Ferrari 250 Monza
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The Ferrari 250 Monza was a
sports racing car Sports car racing is a form of motorsport road racing that uses sports cars with two seats and enclosed wheels. They may be either purpose-built Sports prototype, sports prototypes, which are the highest level in sports car racing; or grand to ...
produced by
Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello. Founded in 1939 by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988), the company built Auto Avio Costruzioni 815, its first car in 1940, adopted its current name in 1945, and be ...
in 1954. It was a combination of a stretched chassis and body from the line of inline-four-engined racers with an ubiquitous 3.0-litre
Colombo Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...
V12 engine.


Development

After ongoing success of inline-four engines in
Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...
, Ferrari also employed those powerplants for their sports racing cars.
Enzo Ferrari Enzo Anselmo Giuseppe Maria Ferrari (; ; 18 February 1898 – 14 August 1988) was an Italian racing driver and entrepreneur, the founder of Scuderia Ferrari in Grand Prix motor racing, and subsequently of the Ferrari automobile marque. Under h ...
was unhappy with replacing the smaller capacity V12 race cars with inline-engined racers and wanted to ensure the use of his beloved engine. The inline-four engines produced a better low-end torque and the V12's were superior in higher revs and peak power output. The 250 Monza was powered by the three-litre version of the Colombo V12 engine of the similar specification as used in the 250 MM, developed a year earlier. It was then mounted in the tried and capable, elongated version of the 500 Mondial chassis. A total of only four of these "hybrid" sports racing cars were created. Three of them were bodied in aluminium by
Pinin Farina Pininfarina S.p.A. (; ; short for Pininfarina Società per Azioni) is an Italian automotive design, car design firm and coachbuilder, with headquarters in Cambiano, Turin, Italy. The company was founded by Battista "Pinin" Farina in 1930. On 14 ...
with a design based to that fitted on the roadster body of the 500 Mondial with necessary modifications due to a different powerplant. The hood of the car received an air-scoop for centre mounted carburettors. The single remaining chassis received a
Scaglietti Carrozzeria Scaglietti () was an Italian automobile design and coachbuilder, coachbuilding company active in the 1950s. It was founded by Sergio Scaglietti in 1951 as an automobile repair concern, but was located across the road from Ferrari in M ...
two-seater
spyder The SPYDER ("Surface-to-air Python and Derby") is an Israeli short and medium range mobile air defence system developed by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems with assistance from Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI). Rafael is the prime contractor an ...
body in the style of the 750 Monza to an Alfredo Ferrari design. One car was retained by the Scuderia Ferrari works team, while the remaining three were sold to an Italian customer Franco Cornacchia of Scuderia Guastalla. The first 250 Monza was created in May of 1954, as a prototype of the series. S/n 0432M received a Pinin Farina Spyder bodywork and an engine of a different type than the rest, the ''Tipo 117''. It was originally sold new to Cornacchia before he sold it on to
Luigi Piotti Luigi Piotti (October 27, 1913 in Milan – April 19, 1971 in Godiasco) was a racing driver from Italy. He participated in nine Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Au ...
for 3.5 million Lire. The car was then acquired by
Luigi Chinetti Luigi Chinetti (July 17, 1901 – August 17, 1994) was an Italian-born racecar driver, who emigrated to the United States during World War II. He drove in 12 consecutive 24 Hours of Le Mans races, taking three outright wins there and taking two ...
, who send it to Scaglietti before shipping it to the United States. A new 'pontoon fender' spyder body was created around 1957, and it is believed to be a precursor to the production 250 Testa Rossa body from 1958. The car was finished in white with a blue stripe and briefly raced in North America. When offered for sale in 1961 it was referred to as a "Ferrari Super Monza". The 250 Monza, s/n 0420M was the only works car used by Scuderia Ferrari. After a victorious debut race it was presented at the Amsterdam motor show, where it was sold to Hans Maasland of Netherlands. When the car was damaged at the second heat race at
Zandvoort Zandvoort () is a municipality in the province of North Holland, Netherlands. It is one of the major beach resorts of the Netherlands; it has a long sandy beach. It is bordered by coastal dunes of Zuid-Kennemerland National Park and the Amsterdam ...
, it was sent back to the factory where it received a new body made by Pinin Farina in their same style. By 1955 the car was passed on to Hans Tak. The s/n 0442M was the third Monza built and the only originally bodied by
Scaglietti Carrozzeria Scaglietti () was an Italian automobile design and coachbuilder, coachbuilding company active in the 1950s. It was founded by Sergio Scaglietti in 1951 as an automobile repair concern, but was located across the road from Ferrari in M ...
. It was sold new to Franco Cornacchia who drove it with Gerino Gerini. After the 1954
Carrera Panamericana The Carrera Panamericana was a border-to-border sedan (stock and touring and sports car) rally racing event on open roads in Mexico similar to the Mille Miglia and Targa Florio in Italy. Running for five consecutive years from 1950 to 1954, i ...
the car was sold to Mercedes-Benz dealer Manfredo Lippmann from Guatemala, who tried to enter the car for the
1955 12 Hours of Sebring The 1955 Florida International Twelve Hour Grand Prix of Endurance took place on 13 March, on the Sebring International Raceway (Florida, United States). It was the second round of the F.I.A. World Sports Car Championship. For the fifth runnin ...
, but damaged the car before the race. In 2002, the Ferrari 250 Monza Scaglietti Spyder, s/n 0442M was sold on RM auction for US$ 1.7 million. The last chassis, s/n 0466M was also bodied by Pinin Farina and sold new to Cornacchia. At some point it was offered for sale, in an unrestored state, for €5 million. Although intended as a replacement for the 250 MM in an open variant and an alternative to the 3.0-litre 750 Monza, the lack of immediate success forced Ferrari to focus on its inline-four family of open top racers and the upcoming straight-six models.


Specifications


Engine and transmission

The Ferrari 250 Monza was powered by a
SOHC An overhead camshaft (OHC) engine is a piston engine in which the camshaft is located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with earlier overhead valve engines (OHV), where the camshaft is located below the combus ...
Colombo Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...
60°
V12 engine A V12 engine is a twelve-Cylinder (engine), cylinder Internal combustion engine#Reciprocating engines, piston engine where two banks of six cylinders are arranged in a V engine, V configuration around a common crankshaft. V12 engines are more c ...
with total displacement of . The engine was designated ''Tipo 107'', while the prototype car was powered by a ''Tipo 117'' engine. The fuel was fed by three quad-choke
Weber Weber may refer to: Places United States * Weber, Missouri, an unincorporated community * Weber City, Virginia, a town * Weber City, Fluvanna County, Virginia, an unincorporated community * Weber County, Utah * Weber Canyon, Utah * Weber R ...
36IF/4C carburettors with the resulting maximum power output of at 7200 rpm with 9:1 compression ratio. Ignition was by a single spark plug per cylinder, served by two magnetos. The engine was lubricated with a
wet sump Within piston engines, a wet sump is part of a lubrication system whereby the crankcase sump is used as an integral oil reservoir. An alternative system is the dry sump, whereby oil is pumped from a shallow sump into an external reservoir.Wet su ...
oil system. A transmission, mounted at the rear for better weight balance, had four gears.


Chassis

The ''Tipo 504'' tubular steel chassis was derived from the 500 Mondial chassis, modified to accept the larger V12 engine in place of the 500 Mondial's inline-four. The wheelbase was extended by to . The fuel tank had a capacity of 125 litres.


Suspension

The front suspension was independent with unequal-length double wishbones, transverse leaf spring and Houdaille hydraulic shock absorbers. At the rear the ubiquitous De Dion axle with rear mounted gearbox were installed along with, twin radius arms, semi-elliptic springs and Houdaille hydraulic shock absorbers. The brakes were hydraulic drums all-round.


Racing

The Ferrari 250 Monza debuted at the 12 Hours of Hyères endurance race of 1954 and was driven by
Maurice Trintignant Maurice Bienvenu Jean Paul Trintignant (; 30 October 1917 – 13 February 2005) was a French racing driver and winemaker, who competed in Formula One from to . Trintignant won two Formula One Grands Prix across 15 seasons. In endurance raci ...
and
Luigi Piotti Luigi Piotti (October 27, 1913 in Milan – April 19, 1971 in Godiasco) was a racing driver from Italy. He participated in nine Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Au ...
. They drove the Pinin Farina bodied car entered by Scuderia Ferrari, s/n 0420M, and won the race against smaller-engined 500 Mondial of Picard and Pozzi. It remained the only entry of the 250 Monza as a works car. Scuderia Guastella entered two of theirs cars for the 1954 Supercortemaggiore. Pinin Farina Spyder, driven by Piotti/
Robert Manzon Robert Jean Joseph Manzon (12 April 1917 – 19 January 2015) was a French racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to . Manzon participated in 29 Grands Prix, debuting at the 1950 Monaco Grand Prix. He achieved two podiums, and sco ...
duo finished on 11th place, while the Scaglietti Spyder with Franco Cornacchia and Gerino Gerini placed on the third podium step. The first two places went to 3.0-litre Ferrari inline-four racers. Gerini then embarked solo on a series of races, winning Trofeo Sardo and scoring a second place overall at Bolzano-Mendola hillclimb. Three 250 Monzas were fielded in July for
Coppa d'Oro delle Dolomiti The Dolomites Gold Cup Race (translation: ''Coppa d' Oro delle Dolomiti'') was a motor racing, car race on public roads open to traffic, which was run in the Dolomite Mountains of northern Italy for ten years from 1947 to 1956. It took place alo ...
. Gerini in his Scaglietti Spyder were third overall and first in S+2.0 class. Franco Cornacchia entered his brand new Pinin Farina Syder, the last chassis made, and finished on a 15th place. Luigi Piotti who recently bought the car from Scuderia Guastalla did not finish the race. For the
10 Hours of Messina The 10 Hours of Messina (Italian: ''10 ore di Messina'' or ''10 ore notturna messinese'') was a sports car race, organized by the Automobile Club d'Italia, held for the first time on 24 August 1952 in the street circuit of Messina, Italy I ...
race two cars were entered but non had crossed the finish line. This time for the night driving, Piotti employed
Umberto Maglioli Umberto Maglioli (5 June 1928 – 7 February 1999) was an Italian racing driver, who competed in Formula One at 10 Grands Prix from to . In endurance racing, Maglioli was a three-time winner of the Targa Florio. Maglioli participated in 10 ...
as a second driver. At the Circuito di Senigallia, later the same year, for the S+2.0 class, Gerino Gerini scored a second place representing Scuderia Guastalla. The first place went to 750 Monza of Scuderia Ferrari. Circuito di Reggio Calabria race of 1954 was won by privateer Luigi Piotti. The Scuderia Ferrari car was sold to a Hans Maasland who entered it into International Sports Car race at Zandvoort. Car was driven by Joke Maasland who finished the first heat of the race at a second place in class, but had an accident in the second heat. The Scaglietti Spyder of Scuderia Guastalla was entered in the last edition of the gruelling 1954 Carrera Panamericana. Franco Cornacchia was aided by Enrico Peruchini and both had raced to a fifth overall and third in class. The best result for a 250 Monza at the
1955 Mille Miglia The 1955 ''Mille Miglia'' was a 1,000 mile motor race held on a course made up entirely of public roads around Italy, mostly on the outer parts of the country on April 30-May 1, 1955. Also known as the ''22. edizione Mille Miglia'', the 992.332 ...
was a 15th overall and a sixth in class by Erasmo "Kammamuri" Simeoni. He would also finish Trieste-Opicina hillclimb on a fourth place. The damaged car from Zandvoort was repaired by the factory and sold to Hans Tak, also from Netherlands, who campaigned the car from 1955 though 1959. He won its class at 1955 International Sports Car race at Zandvoort, 1956 Nationale Sportwagen race at Pinksterrace and 1959 National Sports Car race, also at Zandvoort.


References


Bibliography

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External links

{{Scuderia Ferrari 250 Monza Sports racing cars