 |
| David Franklin, 1969 Ferrari 312P, Le Mans Classic 2016 |
For more photos of the Plateau 5 cars of the era 1966 to 1971, click on the link above.
Ferrari, Maranello, Italy. After not competing in 1968 after a change in Sport Car rules, Ferrari produced the Ferrari 312P in accordance with the rules that limited prototypes to 3 litres. On its debut in 1969 it showed promise as an open sports car by coming second at Sebring. However this were the year that Porsche introduced the very competitive 908/2 and by the end of the year had the 917 also in winning form. Thus, no wins were to be had despite it being competitive and coming 4th at Brands Hatch and second again at Spa. A coupé version was developed for Le Mans but it did not finish even though 2 of them were in the top six during practice. The coupés were then sold to NART and then ran them for a few more years. Best placing for NART was 4th in the Daytona 24 hours in 1970. I have always though that this is one of the most beautiful of the mid-engined Ferrari sports cars and it was driven by the greats such as Chris Amon, Pedro Rodriguez and Mario Andretti as well as other competent sports cars drivers such as David Piper, Peter Schetty and Sam Posey amongst others.
No comments:
Post a Comment