Ferrari 250LM

Street version of the Ferrari 250LM

Rear view

Ludovico Scarfiotti in the Scuderia Filipinetti Ferrari 250LM at the Sierra-Montagna hill climb in 1964

The Ferrari 250LM was a sports car from Ferrari that was used in the 1964 and 1965 World Sports Car Championship.

Development history

In 1964 it became necessary either to modify the Ferrari 250 GTO or to build a new racing car for the Gran Turismo class. Ferrari decided to build a new car based on the Ferrari 250P . The 250LM was considered the brother car of the 250P; for many professionals it was simply a 250P with a roof.

The street version was only theoretically roadworthy, but it was the first street Ferrari with a mid-engine . The body was designed by Pininfarina . The roof ended directly behind the seats and the interior was separated from the rear by a vertical rear window. Ferrari produced 32 units. From 1965 the door was integrated into the roof in such a way that large cutouts were made when the doors were opened. This also made it possible for tall drivers to get into the car.

Enzo Ferrari's attempt to homologate the 250LM as a GT racing car failed because at the end of 1965 the required number of 100 cars had not been reached. Ferrari therefore had no choice but to let the 250LM compete against the prototypes.

The first prototype was powered by a 3 liter V12 engine . However, all vehicles delivered had the 3.3-liter unit from the Ferrari 275 GTB . According to Ferrari's typology, the 250LM should actually have been called the 275LM, but Ferrari waived this and allowed this inaccuracy.

The Scuderia never put the 250LM as a work vehicle in the sports car world championship one, but gave him away exclusively to the private teams. The 250LM made its racing debut in the colors of Luigi Chinetti's North American Racing Team at the 1964 Sebring 12 Hours . The car caught fire and was completely destroyed. At the 12 Hours of Reims there was the first victory for the 250LM, at the wheel Joakim Bonnier and Graham Hill . The greatest success for this vehicle was the overall victory at the Le Mans 24 Hours in 1965 .

Successes in sports car races

year	run	team	Driver 1	Driver 2
1964	Reims 12 hour race	Maranello Concessionaires	Joakim Bonnier	Graham Hill
	Zolder Grand Prix	Ecurie Francorchamps	Lucien Bianchi
	Scott Brown Memorial Snetterton	Maranello Concessionaires	Roy Salvadori
	Sierre-Montagna hill climb	Scuderia Filipinetti	Ludovico Scarfiotti
	Coppa Inter-Europa	Scuderia Filipinetti	Nino Vaccarella
	Road America 500 Mile Race	John Melcom	Walt Hansgen	Augie Pabst
	Kyalami 9 hour race	David Piper Racing	David Piper	Anthony Maggs
	Angola Grand Prix	Equipe Nationale Belge	Willy Mairesse
1965	Coupe des Belge	Ecurie Francorchamps	Willy Mairesse
	500 km race from Spa-Francorchamps	Ecurie Francorchamps	Willy Mairesse
	500 km race from Mugello	Montegrappa	Mario Casoni	Antonio Nicodemi
	Le Mans 24 hour race	North American Racing Team	Jochen Rindt	Masts Gregory
	Coppa Cittá di Enna		Mario Casoni
	200 km race from Zeltweg	Gotfrid Köchert	Jochen Rindt
1966	Wills Trophy Silverstone		David Piper
	National Zolder		Jean Blaton
	Circuito de Cascais	Montegrappa	Antonio Peixinho
	Anerly Trophy Crystal Palace	David Piper	David Piper
	Surfers Paradise 12 hour race	Scuderia Veloce	Andy Buchanan	Jackie Stewart
	Vilo de Conde		Antonio Peixinho
	Eagle Trophy Brands Hatch	David Piper	David Piper
	Cold Cup Oulton Park	David Piper	David Piper
	1000 km Paris race	David Piper	David Piper	Mike Parkes
	Pukehoe		Andy Buchanan
1967	Zolder Grand Prix		Jean Blaton
	Wills Trophy Silverstone	David Piper	David Piper
	Wills Trophy	Maranello Concessionaires	Richard Attwood
	Evening News Brands Hatch	David Piper	David Piper
	Surfers Paradise 12 hour race	Scuderia Veloce	Bill Brown	Greg Cusack
1968	6 hour race of Surfers Paradise	Scuderia Veloce	Leo Geoghegan	Ian Geoghegan

Technical specifications

Basic technical information on the Ferrari 250LM

Parameters	Ferrari 250LM
Engine:	Four-stroke 12-cylinder mid-engine (installed lengthways)
Cooling:	water
Displacement :	3285 cm³, prototype 2953 cm³,
Bore × stroke:	77 × 58.8 mm, prototype (73 × 58.8)
Compression:	9.7: 1
Valve control:	1 overhead camshaft per cylinder bank, 2 valves per cylinder
Carburetor:	6 Weber double carburettors 38DCN
Power:	320 PS (235 kW) at 7,500 rpm, prototype 300 PS (221 kW) at 7,500 rpm
Maximum torque:	314 Nm at 5,500 rpm
Power transmission:	5-speed gearbox (not synchronized), with reverse gear and limited slip differential
Frame and body:	Frame made of oval steel tubes, body made of aluminum
Steering:
Front suspension:	Individually on double wishbones, coil springs and hydraulic telescopic shock absorbers
Rear suspension:	like front suspension
Brakes:	Dunlop disc brakes
Track width front / rear:	1350/1340 mm
Wheelbase :	2400 mm
Tire size front / rear:
Length × width × height:	4090 mm × 1700 mm × 1115 mm
Empty weight (without driver):	1000 kg
Top speed:	up to 290 km / h

Web links

Commons : Ferrari 250LM  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

• YouTube: 1964 Ferrari 250 LM: A Le Mans Legacy Report about the Ferrari 250LM (English)
• YouTube: 1965 Le Mans winning Ferrari 250 LM photos of the 1964 Ferrari 250LM, chassis # 5893, - the last Ferrari Le Mans winner (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Successes in sports car races in 1964
2. ↑ Successes in sports car races in 1965
3. ↑ Successes in sports car races in 1966
4. ^ Successes in sports car races in 1967
5. ^ Successes in sports car races in 1968
6. ↑ Ferrari.com: FERRARI 250 LM. Ferrari, accessed March 2, 2020 .