After poor results in the F1 championship, Ferrari resumed the development of competitive prototypes. That's why I designed the new 312 P prototype to compete in the 3 Liters category of the F.I.A. World Brand Championship for 1969.
Based on the 312 Formula 1car, Ferrari entered the 3,000 cm3 prototypes category by carving one of its monopods. After regulatory adaptations and tuning for the new conditions, Ferrari started running 312 P.
The year 1969 was a tough time to start. At that time, it was the Porsche 908 prototypes that dominated the competition. The Ferrari 312 P finished the 1969 season with a pole and two second places in the 12 Hours of Sebring and 1,000 Km of SPA.
After the season, those prototypes were sold to Luigi Chinetti, the Ferrari importer in the USA. He would run them with NART (North American Racing Teams).
During 1969 regulatory changes were announced for the next seasons of the F.I.A World Brand Championship. The “3 Liters” category was no longer suitable for Ferrari, so in mid-1969 they left aside the optimization of the 312 P and began with the development of a new prototype with 5,000 cm3 engine. That would be the famous 512 who participated in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, although without great success.
When Ferrari began the development of the 512 model, the Porsche 917 dominated the 5-litre category with a baggy advantage. That led the F.I.A. to implement regulatory changes in the category by 1972. Ferrari then decided to change course again, abandoning the 512 model and designing a new 312 for the 1971 season: the Ferrari 312 PB.
© Adrián Blanco 2007 - No full or partial reproduction of text and/or images without explicit written consent of the author. —
Ferrari 312 PB
Ferrari 330 P Prototypes Ferrari 512 BB Ferrari Mondial Ferrari 365 Daytona Ferrari Mythos Ferrari 250 GT Le Mans Speciale Ferrari F430 Scuderia Ferrari 512 BBLM