AUTOMOTIVE - VINTAGE: Ferrari's Final GT Race Cars
To answer the ever-growing opposition from the Shelby Cobras, Ferrari developed three distinct competition versions of the new 275 GTB road car. With all-round independent suspension, it was a superior machine to the 250 GT range it replaced.
The penultimate 275 GTB/C, chassis 09079 placed first in class at the 1967 24 Hours of Le Mans, its competition debut. (Photo: Wouter Melissen) The third and final competition model was the 275 GTB/C prepared for the 1966 season. Due to homologation difficulties encountered with an earlier, more extreme 275 GTB Competizione, the new racer remained relatively close to the road cars. At least, at first glance. One of the biggest changes was the use of a wafer-thin aluminum skin that would dent by simply leaning on it.
Twelve examples were built and most were raced extensively around the world with considerable success. Among them was a class victory in the 1967 24 Hours of Le Mans. After the 275 GTB/C, Ferrari focused on Formula 1 and sports cars. All subsequent GT racers to wear the prancing-horse badge were developed and built by third-party specialists, making the 275 GTB/C the last in a legendary lineage.
Over the years, we have captured several of these lovely machines in action, including the Le Mans winner, at a wide variety of events. This has allowed us to present a beautiful 36-shot gallery.
Ferrari 275 GTB/C, chassis 09051, was built in June 1966 and privately raced with much success for three seasons. In 2007, the restored car won a second in class at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. (Photo: Wouter Melissen) For the 1964 season, a replacement of the 250 GTO was planned to race in the GT class. Ferrari's first bid was the mid-engine 250 LM, but due to the limited numbers built, the FIA refused to homologate it for GT racing. The limited time available forced Ferrari to continue racing with a slightly revised version of the GTO.
A new body with cues inspired by the 250 LM were fitted to four old chassis, and three new chassis were constructed and fitted with the ?64-style? body. The 250 GT showed its age and was beaten on several occasions by Carroll Shelby's Cobra Daytonas.
When Ferrari launched a replacement for the 250 GT, the 275 GTB, it was only logical that the new GT racer would be derived from this model. But GT racing's popularity was fading when the world's focus turned to the prototype class in which Ferrari was faced with stiff competition from Ford, so the 275 GTB racer was not a priority.
A batch of four special lightweight racers was constructed, but they faced homologation difficulties; its low weight compared with the road cars was the biggest problem. After the weight was increased considerably, the four were homologated late in 1965.
The 275 GTB/C, chassis 09073,was originally sold as a road car but has more recently been prepared for racing and can be seen here in the 250 GTO 50th Anniversary race during the 2011 Monterey Motorsports Reunion. (Photo: Wouter Melissen) The problems with the four specials convinced Ferrari to construct a competition version that was only slightly modified and weighed as much as the regular short-nose 275 GTBA batch of 11 cars was built, easily identifiable by extra vents in their rear fenders.
Now we come to the third series of competition 275 GTBs and the only ones known as the 275 GTB/C. Twelve were constructed in between the end of the 275 GTB production run and the start of the 275 GTB/4 run. Even though it closely resembled the road-going 275 GTB, not one body panel was the same, and under the lightweight body, very little reminded of the road car.
Mauro Forghieri designed a special lightweight version of the 275 GTB chassis. Regular suspension was fitted, but it was made slightly stiffer by the addition of extra springs. Scaglietti created an ultra-thin aluminum body; the panels were about half as thick as the ones used on the GTO and the Cobra.
Even leaning on the 275 GTB/C would dent the body, and the entire rear section was reinforced by fiberglass to prevent it from flexing at the slightest impact. This focus on saving weight made a difference of more than 330 pounds compared with the alloy-bodied road cars.
Source: http://automotive.speedtv.com/article/vintage-last-of-legendary-ferrari-gt-racers/
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