It’s 1974 and Ferrari’s official importer to the United States, Luigi Chinetti, is in a quandary. Pesky emissions regulations coupled with a global oil crisis have outlawed Ferrari’s flagship 12-cylinder 365 models across the pond. As a result, the only Prancing Horse accessible to American customers was the quirky wedge-shaped 308 GT4 – a car which didn’t actually have the Ferrari emblem on its sharp nose, but rather that bearing the name ‘Dino’.

Chinetti needed to raise demand for the baby 308 GT4, and fast. The most logical course of action? Take the car racing under his North American Racing Team (N.A.R.T.) banner, of course. An approach was made to his old pal Enzo in Maranello. And once a wealthy backer had been found in the form of the Los Angeles-based collector Bill Schanbacher, factory development work began on the first – and only – 308 GT4 LM.

We spoke with Dick Fritz, who served as N.A.R.T.’s team manager for many years, about the car’s conception. “Chinetti’s belief in the concept and his famous powers of persuasion were why the 308 GT4 LM came to be,” Fritz told us. “I’m not sure it was something the factory itself believed would be a success. But Chinetti always maintained that if sales of a particular new car were low, racing it was a surefire way of boosting its commercial appeal. That the 308 GT4 was the only new Ferrari customers could buy in the United States in 1974 only strengthened Chinetti’s case to the factory.”

The unique Ferrari 308 GT4 LM makes the first of its two competitive outings in the 1974 24 Hours of Le Mans

So, how did the ingegneri in Italy go about transforming the small, angular, V8-powered 2+2 coupé into a racing car fit to contest the greatest endurance motor race in the world, the 24 Hours of Le Mans? The following factory competition features help explain their thought process and make the Classiche-certified 308 GT4 LM a unique proposition for collectors and historic racing drivers today.

As has always been the case, weight was deemed public enemy number one and shedding it a foremost concern for Ferrari’s engineers. No stone was left unturned as the GT4 underwent a crash diet, from the stripped interior and the aluminum retractable body panels to the chassis and the 365 GTB/4 ‘Daytona’ Competizione engine internals. Ferrari even resorted to drilling  holes in flat concealed areas of metalwork, such as inside the doors and on the frames for the bonnet and the engine cover. The effort was not in vein: the 308 LM GT4 tipped the scales a staggering 200kg less than its production counterpart.

Everybody knows endurance racing – and particularly 24-hour marathons such as Le Mans – can be won or lost so easily in the pit lane. That’s why special attention was made by Ferrari to making the 308 GT4 LM easy for N.A.R.T.’s mechanics to maintain and repair throughout a race. For example, the glovebox was converted to house the fuses. A reserve fuel-tank tap was installed in the cabin aft the driver’s seat. And ordinarily hidden inlets such as those for fuel, water and gearbox oil were moved to the outside of the car for easy access. Similarly, the car has a small external fuel level measure. Because in the heat of battle, under the cover of darkness and against the inevitable grip of fatigue, the last thing a racing driver needs to remember is to check an Italian fuel gauge.

Though not a radical aerodynamic package, the 308 GT4 LM’s competition bodywork follows a tried-and-tested formula optimised for speed and stability on the long straights of the Circuit de la Sarthe. It comprises that ground hugging front skirt, the vast ‘whale-tail’ rear spoiler, the myriad air dams and intakes, and the swollen wheel arches on all four corners (a necessity also to accommodate the wider split-rim Gotti wheels). The car’s aerodynamic effectiveness was tested under the veil of secrecy at Ferrari’s legendary Fiorano test-track. Well, sort of. Ferrari tried to keep the car quiet by scheduling tests on the weekends when other important things were taking place – the Monaco Grand Prix, for example. But Auto Sprint magazine was one step ahead and ran a double-page splash on the new car, dubbing it ‘la silhouette Dinotto’.

As a factory Ferrari competition car, the 308 GT4 LM was never going to be a skin-deep exercise. In the end, the ingegneri in Maranello were able to shave an astonishing 200kg from the production 308 GT4. Combined with a transversely mounted V8 upgraded with various 365 GTB/4 ‘Daytona’ Competizione components to produce a healthy 300bhp at 8,200rpm, the 308 GT4 LM was quick. One-hundred and seventy miles-per-hour quick. That was ideal for what was to be the unique racing car’s first race: the hallowed 24 Hours of Le Mans in June of 1974. Competition-specification braking and suspension systems were also installed, in addition to a single 180-litre endurance fuel tank.

Photos courtesy of Tom Shaxson 

We are currently offering this 1974 Ferrari 308 GT4 LM for sale – you can read its full story, including the fascinating saga of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1975, by clicking here.