www.QV500.com - Ferrari 250 LM Part 1: 250 LM
 

250 LM chassis 6313 LM 		Ferrari introduced the 250 LM as their GT-contender for 1964 and successor to the awesome 250 GTO. Having crushed the opposition in 1962 and '63's Group 3 World Championship for Manufacturers, Ferrari were looking to build an even more extreme model that could continue their dominant form. To gain homologation into Group 3, the FIA demanded 100 examples of a particular model had to be produced. Only 37 GTO's were ever built by Ferrari though, the firm gaining homologation on the pretext that well over 100 250 SWB's had been produced and that the GTO was a simple evolution.
   
This was true to a certain extent, but Enzo Ferrari should have considered himself lucky to get away with flouting the rules once. Development work started in early 1963 with an eye to having a completed car, a mid-engined car, ready for the autumn. Thus began the construction of a supposedly GT-class vehicle albeit one heavily derived from the 250 P sports prototype racer, this crack model itself only having debuted that April. So whilst the ambitious GTO had been most closely related to the preceding 250 GT SWB, the 250 LM was taking it's cues directly from a scratch built prototype although Ferrari still had the audacity to try and qualify it as yet another evolution of the original 250 GT. In fact, the LM turned out to be little more than a 250 P with a fixed roof and unsurprisingly, the FIA refused homologation. This model would therefore quite rightly play out it's career against the mighty sports prototypes. Vaccari of Modena produced the welded tubular steel Tipo 577 chassis, the design of which, although featuring an identical 2400mm wheelbase to the 250 GTO, was very similar to the 250 P. Indeed, the only major difference was around the cabin where more robust tubing was used for the LM's lower sills and heavier doors. The 250 P's suspension was used along with 15-inch Borrani wire wheels. The first car, chassis 5149 LM, used a three-litre 60° V12 with a displacement of 2953cc thanks to a bore and stroke of 73mm x 58.8mm respectively. Dry-sumped and featuring Testa Rossa cylinder heads, its specification was similar to the outgoing 250 GTO with 300bhp at 7500rpm.
 

250 LM chassis 6313 LM		 Compression was set at 9.7:1 and six twin-choke Weber 38 DCN carburettors fitted, however, calls from the first drivers for more performance combined with the FIA’s refusal to homologate the LM in GT meant a larger displacement, more powerful Tipo 275 unit was fitted into all subsequent examples. Capacity was raised to 3286cc thanks to a bore and stroke of 77mm x 58.8mm, the former bored out by 4mm from the 3-litre unit. Power was also increased to 320bhp at 7500rpm, compression remaining unaltered at 9.7:1 along with the same six twin-choke Weber 38 DCN downdraught carbs.
   
It is worth noting that, due to this increase in displacement, these vehicles are often quite fairly referred to as 275 LM's, however, the 250 LM designation was used by Ferrari throughout production. Meanwhile, although the GTO had been designed by Giotto Bizzarrini, normal practice was resumed for the 250 LM with the Turin-based Carrozzeria Pininfarina being called upon to create the new mid-engine bodywork. Fabricated entirely from lightweight alloy by Scaglietti of Modena, the 250 LM's lines were always going to be a departure from previous Ferrari GT cars simply because of it's layout. Quite understandably, there were a number of strong similarities between the new model and Ferrari's 250 P sports prototype that had been shown earlier in the year, this vehicle also being penned by Pininfarina and using an almost identical chassis. Most notable of these common features were the distinctive rear wing mounted engine cooling scoops and cockpit ‘bridge’, this latter cue also showing up on the 1964 spec GTO's that were called into service because of the LM's failure to secure homologation in the GT class. Launched during October 1963 at the Paris Salon where the first example, chassis 5149 LM, made it's debut, some concerns were aired regarding the rear-biased weight distribution and safety of a vehicle with an engine that was no longer front mounted. Regardless, the 250 LM quickly found favour with race car drivers throughout the world and even though it was destined to compete in the prototype class, nevertheless managed to score some notable victories during 1964. These included the Rheims 12 Hours (5907 LM), the Elkhart Lake 500 Miles (6047 LM) and the Kyalami 9 Hours (5907 LM).
 

250 LM chassis 5893 LM, 1965 Le Mans 24 Hours		 The defining moment for the LM came in 1965 when, driven by Jochen Rindt and Masten Gregory, chassis 5893 LM took overall victory in the Le Mans 24 Hour race. By this time, several examples of the had been modified by the Modena-based Carrozzeria Drogo to incorporate a more aerodynamic nose than the original Pininfarina version. These LM's can easily be identified by their longer, though no less attractive, nose and grille, the latter of which is markedly more oval than the stock item. Indeed, with this special nose fitted, the 250 LM was capable of reaching around 300km/h.