Started on pole position and finished second overall in the 1973 24 Hours of Le Mans – the highest position ever achieved by a 312 P/B in the French endurance classic
Finished second overall in the 1972 Daytona 6 Hours
Raced by endurance racing legends including Arturo Merzario, Ronnie Peterson, Brian Redman, Carlos Reutemann and Nino Vaccarella
Ferrari Classiche certified, confirming the car’s matching-numbers chassis, engine and gearbox
Only six private owners since 1973, the first of whom was the five-time Formula 1 Grands Prix winner Clay Regazzoni
The ultimate evolution of Ferrari’s fabled prototype ‘P’ cars
The last Works-entered Ferrari prototype to compete in the World Sportscar Championship
Engineered with technology derived directly from Ferrari’s Formula 1 single-seaters, including the sonorous flat-12 engine
Eligible for the world’s most prestigious historic motoring events, from the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance to the Le Mans Classic
SOLD
Chassis no. 0892
Goosebumps. On the back of our necks. All the way up our arms. Everywhere. The significance of the 312 P/B, especially in the broader context of Ferrari’s storied history, obviously precedes it. But as strange as it sounds, it’s the abundant small but deliciously sweet physical details dotted all over the car that strike you the hardest.
The distinctive red and black twill fabric used by the Scuderia to crudely cover the cockpit areas of all its late-1960s and early-1970s racing cars. The small but reassuringly thick-rimmed steering wheel ‘pinched’ directly from the 312 Formula 1 single-seaters. The front intake that appears to fall away from the bodywork and could well have been designed to make the Heuer logo more visible. And the four aircraft-esque NACA ducts atop the flat expanse of rear bodywork.
It is for very good reason why the 312 P/B is considered among Ferrari’s most fabled competition cars, not least because it earned the Prancing Horse its final World Sportscar Championship (so far). The ingegneri in Maranello weren’t fooling anybody – this was a thinly-disguised Formula 1 car with a sports-car body.
Bringing with it a dizzying level of technical sophistication you’d expect to crown the line of ultra-successful prototype racers which preceded it, the 312 P/B encompassed a 180-degree flat-12 engine producing 460bhp at an ungodly 10,800rpm, a lightweight semi-monocoque chassis crafted from aluminium, and cooling radiators buried in distinctive sponsons either side of the cockpit.
“Unlike the 250 LMs and 512s, which were largely sold to privateers to race, the 312 P/Bs were campaigned exclusively by the Works Scuderia Ferrari team and its storied roll-call of pilots.”
Unlike the 250 LMs and 512 S/Ms, which were largely sold to privateers to race, the 312 P/Bs were campaigned exclusively by the Works Scuderia Ferrari team and its storied roll-call of pilots. Wondering why Enzo Ferrari didn’t support his customers this time around? Here’s how Colonel Ronnie Hoare, helmsman of the famous Maranello Concessionaires privateer team, explained it in his book.
“[Il Commendatore] took me into racing department, picked up a 312 con-rod and asked ‘Do you know how much that cost me to make?’ The answer was £1,000 - it was machined with titanium and with 12 to an engine, that was £12,000 alone. He said ‘think of that throughout the car, think of the spares you would need and you’ll appreciate why you fellows could not afford to run them and why I could not afford to support you…’” Sophistication, indeed!
On a more objective level, the 312 P/B is just the most beautifully-proportioned sports-prototype, whose complex flat-12 engine sings the sweetest, most raucous and soul-stirring of songs. If it had never turned a wheel in anger, the 312 P/B would still be towards the very top of the tall Ferrari tree for collectors today.
Ahead of its all-out assault on the new World Championship for Makes in 1972, Ferrari produced six fresh 312 P/Bs, of which the chassis we are honoured to be presenting – number 0892 – was the penultimate built.
The effort, expense and organisation invested into the Scuderia’s endurance racing campaign in 1972 was truly extraordinary, dwarfing even John Wyer’s dominant Works Ford and Porsche efforts. With ex-driver Peter Schetty steering the ship, Fiat’s near-limitless budget, an enviable roll-call of predominantly Formula 1 pilots and an armada of engineers spearheaded by Giacomo Caliri and Mauro Forghieri, the S.p.A. Ferrari SEFAC outfit fielded not two but three of its jewellike 312 P/Bs at each race.
With Porsche’s withdrawal from endurance racing (it simply didn’t have a competitive three-litre prototype) and Alfa Romeo’s inherent lack of reliability, the fully-prepared Ferrari team’s success perhaps came as little of a surprise. The sheer dominance with which the Prancing Horse vanquished the opposition en route to its final Works outright title victory, however, beggared belief.
The 312 P/B won all but one of the 11 races held in 1972. And the only race it didn’t win, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, was because Ferrari opted not to enter. Chassis number 0892’s maiden competitive outing came in the Daytona Continental Six Hours in early February.
“One of three ‘box-fresh’ Works 312 P/Bs for Daytona, this car was assigned to ‘Super Swede’, the 10-time Grands Prix winner Ronnie Peterson, and fellow Formula 1 veteran Tim Schenken. The duo finished second overall.”
One of three ‘box-fresh’ Works 312 P/Bs for Daytona, this car was assigned to ‘Super Swede’, the 10-time Grands Prix winner Ronnie Peterson, and fellow Formula 1 veteran Tim Schenken. Allocated the race number six, chassis 0892 was distinguishable by the blue and yellow stripe down its driver-side nose section and atop the two stabilising fins at the rear. In spite of clutch issues throughout and a puncture at the death, the duo drove a masterful race to finish second overall.
Chassis 0892 enjoyed one further outing in the season-closing six-hour race at Watkins Glen, where it was piloted by endurance veterans Arturo Merzario and Brian Redman.
Ferrari tightened the purse strings across all its motorsport activities for 1973, not that you’d tell looking at the sports-car team, which was still fielding three cars at most races. The absence of Peter Schetty, who’d returned home to run his family business, was more obviously felt in Maranello. Caliri got promoted by Il Commendatore to racing manager, while retaining his role as technical director.
With French national pride at stake, Gérard Ducarouge’s Matra Sports team upped its game ahead of the 1973 season, finally unlocking the potential of its glorious V12 engine. Retaliation was essential for the Prancing Horse, whose engineers made one final round of upgrades to the 312 P/B in a bid to maintain its dominance.
Knowledge gleaned from the previous season saw the introduction of a longer wheelbase, a wider front track, an enhanced [read smoother] aerodynamic body based on the ‘intermediate’ package adopted for most of 1972 and a new exhaust system designed to increase torque. A slightly bigger bore on the 180-degree V12 resulted in a power increase to 460bhp and a dizzying redline hike to 11,600rpm. Can you imagine?
This 312 P/B’s year began with two fourth-place finishes in the 6 Hours of Vallelunga and 1,000km race at Dijon, both in the capable hands of Arturo Merzario and Carlos Pace. The hallowed twists and turns of the Targa Florio beckoned next for chassis 0892. The previous year’s edition of the classic Sicilian road-race had been won by Merzario, which was reassuring given he was once again earmarked to drive this particular Ferrari.
Injecting an extra dose of confidence, Ferrari partnered Merzario with Nino Vaccarella, the Sicilian school teacher tuned racing hero, who knew more of the 45-mile Piccolo Circuito delle Madonie than anyone. Vaccarella won his home event not once but thrice.
Unbeknownst to the paddock, growing safety fears and inadequate marshalling would ultimately see the Targa Florio struck off the world-championship roster. Alas, the final edition of what is now held as one of the greatest-ever endurance motor races was not won by this Ferrari 312 P/B – Merzario retired after suffering a puncture and subsequent driveshaft failure.
Unlike in 1972, Ferrari did show up at Le Mans in 1973 – and with three 312 P/B Coda Lungas to boot, each subtly modified to cope better with the challenges of the French endurance classic. Assigned the race number 16, chassis 0892 was driven by Merzario and Pace. And if ever there was a sure sign there was life in the old Italian dog – the 312 P/B – yet, they both set identical pole times of 3min37.5sec. The unmatched top speed of 206.3mph on the Mulsanne Straight was arguably even more encouraging for Ferrari than the pole position itself.
Internally at Ferrari, it was agreed that this 312 P/B would serve the role of the hare. Merzario would start as quickly as possible in a bid to force the chasing Matras into overstressing their cars. Sure enough, when the Porsche 911 course car peeled into the pit lane and the braying pack is released at the beginning of the race, Merzario surges ahead with such energy you’d assume the green-striped 312 P/B was running on some sort of rocket fuel.
By the time Merzario handed over to his teammate around the two-hour mark, he’d carved out an enviable lead and even lapped the sister ‘tortoise’ Ferrari of Jacky Ickx and Brian Redman. The remainder of the race played out in a fashion nobody could have predicted. Each of the Ferraris had a stint at leading, though ultimately mechanical maladies and resultant time in the pits cost all three dearly.
In the end, the least effected was chassis 0892, ironically the ‘expendable hare’, which crossed the finish line on Sunday afternoon in second overall. It was the highest position ever achieved by a 312 P/B at Le Mans and the last time a factory-entered Ferrari sports-racing prototype would complete the French endurance classic for 50 years.
As Ferrari narrowly missed out on the title to Matra, so Il Commendatore – facing increased pressure from Fiat – reluctantly pulled the plug on its endurance motorsport activities. Amazingly, a dramatic (and rather ungainly!) 1974 Evoluzione iteration of the 312 P/B was actually tested at Fiorano. But the entire programme was scrapped when Niki Lauda and Luca di Montezemelo convinced Enzo Ferrari that getting his Formula 1 concern back on track was a more worthwhile avenue down which to focus their efforts.
What could have been… The magnificent 312 P/Bs crowned a wonderful and hugely successful era of Ferrari racing prototypes.
Ferrari sold all its 312 P/Bs after the disbandment of its sports-car activities. Chassis 0892 was bought by the five-time Formula 1 race-winner Clay Regazzoni in November of 1973. It subsequently passed through the hands of the Swiss industrialist and serial Ferrari collector Albert Obrist, before it was acquired by the Arizona-based brothers Joseph and Gregory Galdi in 1990. The Galdis exhibited this Ferrari at a handful of North American events over the course of the next eight years, before selling to Cornelius Tamboer in September of 1998. At this time the car was fastidiously restored by Motorkraft Ltd. and Bob Wallace in North America.
“Ferrari sold all its 312 P/Bs after the disbandment of its sports-car activities and chassis 0892 was bought by the five-time Formula 1 race-winner Clay Regazzoni.”
Keen to capitalise on the eligibility of this ultra-significant Ferrari sports-prototype, Tamboer dedicated the following years to sharing chassis 0892 with the world. Among the events he and the car attended were the Cavallino Classic in Florida, the Goodwood Festival of Speed and the Modena Motorsport Track Days at the Nürburgring. During the latter this 312 P/B was piloted by period Works Scuderia Ferrari driver (and eight-time Le Mans-winner!) Jacky Ickx.
Chassis number 0892 joined the collection of its penultimate American owner in the summer of 2005, sharing a garage with such important competition Ferraris as a 250 LM, a 512 S, an F333 SP and an F1-2000. In his 18 years as its custodian, said owner has exhibited the car at a great number of prestigious static and dynamic historic motorsport events around the world, including the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance and multiple editions of the Monterey Motorsports Reunion in California. At Pebble, chassis 0892 placed third overall.
Crucially, in 2022, this 312 P/B was submitted for Ferrari Classiche certification in Maranello – certification it duly received, the factory confirming both chassis 0892’s competition provenance and the races it entered – and, of course, the car’s ‘matching-numbers’ chassis, engine and gearbox.
As Ferrari clinched its fairy-tale outright victory in the centenary running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans last summer with the 499P Hypercar, so the collector-car world cast its collective eye back 50 years and to the last Prancing Horse to be entered by the Works in the world’s most famous motor race: the magnificent 312 P/B.
In addition to its outings in the 1972 and 1973 World Sportscar Championships, piloted by such veritable motorsport legends as Brian Redman, Arturo Merzario and Ronnie Peterson, chassis number 0892 bears the distinction of starting on pole position and finishing second in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1973 – the best finish of any 312 P/B in the French endurance classic.
Having resided in the exceptional collection of its last custodian for 18 years, this Ferrari 312 P/B presented a new afficionado of the Ferrari marque with an extraordinary opportunity to acquire one of its most fabled competition cars. The car’s full red-book Ferrari Classiche certification, confirming chassis 0892 to be a fully matching-numbers example, was the proverbial icing on the flat-12-powered cake.
SOLD