The History of the Ferrari 312 F1

When the Formula 1 regulations were changed for the 1966 season to allow 3.0-litre engines, many of the manufacturers and teams were caught on the back foot. Ferrari was able to adapt the 3.3-litre V12 from its 275P2 sports car prototype, modified to 3000cc, to create the 312 F1.

The 1966 car wasn’t a great success, despite the best efforts of John Surtees, who won the 1966 Belgian Grand Prix in it. This wasn’t helped by Ferrari concentrating more on sports car racing, under pressure from Ford. For 1967 the model was heavily modified, to create the 312 F1/67 – the car you see here, photographed at Concours of Elegance 2020. This example, chassis 0007, was the fourth and final 312 F1 built in 1967, and it wasn’t used until the Italian Grand Prix in September 1967.

Chris Amon drove the car three times in 1967, with a seventh at Monza as the best result. Amon raced this chassis again for most of the 1968 season, finishing third at Silverstone followed by three pole positions in the Spanish, Belgian, and Dutch Grands Prix. Derek Bell also drove 0007 but failed to finish on both occasions.

The 1967 season proved difficult for Ferrari; at the 1967 Monaco Grand Prix, Lorenzo Bandini crashed and suffered heavy injuries when he was trapped under his burning car, and he succumbed to his injuries a few days later. Ferrari re-hired Mike Parkes to replace him, but Parkes suffered career-ending injuries weeks later at the 1967 Belgian Grand Prix. All the same, the 312 F1/67 represents a special period in Formula 1 – the end of an era before the Cosworth DFV-engined cars began their domination.

Shortly after being retired from active duty, 0007 was sold to the famed French Ferrari aficionado Pierre Bardinon, to spend many years in his fabulous Mas du Clos collection. When it was sold, the 312 F1/67 subsequently passed through the hands of other noted collectors such as Yoshiho Matsuda and Carlos Monteverde.

ENGINE

3.0-litre V12, double-overhead camshaft, 412bhp, fuel injection

CONFIGURATION

Rear engine, five-speed manual transmission, rear-wheel drive, aluminium monocoque, double-wishbone inboard suspension, discs all round