1956 Fiat 306/2 Bartoletti

Fiat 306/2 Bartoletti transporter at the Le Mans Classic 2016

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Fiat, Turin, Italy.   This is a very famous and much travelled racing car transporter.  Maserati actually owned it first and had Bartoletti convert the 1956 Fiat bus chassis into a racing car transporter.   After Maserati withdrew from F1 racing in 1957 they sold the transporter to Lance Reventlow who needed one for his Scarab cars. Scarab raced in F1 in 1960 and in Formula intercontinental in 1961. In 1962 Scarab folded and the transporter was bought by Caroll Shelby. Shelby added the third axle which was needed for the weight of his Cobras.  After Shelby stopped using it, it went to Team Lotus and then Alan Mann Racing.   The next owner was David Piper, who rented it to Steve McQueen for the film Le Mans.  In the film it appears in a number of different colour schemes!  The Fiat originally had a Fiat 12 cylinder engine but at some stage that was replaced by a 11.5 litre Leyland 6 cylinder.   

1957 Fiat 642 RN2 Bartoletti

Superb 1957 Ferrari Transporter at the 2016 Le Mans Classic

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Fiat, Turin, Italy.  The best off-track display at the 2016 Le Mans Classic was undoubtedly that of the racing car transporters, including this beautiful Fiat truck used by Scuderia Ferrari.  This Fiat bus chassis was bought by the Scuderia Ferrari in 1957 and transformed by coachbuilder Bertoletti at Forli into their race car transporter which was used until the early sixties.   As well as transporting the cars it gave the mechanics a portable workshop and a place to sleep.  So much more inspiring than the modern versions! The Fiat had a 92hp 6 cylinder diesel engine and it could transport three GP or sports racing cars around Europe to famous tracks such as Spa, Monaco and the Nurburgring.  Must have been amazing to see one of these fully laden on the road.  Unlike the Ferraris it carried it had a very modest top speed of just 85 kph.