Ferrari 290MM

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Ferrari 290MM

The Ferrari 290MM was a racing car that Scuderia Ferrari used in sports car races in 1956 and 1957.

Development history

In the mid-1950s, the Scuderia faced considerable competition from the large-volume sports cars from Maserati in the World Championship . The 290MM was created in this environment. In 1955, the Scuderia had taken over the motorsport department of Lancia , so that Vittorio Jano returned to Ferrari.

Outwardly, the 290MM, whose body Scaglietti had built, resembled the Ferrari 860 Monza . You could only distinguish the two types by the air inlets on the front hood and the two conspicuous exhaust pipes of the 290MM. Technically, however, the two vehicles differed considerably, even if the front suspension and the De Dion rear axle were taken from the 860 Monza. The main difference was the engine. The 860 Monza had the 3.5-liter 4-cylinder in- line engine from the 857S , whereas the 290MM had a V12 engine .

Vittorio Jano had developed a new 3.5-liter engine that developed 320 hp (235 kW) at 7300 rpm. During the construction, Jano had combined the two concepts of Aurelio Lampredi and Gioacchino Colombo  - long and short block - into one engine.

In 1956 four pieces of the 290MM were built. With the new racing car, Scuderia again secured the sports car world championship. The 290 got its designation “MM” after Eugenio Castellotti's victory in the 1956 Mille Miglia . The 290MM was also used in 1957, plus the 290S  - a one-off - and the two four-camshaft “miracle cars” (the 290S also had one Four camshaft engine) 315S and 335S .

Races

The 290MM first raced at the Giro di Sicilia in 1956 , where Eugenio Castellotti and Luigi Musso drove the 0616MM and 0606MM chassis. Castellotti, who started the race with co-driver Giuseppe Rota, dropped out due to damage to the power transmission and Luigi Musso failed due to a defective electrical system. Castellotti won the first victory of a 290MM in its second race, the Mille Miglia . In the 1000 km race at the Nürburgring , it was only enough for third place in the overall standings. The victory went to the plant - Maserati 300S of Piero Taruffi and Harry Schell . The works Ferrari 860 Monza, driven by Juan Manuel Fangio and Eugenio Castellotti, was faster than the 290MM driven by Phil Hill and Olivier Gendebien after more than seven hours of driving .

At the end of the sports car world championship in 1956 , Scuderia celebrated victory in the 1000 km race in Kristianstad with the vehicle . The two 290MM led a Ferrari five-fold victory. Behind the two 290MM from Hill / Trintignant and Collins / von Trips followed a works 860 Monza as well as a Ferrari 750 Monza reported by Tore Bjurström and another Bjurstörm car; a Ferrari 375MM , driven by Allan Borgefors and Carl-Gunnar Hammarlund .

At the end of 1956, all but one chassis were given to private teams. The Scuderia Temple Buell won in 1957 with the chassis 0626 and the drivers Castellotti, Musso and Masten Gregory in the 1000 km race in Buenos Aires . Stirling Moss celebrated the last victories with this type of vehicle in December 1957 with the Temple Buell chassis at the Bahamas Speed ​​Week.

A 290MM was last driven in a race in 1964 at a United States Road Racing Championship run in Mid-Ohio . The US racing driver James Flynn had bought the 0626 chassis a few years before and was 18th overall in the race.

Technical specifications

Parameters Ferrari 290MM
Engine: Four-stroke 12-cylinder gasoline engine, installed in the front
Cooling: water
Displacement : 3491 cc
Bore × stroke: 73 × 69.5 mm
Compression: 9: 1
Valve control: 1 overhead camshaft per cylinder bank, 2 valves per cylinder
Carburetor: 3 Weber double carburettors 40DCF or 3 Weber quadruple carburettors 36IR4 / c1
Power: 235 kW (320 PS) at 7200 rpm
Maximum torque:
Power transmission: 4-speed gearbox (not synchronized) plus reverse gear
Frame and body: Oval tubular frame made of steel, with tubular grille in the middle
Steering:
Front suspension: individually on double wishbones, coil springs, hydraulic Houdaille shock absorbers
Rear suspension: De-Dion axle on double trailing arms, transverse leaf springs, hydraulic Houdaille shock absorbers
Brakes: hydraulically operated aluminum drum brakes
Track width front / rear: 1316/1286 mm
Wheelbase : 2350 mm
Tire size front / rear: 6 × 16/7 × 16
Length × width × height:
Empty weight (without driver):  800 kg
Top speed: up to 280 km / h

literature

  • Pino Casamassima: Storia della Scuderia Ferrari. Nada Editore, Vimodrome 1998, ISBN 88-7911-179-5 .
  • Peter Braun / Gregor Schulz: The great Ferrari manual. Heel, Königswinter 2006, ISBN 3-89880-501-8 .

Web links

Commons : Ferrari 290MM  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Race results of the 290MM
  2. ↑ http://auto.ferrari.com/it_it/modelli-auto-sportive/modelli-del-passato/290-mm/