The next generation of the 312 adopted the then-new 180-degree 12-cylinder engine, designed by Mauro Forghieri and used in the 1970 312 B Formula 1 . To avoid naming confusion with the previous 312 P, the new 312 PBcar was called, corresponding the P to prototype and the B to the F1 engine (although technically it was not Boxer engine).
The chassis of the new prototype differed from the previous Ferrari 312 P. Forghieri's redesign used an aluminum central semi-monocoque and suspensions with hydraulic springs shock absorbers. The engine (central) was mounted to a steel substructure along with the rear suspension.
The adopted F1 engine was a V12 at 180º with fuel injection and a capacity of 2,991 cm3. With a power of 450 hp and coupled with a five-speed manual gearbox, the 312 PB reached a top speed of about 320 km/h. The new engine copied details of the Porsche and looked very promising, although it failed to win races.
Porsche would not officially participate in the 3-Liter category for technical reasons of the regulation. The Porsche 908 was 100 kilos lighter than the Ferrari and should carry 50 kilos of ballast, while its engine should be optimized to complement that imbalance. Private teams ran it with excellent results, beating Ferrari in the championship.
With a supposedly less competitive rival, due to lack of official support, Ferrari failed to turn his optimism into victories. Everything would change next season.
By 1972 the Ferrari 312 PB won all the competitions in which it was presented. It is worth the clarification, as Ferrari decided not to present the prototype at the 24 Hours of Le Mans because they knew that the engine derived from F1 would not withstand such a requirement.
Even so, the drivers added the necessary points to consecrate Ferrari as the F.I.A. World Brands Champion, defeating Alfa Romeo. The Ferrari team had hired the best drivers of the time, notably Mario Andretti, Jacky Ickx and Ronny Peterson.
The successes achieved in 1972 make the Ferrari 312 PB one of the most successful prototypes in the sports history of the house of Maranello.
The Ferrari 312 PB 1973 was optimized. The engine reached a power of 475 hp. However, the 1973 season would be quite more complicated for Ferrari.
The French of Matra presented their prototypes at a high level powered by Simca engines. Even his victories forced Ferrari to run for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, because it was clear that Matra could take a considerable advantage in the points of the championship.
Ferrari resorted to one of its most important resources - cunning. They set up a special unit of 312 PB faster but less reliable. The idea was not for that car to win, but to force the Matras to circulate faster by betting that their mechanics could not stand the pace. But nothing went as expected.
Not only that Matra won the race fantastically, but the special but supposedly less reliable Ferrari was the only one to finish the race, and in a valuable second place just six laps away from the leader.
Matra won 5 victories against just 2 Ferrari, who could not even succeed in the “Targa Florio”, where Matra did not show up but a Porsche 911 won the competition. Finally Matra won the World Brands Championship by a margin of 9 points over Ferrari.
Given that Ferrari's situation was also critical in Formula 1, the Italian team abandoned prototyping developments to focus solely on F1.
© Adrián Blanco 2007 - No full or partial reproduction of text and/or images without explicit written consent of the author. —
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