Tag Archives: Compitizione

Pedro y Ricardo – Ferrari 250GT SWB Berlinetta Compitizione #3005GT

In 1961 Luigi Chinetti ordered today’s Ferrari 250GT SWB Berlinetta Compitizione chassis #3005GT and entered it in the Paris 1000kms race held at Montlhéry for the Mexican brothers Pedro and Ricardo Rodriguez to drive.

Ferrari 250 GT SWB Berlinetta Competizione, Goodwood Revival

The results of qualifying are not known however the result was an emphatic win for the Mexican’s by thirty seconds over the 250 GT SWB of Willy Mairesse and Lucien Bianchi, infact the first five cars to finish the race were all 250 GT SWB’s including chassis #2729GT driven by Pierre Dumas and Jo Schlesser which featured last weeks Ferrari Friday blog.

Ferrari 250 GT SWB Berlinetta Competizione, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Ricardo Rodriguez was also credited with fastest lap at Montlhéry, having impressed Enzo Ferrari a couple of weeks earlier at Monza with a front row qualifying spot Ricardo was given a works contract for 1962 and continued to impress despite being just 20 years old with a string of good results including a win in the 1962 Targa Florio sports car race where he co drove a Ferrari 246SP with Olivier Gendebien and Willy Mairesse. Tragically Ricardo was killed in practice of the 1962 non Championship Mexican Grand Prix driving a Lotus for Rob Walker after Ferrari had declined to enter the race.

Ferrari 250 GT SWB Berlinetta Competizione, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Older brother Pedro was equally talented particularly in the rain and behind the wheel of big sports cars like the Gulf Porsche 917, Pedro won two Grand Prix first in the 1967 South African GP where he drove a Cooper Maserati and the 1970 Belgian Grand Prix where he drove a BRM P153, recording a record average speed for any Grand Prix at the time of 149 mph. Like his brother Ricardo Pedro died at the wheel in 1971 at the Norisring where he drove a Ferrari 512M chassis #1008 that burst into flames after an accident.

Ferrari 250 GT SWB Berlinetta Competizione, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Today’s featured car meanwhile was sold to Doug Thiem for the 1962 season and he is known to have driven it in at least 14 further US sports car races winning outright at Erkhart Lake / Road America in September 1962.

Ferrari 250 GT SWB Berlinetta Competizione, Goodwood Festival of Speed

#3005 stayed in the US until 1980 when Italian Pietro Brigato acquired the car and entered it into classic events in Italy and Germany. In 2011 Lukas Hueni, acquired the car and can be seen at the wheel in the top photo at the 2011 Goodwood Revival and in the bottom photo at the 2012 Goodwood Festival of Speed.

Thanks for joining me on this “Pedro y Ricardo ” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Goodwood RAC TT Celebration – Ferraris

The RAC TT or International Tourist Trophy is a more or less annual award given to the winners of a selected motor race. It was first awarded in 1905 making it the longest lasting trophy in Motorsport. Among the many venues that hosted the RAC TT is Goodwood which ran TT races from 1958 to 1964. Below are 9 of the 10 Ferrari’s that took part in the Revival Celebration TT practice sessions a couple of weeks ago.

Ferrari 250 GT Drogo, Goodwood Revival

The #14 Ferrari 250 GT Drogo started life as a 250 GT SWB (Short Wheel Base) Competizione chassis #2445GT in 1961, it was supplied to Garages Francorchamps in Belgium and is known to have won at least seven European races in the hands of Robert Crevits in the 1961 and ’62 seasons. At Le Mans in 1962 Robert Darville crashed the car and it was subsequently sent to Piero Drogo in Modena where the current bodywork was fitted. Apparently James Coburn briefly owned this car in 1964. Dutchman David Hart shared the #14 with 2006 RAC TT winner Michael Bartels at Goodwood.

Ferrari 250 GT SWB Beadvan, Goodwood Revival

Readers from Rowdy.com may remember my blog on the Ferrari 250 GT SWB Breadvan, I’ll repost the whole blog here if I find myself getting short of Ferraris to write about, chassis #2819 is a bastard in so much as it also started life as a 1961 250 GT SWB, but Count di Misurata had his car upgraded by Giotto Bizzarrini, the man responsible for designing both the Ferrari 250 GT SWB and the later 250 GTO. The ‘Breadvan’ was driven at Goodwood by Nicholas Minassian and Max Werner.

Ferrari 250 GT SWB, Goodwood Revival

One of my all time heroes Art Merzario shared the #19 250 GT SWB/C with Kilian Koenig. This 1960 model chassis #1811GT was another car originally supplied to Garages Francorchamps and in the hands of Robert Crevits won 3 races outright in the 1961 season.

Ferrari 250 GT SWB, Goodwood Revival

Conrad Ulrich shared his #20 250 GT SWB chassis #3107GT with Frank Stippler at Goodwood. This chassis was originally supplied to M. Auregli in Italy and has no race history, that I can discern, until the current owner acquired it in 1999.

Ferrari 250 GT SWB Competizione, Goodwood Revival

This light weight 1961 250GT SWB Compitizione was originally entered by the North American Racing Team in the Paris 1000 kms for the Mexican Rodriguez brothers who won on the cars debut race. Subsequently it was sold to Doug Thiem in the USA who succesfully campaigned this chassis #3005GT in 1962. The #21 car now belongs to Lukas Hueni who shared it with Carlo Voegele at Goodwood.

Ferrari 250 GTO, Goodwood Revival

Gregory Whitten’s #23 250 GTO chassis #3413 was originally used as a spare car and tested by Graham Hill and engineer Mauro ‘Fury’ Fogheri on the Targa Florio in 1962, later that year #3413 was acquired by Edoardo Lualdi who scored numerous overall and class wins hillclimbing with it. In 1963 Gianni Bulgari raced it scoring a class win on the Targa and an overall win at Monza. In 1964 the car was fitted with ’64 GTO bodywork at the Ferrari factory for new owner Corrado Ferlaino who promptly took another class win on the Targa and at least two more hillclimb class wins. In 1967 Jack Le Fort acquired #3413 for £6000 /@ US$ 15,000 after several further changes of ownership Gregory Whitten acquired it in 2000 for US$ 7 million ! Greg shared his car with 6 time Le Mans winner Derek ‘Dinger’ Bell at Goodwood.

Ferrari 250 GTO, Goodwood Revival

The #24 Ferrari 250 GTO chassis #3767GT was raced with the #8 by original owner David Piper to 5th place in the 1962 Tourist Trophy at Goodwood. David won races in Angola and South Africa with this car in 1962. In 1963 David shared the car at Sebring with the cars next owner Ed Cantrell who clocked up further class wins with the car through to the end of 1964. Since 1974 #3767 has been the property of heavy plant magnet Anthony Bamford at Goodwood his son Jo shared the drivng duties with Alain de Cadenet.

Ferrari 250 GT SWB Berlinetta , Goodwood Revival

Jose Albuquerque, of Portugal brought his 250GT Compitizione to Goodwood and shared it with Barrie Williams. Chassis #2159GT was originally supplied to Garage Montchoisy, Geneva, CH and Gérard Spinedi won on his debut in the 1000m sprint at Cern, Spinedi scored numerous overall and class victories in races, rallies and on the hills up to 1964. Mr Albuquerque has been the custodian of this car since 2001.

Ferrari 250 GT SWB Berlinetta , Goodwood Revival

Finally Garage Francochamps appears to have acquired this 1960 steel bodied 250GT SWB Berlinetta chassis #2069GT from Baron de Fierlant in 1962, apart from a 2nd place in the 1962 Ardenne hillclimb with Robert Crevits at the wheel, the car has no discernable competition history until the turn of this century when Vincent Gáye acquired it. Vincent was sharing #2060GT with former national hillclimb champion David Franklin in the RAC TT celebration.

My thanks to PauloSF at Ferrari Chat for his contribution to todays blog.

Thanks for joining me on this RAC TT edition of ‘Gettin a lil’ psycho on tyres’, I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

SOT Thanks to a strong alignment of favourable planets I’ll be attending the Bill Boddy Tribute Day at Bill’s spiritual home Brooklands tomorrow, if I had not picked up a copy of Motor Sport, edited by Bill Boddy, in January 1973 I’d never have been bitten by the passion I still have 38 years later for all things motoring.

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