1978 Ferrari 512 BBLM

description General Information For a little background, in 1975 the Le Mans governing body had organized a GTX class for non-homologated Grand Touring Experimental vehicles, a rule set that was adopted by the IMSA championship from 1977, creating an IMSA class for the 1978 running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.Fast forward to 1978, with four examples of the newly upgraded five-liter 512 BB prepared with the specific aim of competing in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The driving forces behind this project were the same prominent privateers that had represented Ferrari for many years; Belgian importer Jacques Swaters (Ecurie Francorchamps), Charles Pozzi of Ferrari France and Luigi Chinetti’s North American Racing Team (NART) who had already fielded the battle-worn 365 GT4 BB s/n 18139 on both sides of the Atlantic.Built to the IMSA GT regulations, the new 512 BB Competizione was still clearly derived from the production car. The limited development work focused on stripping the car to the bare minimum to reduce the weight. At the front, a deep air-dam was fitted while at the rear a straightforward wing was installed.The five-liter flat-12 engine was built and tuned by the factory to produce just over 450 bhp. It was mounted on top of the stock five-speed gearbox, which would prove to be their weak spot. The 512 BB racer tipped the scales at 1225 kg or 2700 lbs. The four cars are as follows:S/n 22715 with race # 85 was prepared by Belgian importer Jacques Swaters for Jean Blaton, Teddy Pilette and Frenchman Raymond Touroul. They qualified 42nd but retired after just 39 laps due to a gearbox failure. 512 BBLM s/n 22715 never raced again.S/n 24127 with race # 88 was prepared by French importer C Pozzi for Jean-Claude Andruet and Spartico Dinni. They qualified 34th but had clutch problems at the 3rd hour and dropped out due to a gearbox failure. 512 BBLM s/n 24127 never raced again.S/n 24129 with race # 89 is the car just sold by Ferraris Online; it was prepared by French importer C Pozzi for Claude Ballot-Lena and Jean-Louis Lafosse. They were the fastest of the 512 BBLMs, qualifying 33rd but dropped out on Sunday morning with a gearbox failure. 512 BBLM s/n 24129 never raced again.S/n 24131 with race # 87 was prepared by Luigi Chinetti’s North American Racing Team (NART) and was driven by Jacques Guerin, Jean-Pierre Delaunay and Gregg Young. It looked set to claim an IMSA GTX class win until the stock gearbox failed during the 19th hour while running 11th overall. Like the other four cars built for the 1978 Le Mans race, 512 BBLM s/n 24131 never raced again.S/n 18095 with race # 86, first prepared for racing by Luigi Chinetti’s North American Racing Team (NART) in 1974, was the sole survivor, with the 4.4-liter 365 BB engine replaced with a factory-prepared 5.0-liter 512 BBLM engine for the 1978 race. Driven by Francois Migault and Lucien Guitteny. Like the other cars, it suffered an early gearbox failure, but the gearbox was replaced with s/n 18139, finishing in 16th overall and 3rd in the IMSA GTX class.With 450 hp at 2,700 lbs, the 512 BBs were underdogs against the 935 Porsches, which weighed in at 2260 lbs and were powered by a twin-turbo’d 3.2-liter flat six putting out 750 hp in qualifying, good enough for 350 km (220 mph) on the Mulsanne straight. Having realized a much more specialized car would be needed to do well at Le Mans, Ferrari went on to create the radically modified 512 BB LM for the 1979 race season.