Hill Climbing "Pam" - Ferrari 512M #1024

Old racing cars do not die, they just get harder to identify, a case in point is the Ferrari 512M which is painted in the colours of the Ecurie Fillipinetti racing team.



Thanks to Aardy at FerrariChat this vehicle has been identified as chassis #1024, a vehicle that was built in 512S guise, then before it ever turned a wheel in anger got upgraded for the 1971 season to 512M specification, distinguishable by less rounded body panels and the winglets hanging on either side of the tail.



25 Ferrari 512's were built to conform to the FIA Group 5 regulations that were in force for sports cars from 1969 to 1971.



Unlike Porsche who supplied four different independently funded teams with 917's that had factory backing creating a competitive inter marque rivalry, Ferrari ran its main effort from the factory and gave little or no support to the customer teams like Scuderia Brescia Corse which originally ran chassis #1024 seen here.



Power for the 512 Group 5 racing cars came from a 560 hp 60º V12 displacing 4993 cc / 304.6 cui with 4 valves per cylinder.



The sound of this vehicle in the enclosed confines of the garage is well beyond expletive awesome, pure magic IMHO.



The M specs rear bodywork was clearly influenced by the work JW Automotive had done on the rear of the Porsche 917 for the 1970 season.



The most frequent driver of this Scuderia Brescia Corse vehicle in World Sports Car and Interserie (a European Version of Can Am) championships raced under the pseudonym 'PAM'.

Thanks to REDARMYSOJA aka Robby Stockman at The Nostalgia Forum, we know the identity of 'PAM' was Marsilio Pasotti who raced a variety of vehicles including Fiat Abarths and a Ferrari 206 from at least 1962 to 1977.

It transpires that 'PAM' won his class in the Italian and European Touring car championships in the 1960's and took four outright victories on the Malegno-Borno hillclimb.



The steel chassis already heavier than the alloy chassis Porsche 917, combined with the weight disadvantage of the 512's cooling system over the air cooled 917 meant the 512 was 100 kg / 220 lbs heavier than the Porsche which thanks to it's flat 12 engine layout also had a significant handling advantage because of it's lower centre of gravity.



The 512 was relatively outclassed by the 917 in results, though 'PAM' did win the Malegno-Borno hillclimb with the vehicle pictured.



In 1970 the 512 was driven to victories at Sebring and Kyalami but none in the World Sports Car Championship during 1971.



This vehicle was completely restored in 2001 and sold to an American collector in May 2008. Nick Mason also owns a 512 in the older 1970 'S' guise.



This car should be out racing during the forth coming Silverstone Classic weekend, with luck I might just see and hear it in action.

My thanks to everyone at FerrariChat and The Nostalgia Forum for their help identifying the real identities of the car and original driver 'PAM'.

Thanks for popping by for Ferrari Friday at 'Gettin' a lil' psycho on tyres' I hope you'll join me again when I'll be celebrating the 30th anniversary of my first trip to Le Mans. Don't forget to come back now !

Superfast2 - Ferrari 430 Scuderia

The Ferrari 430 Scuderia, launched in 2007, fell between the standard road F430 and the race only Ferrari F430 GTC as a track day car.



A 430 Scuderia benefits from a weight saving over the standard F430 of 100 kg / 220 lb.



Performance of the 430 Scuderia was further enhanced by electronic upgrades including Superfast2 software for the semi - automatic transmission which facilitates 60 'millisecond' shift times.



The Scuderia engine produces 508 hp at 8500 rpm enough to give the vehicle a rest to 62 mph time of 3.6 seconds and a top speed of 198 mph.



When tested around the test track by a popular TV series the Scuderia proved to be even Stevens with the Nissan GTR and fractionally faster than the Porsche Carrera GT and significantly faster than a Mercedes Benz SLR.

Thanks to the pistonhead who brought this fabulous Ferrari along to January's Sunday Service.

Hope you have enjoyed today's Scuderia edition of Ferrari Friday and that you'll join me again tomorrow, don't forget to come back now !

Leading From The Front - Ferrari F550

In 1996 the Ferrari F 550 saw the return of a model with a motor in the front to the top of the Ferrari range for the first time, since the much loved Ferrari Daytona 365 GTB4, in 20 years.



This top end vehicle was powered by a 485 hp twin cam 48 valve V12.



Featuring a tubular steel chassis the F550 was clothed with an aluminium body.



Capable of reaching 60 mph from rest in just 4.2 seconds the F550 could cover 402 meters in 12.5 seconds and had a top speed of 199 mph.



The F 550 was also used in sports car racing by several private entrants including Prodrive who built 10 vehicles for themselves and BMS Scuderia Italia. Victories included a Class win at Le Mans for Prodrive in 2003 and the FIA GT Championship for BMS Scuderia Italia in 2004.

Hope you have enjoyed today's front engine Ferrari Friday edition of 'Gettin a lil' psycho on tyres' and that you'll join me again tomorrow. Don'r forget to come back now :-)

Millionaire Mystery - Scuderia Parravano Pt 2 of 2

Last Ferrari Friday we got a glimpse of a few of Scuderia Parravano's fabulous Ferrari's financed by building millionaire Tony Parravano.



Photo Carlyle Blackwell, Publised Courtesy Blackwell Archive, for sales enquiry's please e-mail infoATpsychoontyres.co.uk and your contact details will be forwarded to the Blackwell Archive.

This week we are looking at Parravano's 750 Monza chassis number #0538 being driven by an as yet



Photo Carlyle Blackwell, Publised Courtesy Blackwell Archive, for sales enquiry's please e-mail infoATpsychoontyres.co.uk and your contact details will be forwarded to the Blackwell Archive.

unidentified driver in a studio shot by Carlyle Blackwell.

The 750 Monza took it's name from the track on which Mike Hawthorn and Umberto Maglioli took a debut victory in 1954, powered by a 250 hp 3 litre / 183 cui version of the four cylinder engine that was also used in the 500 TRC in the 1954 season. The 750 Monza allowed Ferrari to retain the World Sports Car Championship in 1954 but was not strong enough against the onslaught of the Mercedes Benz 300 SLR's to give Ferrari a third consecutive championship.

Tony Parravano is rumoured to have paid Scaglieti over the odds for the unique body work on this particular vehicle which has a narrower radiator intake and a pronounced hump over the engine compared to a standard 750 Monza.

This unique car was crashed by one of the Caroll Shelby / Gino Munaron crew in the 1955 Targa Florio and does not appear to have been driven to any victories though Richie Ginther took 2nd place at New Smyrna Beach in 1957.

In December 1956 this photograph appeared on the cover of Road & Track magazine with the caption on the inside cover that reads "The closest photographer Carlyle Blackwell could come to a red sleigh for St Nick is this 3.5 litre Ferrari. The scene is a quiet village at Christmas Eve (on the 20th Century Fox's back lot), but if the kiddies are still awake, it's not the sound of sleigh bells they'll be hearing as midnight strikes."

Ed Arnaudin who purchased a copy of this photograph recently told his son Steve that there were rumours in the 1950's about Tony Parravano having connections to 'the mob' which never gained a foothold in Southern California where Tony lived and worked, these rumours are also present on the internet today. There is however no doubt that Tony might have legitimately made a lot of money from the post WW2 housing boom in California.

In mid 1957 Tony Parravano and an associate were charged with tax evasion by the Inland Revenue Service (IRS) and Tony went on the run attempting to take some of his 11 Ferrari's and 13 Maserati's with him. Some of these vehicles were seized in the US, others were sold in Mexico. All have since been accounted for.

#0538 M pictured here only made it as far as a Save On supermarket parking lot in Van Nuys, California where it was auctioned off by the IRS for $3500 to Sydney Coolidge along with a $275 trailer in 1958. The car is known to have been used in competition until at least 1963.



Tony Parravano disappeared for good in April 1960 three days before he was due to appear in court. In January 1964 Tony's associate paid 5 x $100 dollars in fines for 5 counts on a 27 count indictment and walked away a free man while Tony's wife settled with the IRS and ended up with most of Tony's assets.

There is no official record of what became of Tony, who, if he were alive today, would be a still credible 94 years old. He is reported to have been seen in a Rome launderette by a US racing journalist and there are reports on the net that the US Attorney General had a "Parravano Room" full of evidence against Tony though the fact remains his single indictment was on tax evasion charges and his associate had to pay $500 in fines on similar charges.

In 1986 #0538M resurfaced completely unrestored fitted with a Chevrolet V8 in the hands of a Mr Bill Shaker in Leesburg, VA who neither knew of the vehicles identity or it's value. In 1987 the vehicle acquired a new war wound the day before the Ferrari Club of America National meeting when it went on an unmanned trip down a drive way and hit Mr Shakers daily driver a Volvo.

David Smith #0538's next owner managed to reunite it with it's original motor and in 1993 #0538 won the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, Richard J Fraser tells his part in the story very well on the Barchetta website here.

If anyone recognises the driver of the car in the photo please chime in below.

My thanks to Ed Arnaudin who purchased a copy of it and to his son Steve who forwarded a scan of the copy to me, my thanks also to all the contributors on various threads at Ferrari Chat and The Nostalgia Forum who have knowingly and unknowingly contributed to today's blog.

Hope you have enjoyed today's fugitive edition of 'Gettin' a lil' psyco on tyres' and that you'll join me again tomorrow for a look at a Sebring Sprite. Don't forget to come back now !

28 07 12 PS Many thanks to Pamela Blackwell who has kindly retrospectively given me permission to post the photo's her father took.