The first car to be consigned to the RM/Sotheby's
auction set to be held at Maranello in 2007 has been
announced as a 1970 Ferrari 512 S racing sportscar,
chassis #1006, which finished second overall at the 1971
Daytona 24 Hours in the hands of the N.A.R.T. team.
North American based RM
Auctions, Inc., international auction house Sotheby’s,
and Ferrari S.p.A. recently concluded negotiations to
conduct an exclusive auction of significant Ferrari
sports and racing cars spanning the company’s 60 years
of legendary history. The sale to be held at
Ferrari’s Maranello complex houses is expected to
feature 30 significant Ferrari automobiles including
some from Ferrari’s factory, along with more than 50
lots of treasured original Ferrari memorabilia.
“After last year’s success, we will be
having another auction in Maranello in 2007 which will
give everyone present the thrill of seeing much
sought-after Ferraris, both recent and historic, lined
up here inside the factory complex. It gives and will
continue to give me genuine satisfaction to see this
auction develop and become a tradition here”,
stated Jean Todt, Ferrari General Manager.
The Ex-N.A.R.T. Ferrari
512 S was the second place overall finisher at the 1971
24 Hours of Daytona. It features a 550bhp 4,496cc double
overhead camshaft light alloy V12 engine, five-speed
manual transmission, four-wheel hydraulic vented disc
brakes, double wishbone independent front suspension and
single upper arm and lower wishbone independent rear
suspension. This car is eligible for both the Targa
Florio and the Le Mans Classic.
Ferrari 512 S
Ferrari went
sportscar racing with Prototypes until the rules were
changed for the 1968 season. In 1969, Ferrari decided to
do what Porsche had done six months earlier with the 917
model, that is, building 25 5-litre cars at once to be
homologated as Sports Cars. With the financial help of
Fiat, that risky investment was made, and surplus cars
were intended to be sold to racing customers. The motor
of the 512S was a total new V12 with 560 bhp output.
Compared to Porsche's flat-12, it was not air-cooled, so
instead it needed a maze of cooling pipes and a heavy
radiator. Since the chassis was of sturdy steel,
reinforced with aluminium sheet, weight was 100 kg more
than that of the alloy-framed 917.
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In 1969, Ferrari decided to do what Porsche had done
six months earlier with the 917 model, that is,
building 25 5-litre cars at once to be homologated
as Sports Cars. |
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The Ferrari 512 S features a 550bhp 4,496cc double
overhead camshaft light alloy V12 engine, five-speed
manual transmission, four-wheel hydraulic vented
disc brakes, double wishbone independent front
suspension and single upper arm and lower wishbone
independent rear suspension. |
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The
first car to be consigned to the RM/Sotheby's
auction set to be held at Maranello in 2007 has been
announced as a 1970 Ferrari 512 S racing sportscar,
chassis #1006, which finished second overall at the
1971 Daytona 24 Hours in the hands of the N.A.R.T.
team. |
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The RM/Sotheby's auction is presented. (From left to
right: Leila Dunbar - Sotheby’s, Michael Fairbairn
- RM Auctions, and Toscan Bennett - Ferrari North
America). |
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Notwithstanding the weight difference, the Ferrari 512S and
Porsche 917 were both fairly even matched. At the beginning
of 1970 the Ferrari 512s were hampered by predictable new
car teething problems, including suspension and transmission
issues. The fact that Porsche had already 6 months of
equally mixed experience with its 917 in 1969 should be
decisive for the rest of the season.
There were the factory cars and there were the private cars
of Scuderia Filipinetti, N.A.R.T., Écurie Francorchamps,
Scuderia Picchio Rosso, Gelo Racing Team and Escuderia
Montjuich. Within 9 months Ferrari manufactured 25 512S
cars, with even chassis numbers from #1002 to #1050. Of
those cars, 19 were raced in 1970, 5 of them being spyders.
Of the cars manufactured for the 1970 season, but not raced
that year, the #1020 was converted at the end of the season
as a 512M and sold to NART, which entered it in competition
in 1971. #1024 remained unsold in 1970, was transformed into
a 512M and sold one year later to the Scuderia Brescia
Corse. The #1036 was used as test car by the racing division
of Ferrari. Later it was sold to Solar Productions for Steve
McQueen's Le Mans (film), also known as French kiss with
death.
Chassis #1040,
which was sold to Chris Cord and Steve Earle (USA) never
raced in Europe but only in the CanAm races. Immediately
after the homologation of the 25 cars, #1046 was
disassembled for parts, having been used for the
construction of the Pininfarina show car. #1048 was sold as
test car to Filipinetti but not raced in 1970. #1050 was
sold to Corrado Manfredini (but only as chassis plus body).
It was later transformed in a 512M and raced in 1971.
Eventually the
SpA SEFAC factory team used 9 cars for international
endurance racing. Scuderia Filipinetti and N.A.R.T. raced
two cars each. Écurie Francorchamps (the Belgian importer of
Ferrari), the Escuderia Montjuich, Gelo Racing Team and
Picchio Rosso raced one car each. After #1022, bought by the
last team, was destroyed at the Daytona 24 hours, they used
#1032. During the 1970 race season several other Ferraris
512S cars were destroyed. That was the case with the #1012
spyder after its crash at practice for the ADAC
1000-Kilometer Rennen on the Nürburgring. The #1026, having
been raced as factory car #7 by Derek Bell and Ronnie
Peterson at the 1970 Le Mans 24 hours, was destroyed during
the Le Mans (film) by Derek Bell.
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