and four coils taking care of the spark. Maximum power was quoted at 390bhp @ 7400rpm.

The Klemantaski Archive quotes Phil Hill as saying ‘the 335S was the best front-engined car ever built by Ferrari and certainly the fastest.’

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Etcetera…

Scuderia Ferrari in Brescia before the 1957 MM start. #534 Collins/Klemantaski, #531 de Portago/Nelson, #417 Gendebien/Washer, #532 Von Trips and the privately entered Ferrari 500 Testa Rossa of Gino Munaron.

Piero Taruffi in the winning 335 engined Ferrari 315S, MM 1957. This very successful driver retired after winning the event then writing The Technique of Motor Racing, a rather good book!

Fon de Portago and Peter Collins, in coloured beanie, before the MM start. Louise Collins is wearing the striped blouse at the rear.

De Portago and Nelson leave the Rome control in fourth place.

Photo Credits…

Louis Klemantaski Archive, Yves Debraine, G Cavara cutaway drawing

Tailpiece…

An equally stunning shot as the one at the article’s outset.

It reflects the fanatical Italian crowd and their proximity to the cars. It’s poignant for that reason as one of the last shots of Fon de Portago before the fatal accident which took his and ten others lives. Ferrari 335S 0676 Mille Miglia 1957.

Finito…