Ferrari 250 GT SWB breadvan

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Ferrari
Ferrari 250 GT SWB breadvan
Ferrari 250 GT SWB breadvan
250 GT SWB breadvan
Production period: 1962
Class : race car
Body versions : Coupe
Engines: Otto engine :
3.0 liters (293 hp)
Length:
Width:
Height:
Wheelbase : 2400 mm
Empty weight : 935 kg

The Ferrari 250 GT SWB Breadvan is a closed racing car that Giotto Bizzarrini constructed in 1962 for the Venetian motorsport team Scuderia Serenissima . The car is unique. From a technical point of view, it is a special version of the Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta SWB produced in small series , but it was not part of the official Ferrari model range and was not recognized by Ferrari for decades. The nickname "Breadvan", established by the British press, refers to the unusual shape of the rear of the vehicle. The car was supposed to compete with the newly developed Ferrari 250 GTO . However, both cars only competed directly against each other once. The racing success of the "Breadvan" lagged behind that of contemporary factory Ferraris. He did not achieve any victories in sports car races.

History of origin

Since 1953, Ferrari has been building not only the roadworthy Gran Turismos 250 GT , 250 GT Coupé and 250 GT 2 + 2, but also vehicles with a decidedly sporty focus that could be used in everyday life as well as on the racetrack. These included the 250 GT Berlinetta LWB (1955 to 1959) and its successor, the 250 GT Berlinetta SWB , of which there was an even more powerful version with the unofficial name 250 GT Berlinetta SWB SEFAC Hot Rod from 1961. It was the link between the sports Berlinettas of the 1950s and the 250 GTO, which was available from 1962. With the SEFAC Hot Rods, numerous private drivers and teams competed in sports car races in the early 1960s.

The 250 GT SWB "Breadvan" was created at this time. It is an indirect consequence of a dispute within Ferrari's management level in October 1961, which became known as the Palace Revolution , as a result of which Enzo Ferrari dismissed some key officials with Giotto Bizzarrini (director of prototype development), Carlo Chiti (head of development) and Girolamo Gardini (sales manager). Bizzarrini, Chiti and Gardini then founded the company Automobili Turismo e Sport (ATS) at the end of 1961 to compete with Ferrari. The Italian nobleman Conte Giovanni Volpi di Misurata was also temporarily involved in the project, who at the time was running the Scuderia Serenissima racing team. Volpi financed ATS for a short time, but ended the relationship after a few weeks. When he wanted to order Ferrari's new 250 GTO racing car for the 1962 season, Enzo Ferrari refused to deliver to Scuderia Serenissima because of Volpi's involvement with competitor ATS. In the end, Volpi received a GTO after a detour; Nevertheless, with a view to the 24-hour race at Le Mans in 1962 , he decided to have his own racing car built as a GTO competitor. This became the "breadvan".

description

Giotto Bizzarrini developed the Serenissima car; involved were also Piero Drogo and his company Carrozzeria Sports Cars of Modena . Bizzarrini used a 1961 Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta SWB SEFAC Hot Rod (chassis number 2819GT), with which Olivier Gendebien and Lucien Bianchi had finished the 1961 Tour de France for automobiles in second place overall. The chassis of this Berlinetta became the basis of the Serenissima car. The chassis and the drive technology remained unchanged, but the car received a completely new body.

landing gear

The chassis of the "Breadvan" corresponds to that of the standard Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta SWB SEFAC Hot Rod. It has the internal designation Tipo 593/61 . It consists of a tubular frame made of oval steel tubes. As usual with the SEFAC hot rod versions of the Berlinetta SWB, the tubes from which the frame is welded together have a smaller wall thickness than the normal Competizione and Lusso versions. The tubular frame of the body is placed on the chassis. The wheelbase is 2400 mm. The front wheels are individually located on double wishbones suspended, there are coil springs with hydraulic telescopic shock absorber and a stabilizer . There is a rigid axle at the rear . It is sprung with semi-elliptical longitudinal leaf springs . To this end, trailing arms and hydraulic telescopic shock absorbers are built in.

engine

The most powerful version of the Colombo twelve-cylinder engine that had powered all members of the Ferrari 250 family since 1953 is installed in the “breadvan” . This is the Tipo 168 expansion stage presented in 1960 , which was revised once again in 1961 for the Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta SWB SEFAC Hot Rod. The V12 engine has a displacement of 2953 cm³ (bore × stroke: 73 × 58.8 mm). The cylinder bank angle is 60 degrees. Each bank of cylinders has an overhead camshaft driven by a chain. There is an inlet and an outlet valve for each cylinder. The mixture preparation is done by six double carburettors from Weber (type 38DCN). The compression is 9.7: 1. The engine output is given as 293 HP (216 kW). The same construction can be found in the Ferrari 250 GTO, but there with another 10 HP (7 kW) higher engine output.

Bizzarrini transferred the standard engine of the GT Berlinetta SWB SEFAC Hot Rod unchanged into the "breadvan". However, compared to the 250 GTO, the engine is positioned 12 cm further towards the center of the vehicle; it is located completely behind the front axle. The power is transmitted via a manual four-speed gearbox. This distinguishes the “Breadvan” from the 250 GTO, which already has a transmission with five forward gears.

body

Van-like structure: Ferrari 250 GT SWB "Breadvan"

The structure of the "Breadvan" is a design by Giotto Bizzarrini and Piero Drogo. In addition to the very low height, a special feature is the almost horizontally tapering roof that ends at a vertically sloping rear. A plexiglass flap is installed at the rear. Bizzarrini and Drogo chose this combo shape for aerodynamic reasons; they implement the concept of the crest tail . The shape was the reason for the unofficial nickname "Breadvan" or - in the French-speaking world - "Cammionette" (small delivery van). At 935 kg - according to other sources 910 kg - the "Breadvan" was even lighter than the standard Berlinetta.

production

The Ferrari 250 GT Breadvan was built in the Neri e Bonacini body shop in Modena.

Races

The Scuderia Serenissima reported the "breadvan" for the first time to the 24-hour race of Le Mans in 1962 for Carlo-Maria Abate and Colin Davis . The entry was made in the GT 3.0 class, in which the privately registered Ferrari 250 GTOs of Pierre Noblet and Jean Guichet (Team Noblet) and Léon Dernier and Jean Blaton ( Équipe Nationale Belge ) competed. In the race the “breadvan” stayed ahead of the two GTOs, but then retired after 30 laps with a technical defect. Noblet and Guichet, on the other hand, finished the race in the 250 GTO and were second overall, class winners, Dernier and Blaton and third overall.

For the "Breadvan" followed in the summer of 1962 a fourth place in the British Guards Trophy and a third place overall for Colin Davis and Ludovico Scarfiotti in the 1962 1000 km race in Paris .

It is unclear whether the “Breadvan” achieved a class win in a hill climb in August 1962 in Villars-sur-Ollon, Switzerland . Some sources confirm this, others assume that Carlo-Maria Abate drove a 250 GTO at this event.

Whereabouts

After the dissolution of the Scuderia Serenissima, Volpi initially kept the car. He temporarily lent the "breadvan" to the then Fiat boss Gianni Agnelli , who had it painted black to give the impression of a hearse . At the end of 1965, Volpi sold the car. It passed through numerous hands in the following 50 years and underwent some changes before it was extensively restored from 2005 and brought up to the state of June 1962. Occasionally the car is used at historic racing events. In 2015 there was an accident during a race in Goodwood, UK , in which the car sustained some damage.

literature

  • Leonardo Acerbi: Ferrari: A Complete Guide to All Models. MBI Publishing Company LLC, 2006, ISBN 978-0-7603-2550-6 .
  • Georg Amtmann, Halwart Schrader: Italian sports cars. Motorbuch-Verlag, Stuttgart 1999, ISBN 3-613-01988-4
  • Matthias Braun, Ernst Fischer, Manfred Steinert, Alexander Franc Storz: Ferrari road and racing cars since 1946. Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 978-3-613-02651-3 .
  • Peter Braun, Gregor Schulz: The great Ferrari manual. All series and racing vehicles from 1947 to the present day. Heel Verlag, Königswinter 2006, ISBN 3-89880-501-8 .
  • Godfrey Eaton: The Complete Ferrari. Edited by Geoff Willoughby. Cadogan Books, London 1985, ISBN 0-947754-10-5 .
  • Brian Laban: Ferrari. Translated from the English by Frauke Watson. Parragon Books, Bath 2006, ISBN 978-1-4054-1409-8 .
  • The car models 1966/67 and 1968/69 (dates and price).

Web links

Commons : Ferrari 250 GT SWB Breadvan  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Mike Lawrence: Grand Prix Cars 1945-1965 , Motor Racing Publications 1998, ISBN 1-899870-39-3 , p. 15.
  2. ↑ Wolfgang Blaube : Count, pay! Presentation of the brand and history of the vehicles produced in: Oldtimer Markt , issue 09/2008, p. 10 ff.
  3. ↑ a b c Wouter Melissen: Ferrari 250 GT SWB "Breadvan". www.ultimatecarpage.com, April 18, 2014, accessed September 9, 2018 .
  4. ↑ a b c Matthias Braun, Ernst Fischer, Manfred Steinert, Alexander Franc Storz: Ferrari road and racing cars since 1946. Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 978-3-613-02651-3 , p. 204.
  5. ↑ Matthias Braun, Ernst Fischer, Manfred Steinert, Alexander Franc Storz: Ferrari road and racing cars since 1946. Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 978-3-613-02651-3 , p. 100.
  6. ↑ Statistics of the Guards Trophy 1962 on the website www.racingsportscars.com (accessed on September 9, 2018).
  7. ↑ Statistics of the 1000 kilometer race in Paris 1962 on the website www.racingsportscars.com (accessed on September 9, 2018).
  8. ↑ The Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta SWB Breadvan on the website www.barchetta.cc (accessed on September 9, 2018).
  9. ↑ Statistics of the Ollon Villars hill climb in 1962 on the website www.euromontagna.com (accessed on September 9, 2018).
  10. ^ History of the "Breadvan" on the website www.coachbuild.com (accessed on September 9, 2018).