In 1962 Le Mans 24 hour race organisers the Automobile Club Ouest announced a special class for prototype racers, with a motor displacement limit of four litres / 244 cui, in addition to the World Championship Grand Turismo class for prototype racers which included the Ferrari 250 GTO and later Ford Daytona Cobra’s.

Ferrari having launched it’s 4 litre Superamerica in 1959 had the perfect motor for the class on it’s books and wasted no time tuning racing versions of the 4 litre / 244 cui V12’s to produce 390 hp.

Ferrari prepared two cars to run with the special prototype class motors, one was fitted to a modified 250 TR which won the race with Phil Hill and Oliver Gendebien driving to their combined third and final win, it was also Oliver’s fourth Le Mans win.

While the second 4 litre V12 was fitted to a modified 250 GT0 chassis #2765LM that completed 56 laps of the ’62 Le Mans race in the hands of Mike Parkes and Lorenzo Bandini, before retiring with an overheating motor after an accident.

It believed that five more 330 GTO’s were built all of them on Superamerica chassis, as opposed to a modified 250 GTO chassis, 4 of them with angular Pininfarina Berlinetta body work and today’s featured car #4561SA which shares the same 250 GTO style body work as the original 330GTO chassis #3765LM.

Today’s car chassis #4561SA built in 1963 is one of two 330 GT0’s that was never actually raced at Le Mans being built originally for Michel Paul-Cavallier.

Michel was a French industrialist who owned a number of Ferrari’s through the 1950’s and became the only foreign board member of SEFAC SpA when it was founded by Enzo Ferrari on the 23rd of May 1960.

In 1965 Charles Daniels bought the car and both he and #4561SA survived a road accident later the same year which necessitated the car being sent back to Maranello for repairs.

Charles raced the car twice in 1966 crashing at Snetterton and finishing 3rd at a Maidstone and Kent Motor Club Meeting organised at Brands Hatch.

Swiss owner Carlo Voegele is seen at the wheel during the 250 GTO anniversary parade at Goodwood Revival in 2012.

Thanks for joining me on this “Directors Special” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when this months Le Mans series of blogs continues with a look at the first diesel powered car to win the Le Mans 24 Hours. Don’t forget to come back now !