History

Enzo's Tour de Force

Enzo's Tour de Force

When a new GT racing category was announced for the 1955 season, Enzo Ferrari immediately recognized the potential of hs 250 GT, powered by a development of Colombo's classic V12. John Starkey traces the steps that led to the "Tour de France" model, the first series-built Ferrari GT, and the machine that would spread the Ferrari legend farther and wider than ever before. Rich Chenet captures on film the car we chose to exemplify the "TdF" in its ultimate form: Lance Hill's immaculate s/n 0707.

T he Ferrari factory was a very busy place in 1955. In addition to the 375 Plus sports-racing cars, and the last 166s, the 375s, and 250 Mille Miglias, the company was also manufacturing 250s, 735 Monzas, 500 Mondails, and 212 Europas – plus an array of Grand Prix and Formula Two machines. Some rationalization was called for, and Enzo Ferrari, while willing to build customer racing cars for anyone with the money to pay, began more and more to concentrate on what was beginning to look like a very good car: the 250 GT.
Coincidentally, a lightweight Pinin Farina-bodied 250 GT Berlinetta, s/n 0415 GT, had been driven by Count Alfonso de Portago to first place in an event for Grand Touring cars in Nassau, Bahamas in December of 1955.
Normally bodied by Boano of Turin followin a design by Pinin Farina, the 250 GT was, Ferrari realized, the perfect car to compete in the up-to-3 liter GT class. This class had been introduced after the Le Mans disaster in an attempt to slow racing machines down. With over 220 bhp available from the 250 GT, Ferrari had recognized that with a lighter body, this car would become a very serious contender.
Ferrari Tipo 112 At this time, the 250 GT engine was undergoing a development and tuning process which would last until 1964. In 1955, however, the engine was known by the factory as the Tipo 112 and was very similar to the engine from the 250 Mille Miglia series, but with three twin-choke 36 DCZ3 carburetors fitted instead of the beautiful IFC 4-choke carbs originally used on the 250 Mille Miglia.
In detail, the Ferrari Tipo 112 V12 featured a nitro-steel crankshaft machined from a solid billet and running in seven main bearings. Forged connecting rods weighing between 15-20 ounces each were split at a 45-degree angle to facilitate withdrawal though the bores and were attached to Mondial pistons, each fitted with four oil-control and compression rings. The block, made of "Siluminum," an aluminum/silicon alloy, was attached to the heads via three studs per cylinder. Sealing between the pressed-in steel cylinder liners and the heads was by individual copper ring and a perimeter gasket. The heads, incidentally, were of the six-port variety and the spark plugs were located on the inside of the vee.
From the nose of the crankshaft ran a triple-roller timing chain to the single over head camshaft per bank, which prodded the valves via "moue' trap"-type valve springs and roller rockers. The camshafts would have a 9mm lift until 1957 when a 10mm lift was specified. The timing chain also drove the oil, fuel and water pump. All this was contained in a case upon which was mounted the generator, fuel pumps and a removable mechanical oil filter. The finned alloy sump contained ten liters of oil and the four engine mountings (two per side) used a minimum of rubber to attach the engine to the chassis. A bore and stroke of 73 x 58.8mm gave a capacity of 2953.211cc.
Ferrari F rom 1955 on, this chassis was to become the 508 series with B,C,D and G suffixes to denote further minor modifications. Dimensions were 2600 mm for the wheelbase with front track of 1354 mm and rear track of 1349 mm which, until the advent of the Short-wheelbase Berlinetta of 1959, would remain static. Basically consisting of two parallel oval tubes which varied in thickness, this chassis comprised a cross tube at the front which supported the radiator and front suspension, a steel front bulkhead with, in the cockpit area, an "X" bracing of reinforcing tubes with two more cross tubes, one bisecting the "X" brace and one at the rear of the cockpit which supported the rear radius arm mountings. Two more cross tubes followed to stiffen the structure where the two main tubes swept up and over the rear suspension. The suspension consisted of one single leaf spring per side, Houdaille lever arm dampers and two radius arms, one above and one below the axle, which had an alloy center section and a limited-slip differential.
Front suspension departed from the 250 Mille Miglia tipo by substituting two coil instead of one transverse leaf spring, and the lever-arm Houdaille dampers were used here along with an anti-roll bar. It should be pointed out that Berlinetta numbers 0357, 0369, 0383 and 0385 GT used the 508 chassis but with the transverse leaf front suspension of the 250 MM. All the Berlinettas featured RW 3077 16" Borrani wire wheels with huge alloy drum brakes of 360mm diameter. An extra booster pump was fitted to the front brakes and all four brakes were operated by a single master cylinder. Some very late "Interim"-type Berlinettas were fitted with disc brakes but, as these were not homologated with the long wheelbase cars, they could not be used in competition.
The early steering boxes featured a ratio of 1/18 to 1/20, but 1/17 became standard in 1957. The gearbox was in alloy and developed from the Tipo 342 America with four speeds and reverse fitted. Later on in 1957, a purpose-built ribbed gearbox with Porsche-type synchromesh and a single plate clutch would be fitted. Drive to the rear axle was taken via; one-piece rubber "doughnut" at the differential end. The gearchange itself was sometime direct and sometimes offset to the left.
Back to the bodywork. S/n 0357 GT was a coupe by Pinin Farina and featured the type of bodywork which Boano user in his bodies for the roadgoing 250 GTs. The significance of 0357 GT is that the car was retained by the factory for development for eighteen months-it was built in 1954 but not sold until March 195 The very next cars, 0369 GT, 0383 GT, and 0385 GT were modeled after the 250 MM body shape, but it is really the next car, 0393 GT, which points the way to the styling development of the Competizione Berlinetta.
Serial number 0393 GT featured, among other styling pointers, fourteen louvers on the sail panel, almost straight top edges to the rear fenders, headlights with Perspex covers and side vents in the front fenders divided in eight slots.
Number 0403 GT featured the same type of front but with "flying buttress" continuations of the cabin area onto the trunk lid, much in the fashion of the (much later) Jaguar XJS coupe. S/n 0415 GT was a reversion to the "Mille Miglia" type shape but with covered headlights, while 0425 GT, the first Berlinetta to be bodied by Scaglietti, was similar to 0393 GT.
In late 1955 and 1956 the "production" Berlinetta's bodywork was very similar to that of the 250 Mille Miglia, as previously stated, with a large wrap-around rear window, headlights at the front of the fenders with perspex covers and sidelights beneath, plus eight-slot front fender vents ahead of openable flaps for cockpit ventilation. The hood was sometimes louvered to allow hot air to escape.
Ferrari M ay 1956 saw the birth of I 0503 GT, an I V aluminum, Scaglietti-bodied Berlinetta with the first Tipo 128 motor, which was sold to A. Caraceni for Olivier Gendebien to drive in the Tour of Sicily where he and his co-driver/navigator/cousin, Jacques Wascher, won the GT class and came in 4th overall. Gendebien followed this up with another victory in the GT class, this time in the Mille Miglia where he and Wascher came home 5th overall. It is reported that Gendebien spun in this very wet event no fewer than five times.
By now, the new competition Berlinettas were beginning to reach their owners, and victories were coming thick and fast. As an aside, the long wheelbase Berlinetta racked up more victories than either the following short-wheelbase car or the legendary GTO. 1956 saw delivery of thirteen cars, most with Scaglietti-built bodywork with warm air induction, but two, 0515 GT, and 0537 GT, featuring very light "double-bubble" bodywork by Zagato of Milan. Both these cars featured (as did some Scaglietti cars) two windscreen wiper motors and three windscreen wipers, in case of failure by one motor.
I n September 1956, Alfonso de Portago took delivery of his second 250 GT Berlinetta, and promptly won the prestigious Tour de France, which involved no less than nine circuit races and hill climbs with timed regularity sections in between. Thus was the name now bestowed upon the new Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta.
At the beginning of 1957, the second bodywork version of the Berlinetta arrived upon the sporting scene with a reversion in shape to that of 0425 GT, the first Scaglietti-built car. The fourteen louvers on the sail panel were incorporated, as were the eight vents in the front fenders, and also the perspex covered headlights. Nine cars (0585 GT, 0597 GT, 0607 GT, 0629 GT, 0647 GT, 0677 GT, 0683 GT, 0703 GT and 0707 GT-our feature car) were built in this series, with two more being Zagato-bodied. Camillo Luglio, first owner of Zagato 0515 GT took on 0665 GT, another "double-bubble" coupe, and became Italian Champion in the up-to-3-liter category.
Serial number 0677 GT had the most astonishing and successful history, being first of all a factory-entered car for Gendebien. Gendebien later bought 0677 GT for himself and, except for one event, the Auvergne three-hours where he came in 4th, he captured the GT category in every race he entered with this Berlinetta- sometimes winning outright. While it is true that this car featured an engine in Testa Rossa tune, in every respect, except carburetors-which were three twin-choke Webers instead of the six normally seen on a Testa Rossa - there can be no denying Gendebien's amazing driving skill. He himself claimed that his drive to third place overall and first in the GT class in the 1957 Mille Miglia was indeed his greatest achievement, putting his four victories at Le Mans in the shade, and noting that he won the Tour of Sicily outright, and that he and Paul Frere shared 0677 GT twice in 1957 and 1958, each time winning the 12 -Hours of Rheims.
T he year 1957 also saw the birth of another Scaglietti body shape, which this time dispensed with the fourteen louvers on the sail panel and replaced them with three separate slots. The side vents were reduced to just three, and the headlights were moved up and further back at the front of the fenders, but remained enclosed in Plexiglass covers. Fifteen cars were bodied in this way, one such, 0733GT, being another Scuderia Ferrari car, sometimes fitted with a Testa Rossa-type engine and entrusted to Maurice Trintignant.
By now Gendebien had won the Tour de France in 1957 with 0677 GT, and he traded this Berlinetta back to the factory in September 1958 for 1033 GT, one of the next series of Scaglietti bodies with just one slot on the sail panel. With this he promptly went out to win Tour de France again. He would go on to win the event just once more, fittingly, in a long-wheelbase Berlinetta. All this time the technical aspects of the cars were improving with the chassis going through 508 B. C and D versions, and engines developing through l 128B, C and D versions. Output varied from 230 to 260 bhp, with valve timing, piston and conrod weight being continually experimented with.
In 1959, after a reversion to open headlights to comply with Italian law, another completely different body style appeared, the "Interim" Berlinetta- Interim because this body, first built by Pininfarina and copied by Scaglietti, looked almost the same as the SWB Berlinetta which was introduced in October of the same year. All these "Interim" Berlinettas featured a small window in the sail panel which distinguishes them from the later SWBs but, more importantly, they were fitted with the first of the outside-plug engines, the 128DF with 9.5:1 compression ratio, three 40DCZ carburetors and Electron cam covers and sump. Two of these Berlinettas came in 4th and 6th overall at Le Mans, but they were beaten by a regular 1959 open-headlight Berlinetta, sin 1321 GT, which, driven by "Beurlys" and Dernier, proved faster on the Mulsanne Straight.
Serial number 1523 GT was the last long-wheelbase Berlinetta and it won the 1959 event, driven, of course, by Gendebien. Through four years of racing the Competizione Berlinetta, Tipo "Tour de France" had proved itself to be the outstanding GT competitor of its time. Ferrari was passing through what was, perhaps, its golden era, and the 250 GT Berlinetta played a most significant role.
Number 0707 GT, our feature car, was typical of this model. Handbuilt and purchased by a wealthy amateur driver, it has trodden the usual path from all-conquering race car to old, unwanted clunker, and back again to restored and cherished classic.
Bought by Michel Ringoir from the Belgian Ferrari dealership, Ecurie Francorchamps, in June 1957, 0707 GT has the distinction of having the largest fuel tank mounted (a 137-liter capacity) to a 14-louver Berlinetta. No fuel gauge is fitted, but a red light comes on when the level becomes low. Sin 0707 GT was, as well as 0677 GT, the first of the Berlinettas to receive the new Tipo 130 10 mm-lift camshafts. Road registered 928 RO, Michel Ringoir promptly entered it in a GT event around the 14-mile-long Nurburgring and came in 6th overall. A week later Ringoir won his first event in 0707 GT, this at the Zandvoort circuits in Holland. He followed up this initial success with four more victories in local track and hillclimb events before entering it in the Tour de France, where, unfortunately, the cam drive failed.
Ferrari N ineteen fifty-eight saw 0707 GT and Michel Ringoir undertaking a very full season, starting in February, when he won the Routes du Nord Rally and then took part in such diverse events as the Cote D'Hoyet (hillclimb), Pau 3-hours (eighth overall, a street race) and the Cote D'Andenne (1st in GT, hillclimb). The Tour de France was entered once more but 0707 GT again failed to finish. 1959 saw just one event entered, again the Tour de France, but this time Ringoir did not start, having lost all his assets when the Belgian Congo lapsed into civil war.
We are not sure exactly what happened to 0707 GT in the next three years, but the car reappeared in Great Britain in 1962, completely disassembled and with a later, 1958-style covered-headlight front fitted. The car remained apart for almost twenty years, until being restored by Modena Engineering, for Eric Clapton, the famous rock and blues guitarist. After a period when 0707 GT belonged to a prince and was campaigned in events such as the retrospective Mille Miglia, 0707 GT was sold to its present owner, Lance Hill, in 1993. Hill undertook a complete rebuild, tackling the mechanical work himself. He spared no effort to find all the correct parts to bring 0707 GT back to perfection, and was delighted to find that the old girl still possessed all the correctly-numbered mechanical components.
Hill reports great satisfaction when, after rebuilding the engine with new bearings seals, valves, pistons, and rings, he bolted the engine to a stand and ran it in for six hours over two days. The sound from the open exhausts, he wrote to the author, was glorious.
The scope of the rebuild is too great to be recounted in detail here, but among the myriad details Hill went to the trouble of finding were a proper "quick" racing jack and a set of engine-overhaul tools as used by the factory mechanics. He then entered the now-pristine 0707 in the prestigious Pebble Beach Concours, where after a controversial decision by the judges it was awarded a second place in its group.
Tour de France Berlinettas, with their tremendous racing histories, have engendered a great following and nowhere can this be more dearly seen than in the kind of devotion to detail which Lance Hill has given to 0707 GT.

Want more information? Search the web!

Google

Search The Auto Channel!