Ferrari 512 BB LM

The crutch

Things were not always as rosy at Ferrari as they would like to make out. In 1964 John Surtees had become Formula One world champion, and in 1965 Rindt/Gregory/(Hugus) were still able to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans. But not much happened for a long time, in Formula 1 it was not until 1975 that Niki Lauda was successful again. And in the sports car arena, Ferrari withdrew more and more, concentrating – officially – entirely on Formula 1 from 1974, leaving the field entirely to the private teams. Although there was still some factory support for the Daytona, success was largely absent, as it was for the 365 GT/4 BB. Privateers then drew hope from the arrival of the 512 BB in 1976, especially the team of Luigi Chinetti’s N.A.R.T., the Belgian Ecur ie Francorchamps and the French importer Charles Pozzi were pressing Maranello for a new car, not least because in 1976, for the first time since the brand was founded, there was no Ferrari on the Le Mans starting grid. But in 1978, four vehicles were available. Pininfarina had optimised them a little in the wind tunnel, wider tyres could be fitted, and the flat V12 produced around 440 hp. But: These first racing 512s weighed over 1200 kilos, plus there was a 160-litre fuel tank, so the car was correspondingly difficult to tune and control. The four registered Ferraris did not see the finish line. (Picture below: #26681, 1979 in Le Mans.)

A year later, things looked a little better. The cars, now actually called the Ferrari 512 BB LM, received a little more love in Maranello, with power increasing to 470 hp, but weight rising to 1050 kilos. The plastic body was significantly revised again at Pininfarina, making the BB even longer and wider, and they were now capable of speeds of up to 320 km/h on the Mulsanne. And yet three of the four registered vehicles (#26681, #26683, #26685, #27577) dropped out in 1979, with a 12th place overall for #27577 being rather disappointing. Over the years, 25 examples of this Ferrari 512 BB LM were sold (and only 17 of them were used in races). They managed a few class wins in the US, but a fifth place in 1981 was their best result at Le Mans. 1984 marked the end of the project. www.zwischengas.com has a nice compilation of the individual cars. (Picture below: again #26681, at Le Mans in 1979.)

We want to show a few examples here. And we start with #26881, the first officially delivered car for Charles Pozzi:

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This is followed by #29511, delivered to John & William Gelles, who drove three unsuccessful races in the USA.

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The Ferrari 512 BB LM with chassis number #35527 was delivered to Chinetti, did not finish at Le Mans in 1981, but then came in 9th place in 1982.