A first official
rendering has been released by Jim Glickenhaus offering
an outline look at the racing car he is currently
developing on the "Ferrari P4/5" theme which is set to
be raced in the Nürburgring 24 Hours next year.
Last autumn U.S. car
collector Glickenhaus revealed the existence of the
racing car project that will follow on from the "Ferrari
P4/5 by Pininfarina" that was developed on a Ferrari
Enzo chassis (the last one to be built) and unveiled in
the summer of 2006 after a project developed by
Pininfarina that reputedly cost around US$4 million. The
Ferrari P4/5 by Pininfarina was however a pure
road-going car although it was inspired by Ferrari's
legendary sports-prototype, the 330 P 3/4 from the
1960s, of which Glickenhaus is an admirer and owns one.
The latest project on
the theme, dubbed the Ferrari P4/5 "Competizione", is
based around a new chassis from a Ferrari 430 Scuderia
and uses the engine, drivetrain and suspension from the
Ferrari F430 GT2 racer which is a proven winning machine
with victories at the Le Mans 24 Hours, 12 Hours of
Sebring and Petit Le Mans amongst others under its belt.
Using the 430 Scuderia chassis as the focal point will
allow the car to be converted for road use once it has
taken part in next year's Nürburgring 24 Hours, the
overall target of the ambitious project, where it will
reportedly be run in the experimental class.
The "donor" F430
chassis will be clothed in new bodywork that is
essentially very similar in style to the Ferrari P4/5 by
Pininfarina project but adapted for racing use, notably
the car receives a new front end with much larger air
intakes and exits to cool the radiator and a flat-bottom
apron lip to manage airflow as well as side winglets,
and a large racing-style rear wing.
The realisation of the
project is being managed by Alfa Romeo's former
competitions division N.Technology which now runs
Fabrizio Giovanardi in the Italian Superstars series in
a Porsche Panamera and was most sensationally linked to
an abortive bid to lodge an F1 entry last year. The
rendering shows the cars bearing an official numbering
decal of the Nürburgring 24 Hours, however it doesn't
wear a Ferrari badge at present. For his previous Ferrari P4/5 by
Pininfarina project, Glickenhaus had to obtain special
permission from Ferrari to classify it as a Maranello
numbered car and it retains the VIN plate from the Enzo
it was based on.
