The 37 5MM Berlinetta is one of the
most aggressive Ferraris ever made. This one was driven by Ascari, Farina and
Hawthorn, and raced at Le Mans. Here is its story.
Aggressive. Brutal. Fast. Just three
epithets that were applied to this racing Ferrari 375MM Berlinetta when it
first appeared and they still apply today.
In 1950, the Ferrari factory was only three
years old but Enzo Ferrari had set his sights high from the start and, with the
wealth of experience of having been first a works driver and then head of the
Alfa Romeo racing team, he entered the world of Grand Prix racing almost
immediately.
The
F1 capacity limits were then 1.5 liters supercharged or up to 4.5 liters if
not.
Ferrari’s first efforts with the Gioacchino
Colombo-designed two-stage supercharged 1.5-litre V12 were not successful in
Formula 1 and so Ferrari decided to take the route of a bigger, normally
aspirated V12 to develop the necessary power to beat the all-conquering
supercharged 1.5-litre Alfa Romeo Tipo 158 and 159s. The F1 capacity limits
were then 1.5 liters supercharged or up to 4.5 liters if not. To this end,
Ferrari engaged Colombo’s deputy, Aurelio Lampredi (22 in 1949 and with no
formal engineering training), to design a new series of engines. Colombo had by
then resigned from Ferrari and Lampredi had stepped into the breach to develop
the initial 1.5-liter engine of Colombo’s design. Before going to work for
Ferrari he had worked for Societa Anonima Piaggio & C, an aircraft company,
that had produced the Vespa motor scooter immediately post-war. He had also
worked at Isotta Fraschini on its last rear-engine car, the V8-powered
Monterosa. Lampredi was well aware of what was needed, and it is said that it
was he who suggested abandoning the supercharged engine and going for a larger,
less stressed engine. Enzo Ferrari responded by giving him the job.
Lampredi came up with an engine of
3322.34cc capacity first of all, which was known as the 275 F1 and gave some
280bhp at 7000rpm. This engine debuted on 18 June 1950 at the Belgian Grand
Prix, and the F1 car it was installed in finished fifth. Alberto Ascari,
Ferrari’s chief factory driver, had only to wait
sixmoreweeksbeforehewasdrivinga320bhp 340 F1 in the GP des Nations at Geneva.
Lampredi’s V12 differed from Colombo’s in
that the heads were in unit with the blocks, both being bolted to the
crankcase, with gaskets separating the oil and water. This obviated the risk of
a blown head gasket. Large-diameter bearings supported the crankshaft and the Con
Rods were made from steel billets. Triple Weber 40IF4C four-choke carburetors
were employed and the plugs situated within The Vee. Ignition was by twin
magnetos (one per cylinder bank), and valve opening (two per cylinder) was by
rockers operated from a single camshaft per bank.
By September, for the Italian Grand Prix,
Lampredi’s big V12 had been opened up to 80 x 74.5mm for a capacity of 4493.73
cc and some 330bhp (Tipo375,thecapacityofonecylinder). For 1951, power was up
to 350bhp and Froilán González took Ferrari’s first F1 victory in the British
Grand Prix at Silverstone, after which Ascari won at the Nürburgring and Monza.
Alfa Romeo, seeing the writing on the wall, retired at the end of the 1951
season after a lucky final victory at Barcelona. As there was now no opposition
to Ferrari, the FIA changed the formula for 1952 and ’53 to the F2
specification: 2.0 liters, un-supercharged.
As
there was now no opposition to Ferrari, the FIA changed the formula for 1952
and ’53 to the F2 specification: 2.0 liters, un-supercharged.
As an aside, Aurelio Lampredi designed a
very simple twin-overhead-camshaft four-cylinder engine that went into the Tipo
F500; with Ascari driving, it simply swept the board in the next two years,
earning Ferrari two more F1 Championships.
The Tipo 340 V12 engine went into several
big sports, racing and luxury Ferraris, starting in the autumn of 1950, but
Lampredi kept on developing the 4.1-litre V12.
Are you still with me? Good, it gets easier
from here, I promise…
Into 1953. Having raced several 340-engined
cars from 1951, Ferrari realized that, in the big V12, he had an ideal engine
to enlarge even more in the interests of reliability and power in World
Championship sports car racing. Enzo Ferrari directed that it should be used in
a Pinin Farina berlinetta-bodied Tipo 342 America sports car chassis for the Le
Mans 24 Hours race in June. This engine was reputed to have been the twin-plug
engine fitted to Alberto Ascari’s 1952 Indianapolis car and was probably
producing some 350bhp when it was put into chassis no 0318AM.
The ‘new’ 340/375MM Berlinetta was built on
a Tipo 102 ladder type chassis made of welded steel tube and the chassis and
suspension of 0320AM – the car you see here – were completed at the factory on
27 April. This car also featured a four-speed all-synchromesh gearbox and
multi-disc clutch Plus the stronger Tipo342 rear axle. Suspension was
independent at the front, via a transverse leaf spring and unequal-length
wishbones, and a solid rear axle was used at the rear , mounted upon
longitudinal leaf springs and parallel trailing arms. Damping was taken care of
by Houdaille lever-arms and braking was via huge finned aluminum drums, mounted
tightly inside the 16in wheels. Wheelbase was 102.3in and track was 52.0in at
the rear, 52.2in at the front. The huge fuel tank could take over 47 gallons
and weight was quoted (probably optimistically!) at 1980lb, or 898kg.
This
car also featured a four-speed all-synchromesh gearbox and multi-disc clutch
Plus the stronger Tipo342 rear axle.
When finished, the three Berlinettas,
0318AM with the 375MM engine, and 0320AM and 0322AM, each fitted with 340MM
engines, were handed over to Franco Cornacchia’s Scuderia Guastalla racing team
for testing and evaluation. In 0318AM,Ascari and Villoresi set a lap record at
Le Mans of some 112.8mph but the Pinin Farina-designed berlinetta was out after
ten hours, with clutch failure.
It was at this race that 0320AM, along with
0322AM, both also bodied by Pinin Farina as Berlinettas, made their first
appearance, using 4.1-liter engines. 0320AM, wearing race number 14 and piloted
by Mike Hawthorn and Nino Farina, was quickly up to second place after 12 laps
before being disqualified for adding brake fluid during a pit stop, violating
the pre-war rule that prohibited the addition of fluids before any car
completed 28 laps. Despite Ferrari’s protests on the grounds of safety, the car
was disqualified. That rule was rescinded for 1954. The third 340MM Berlinetta,
0322AM, went on to finish fifth overall, crewed by the Marzotto brothers,
Gianni and Paolo.
By July the three works Berlinettas were
ready for the rest of the season. They had been returned to Pinin Farina and
their noses had been given a lower, more aggressive look and the headlights
were now encased behind Perspex covers. The rear window was also different to
the Le Mans coupés’, with glass instead of Perspex, and the rear upper body
sides were cowled in aluminum, perhaps to reduce glare from following cars at
night.
