The Prancing Horse, quarterly magazine of the Ferrari Club of America, has published a review of the Track Thoughts Ferrari 512M s/n 1040 Windows® CD-ROM. The review, in Issue #172 3rd quarter 2009, complemented an article on the Penske/Sunoco Ferrari by Bill Preston. Preston worked for Sunoco’s Automotive Laboratory as a chemical engineer responsible for research on automotive fuels and lubricants. When Sunoco sponsored the Penske team he was assigned as the liaison between the two companies.
A new series CD-ROM demo is now available. The series is similar to the earlier article on the Ferrari 512M s/n 1040, and provides history, reference material, and photographs. The CD-ROM publication provides more extensive information and bigger photographs than the web-based articles. The test project focuses on the Ferrari 512M. Packaging and pricing are being finalized. (more…)
Hesketh 308/1 was the first car completed by The Hesketh Motor Company. It was entered in the early 1974 Formula 1 races. The car was driven by James Hunt to the team’s first victory at the 1974 Daily Express International Trophy race. Although the April event was a non-championship event, it demonstrated that the Hesketh team was cabable of winning Formula 1 races. Hesketh 308/1 was used as the team’s training car for the rest of the 1974 season. In 1975 308/1 was sold to Harry Stiller for use as a private entry for driver Alan Jones. (more…)
Ferrari 512M s/n 1040
The Ferrari 512M was derived from the 512S Group 5 sports racing car. The 512S was originally created to compete against the Porsche 917. A minimum production run of 25 cars was required meet the homologation requirements for Group 5. The Ferrari 512S development car (s/n 1040) was introduced November 6, 1969, after an eight-month design and build period. The chassis was an evolution of the earlier 312P prototype and 612 Can-Am. The cars used a steel tube chassis reinforced with alloyed paneling for strength. The semi-stressed 5 liter engine, a 60 degree V12, was also derived from the Project 241 Can-Am. When the 512S was introduced, the engine was rated 550 bhp at 8500 RPM. The 512S raced in both coupe and spider versions. For the 1970 Le Mans, a long tail (coda lunga) was added to the 512S to increase top speed on the Mulsanne straight. Unlike the Porsche 917—with a fundamental aerodynamic problem—the Ferrari 512S was remarkably reliable when first introduced.
