The victorious Olivier Gendebien/Phil Hill 4-litre Ferrari 330 TRI/LM V12 chassis # 0808 blasts through The Esses on the way to victory at Le Mans over the June 23-24, 1962 weekend.
Ferrari finished 1-2-3 in a dominant display, the one-off car of the Belgian/American duo completed 331 laps with Pierre Noblet’s Ferrari 250GTO five laps in arrears, the driving duties shared with Jean Guichet. In third was the Leon Dernier/Jean Blaton Equipe National Belge entered 250 GTO on 314 laps.
In fourth and fifth place – best of the rest – were two of the new Jaguar E-Type Lightweights, Briggs Cunningham and Roy Salvadori in an open drophead, and Peter Lumsden and Peter Sargent aboard the latter’s coupe.
When the CSI/ACO created a new outright ‘experimental’ class for cars of no more than 4-litres (GT cars had the same capacity limit) Ferrari built one final variant of the long running and so successful Testa Ross sportscars and ‘threw its keys’ to their most experienced endurance pairing, the Gendebien/Hill duo having won at La Sarthe in 1958 Ferrari TR/58, and 1961 Ferrari 250 TRI/61. Gendebien also won in 1960, sharing his Ferrari 250 TR59/60.
The Maranello mob had been focusing their energies on new fangled mid-engined Dino V6 and V8 sportscars (above), but rightly figured they may be able to squeeze one more win out of old hardware. In so doing Ferrari 330 TRI/LM 0808 became the last front-engined car to win the 24 hour classic outright.
The 1962 Le Mans winner started life as 250 TRI/60 chassis, #0780TR, a Fantuzzi Spyder that was badly damaged by Cliff Allison at the Targa Florio in March 1960. He had a front tyre blowout in practice. Back at Maranello it was rebuilt from bits donated by the wrecked 250 TR59/60 #0772TR then raced at Le Mans. Willy Mairesse and Richie Ginther drove the car but retired with a broken driveshaft on the Sunday morning.
#0780 was then returned to the factory and fitted with a TRI61-style high rear body incorporating a Kamm tail, the front was unchanged. In this form it was used as an aerodynamic test-bed by Carlo Chiti and Giotto Bizzarini to develop the ’61 TRI body.
The car was raced extensively in 1961, placing second at Sebring (Giancarlo Baghetti, Ginther, Taffy von Trips) and at Targa where it was crashed. This time the car was fitted with a new TRI/61 nose before finishing second at the Nurburgring 1000Km driven by the Rodriguez brothers, Ricardo and Pedro. A late pitstop to replace a broken front wheel lost the chance for the NART entered car to win. Mairesse and Mike Parkes raced it at Le Mans, finishing second behind the winning sister, works Gendebien/Hill Testa Rossa. The chassis finally bagged an overdue win when Lorenzo Bandini and Georgio Scarlatti won the Pescara 4 Hours late in the year.
Convinced that one of their big front-engined TRs could still do the trick, #0780 was torn down and rebuilt around a new chassis – #0808 – and Tipo 163 Colombo 4-litre SOHC, two-valve V12. The dry-sumped, 60 degree, 3967cc (77×71 mm) engine had modified cylinder heads incorporating bigger valves, fed by six twin-choke Weber 42DCN carbs, it gave about 390bhp @ 7500rpm, about 50bhp more than the 250TR unit. The five speed gearbox was modified to take the extra power and torque.
The new chassis, a more sophisticated mix of traditional ladder frame, and multi-tube spaceframe was 63mm longer than the 250’s, in part this was to accommodate the slightly longer engine and to improve overall balance. Suspension design was a carryover from the 250; upper and lower wishbones, coil springs and Koni dampers both front and rear. Steering was by way of worm and sector.
Wheels/tyres were Borrani wire/Dunlop-6×16 inch and 7x16inch front/rear, brakes were Dunlop disc front and rear, front/rear tracks 1225mm, the wheelbase 2400mm – same as the short-block – and weight quotes very from 685Kg to 820Kg!
To cap it all off, Carozzeria Fantuzzi built a new body, developed with the aid of Ferrari’s small wind tunnel installed in 1960, to Pininfarina’s design incorporating an aerodynamic roll hoop which served to aid the flow of turbulent air caused by the cockpit/windscreen and therefore improve high speed stability.
#0808 first appeared at the Le Mans test in April driven by the defending winners, Gendebien and Hill. It recorded fastest time of the day despite damp conditions and being fitted with only three Webers, so wasn’t raced, but was rather developed further at the factory and one test at Monza before dominating Le Mans.
It wasn’t a cakewalk though. Hill broke Mike Hawthorn’s lap record in practice but both drivers experienced a slipping clutch all weekend. This had to be managed by precise ‘changes and using a taller gear than optimal, neither driver expected it to last the race.
The major potential opposition comprised a mix of other Ferraris, two Maserati Tipo 151s entered by Briggs Cunningham and the works Aston Martin DP212. After the Rodriguez brothers’ works-Dino 246SP retired at 4.30am on Sunday morning, the 330 inherited a four lap lead, they extended to five laps before the end.
Don Rodriguez acquired the car after the race, with Pedro driving the NART prepared car – now devoid of roll hoop which Chinetti didn’t consider aerodynamic – win to a Bridghampton GP win and second place in the Canadian GP in late ’62. After Ricardo Rodriguez was killed in the Mexican GP, Master Gregory raced #0808 to fourth in the Nassau Trophy.
Into 1963, Pedro and Graham Hill raced the car to third at Sebring behind two new, mid-engined 3-litre V12 250Ps. At one stage the 330 led by three laps until mechanical, electrical and exhaust manifold problems intervened.
NART entered the car at Le Mans to defend its title, Pedro and Roger Penske started from pole, then trailed the works 250Ps until a rod failed during the ninth hour. Lubricant on tyres can be a lethal mix, Penske lost the car and took Jo Bonnier’s Porsche 718/8 GTR out in the ensuing prang which left Penske uninjured but #0808 severely damaged, and never to be raced again.
Returned to the factory for repair, the car was fitted with a Fantuzzi coupe body (below) and returned to the US where it was purchased by Hisashi Okada who used it as roadie from 1965 to 1974. Pierre Bardinon used it similarly until commissioning Fantuzzi to return it back to ’62 specs in 1974-75. It continues its life as global investable commodity
Etcetera…
The Mairesse/Parkes 250 TRI/61 #0780 – the 330 ‘donor car’ – with a touch of the opposites at Le Mans in 1961.
“The clutch Mauro, the clutch…”. “Treat it like your girlfriend Pheel…very, very gently.” Or words to that general effect.
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