Ferrari 275
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
|
||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| This article is part of the automobile series. | ||||||||||||
The Ferrari 275 was a 2-seat front-engined Gran Turismo automobile produced between 1964 and 1968. It used a 3.3 L (3286 cc) Colombo 60° V12 engine and produced 280-300 hp. The Pininfarina-designed body was a graceful evolution of the car's predecessor, the 250, and strongly contrasted with its replacement, the Daytona. The 275 introduced Ferrari's "transaxle" concept, where the transmission and rear axle are integrated.
Motor Trend Classic named the 275 GTB/GTS as number three in their list of the ten "Greatest Ferraris of all time".
Contents |
[edit] Two-cam
[edit] 275 GTB
The standard GTB coupe was produced by Scaglietti. It was more of a pure sports car than the GT name suggested. A Series Two version with a longer nose appeared in 1965.
[edit] 275 GTS
Pininfarina built 200 GTS roadsters for the American market from 1964-1966 with entirely different bodywork. It was intended to be more of a GT car and less of a sports car than its GTB brother. The 275 GTS was replaced by the 330 GTS with the switch to the four-cam engine, leaving no 3.3 L convertible in the range until the creation of the 275 GTS/4 NART.
[edit] 275 GTC
12 lightweight GTC cars had aluminium bodywork. Twelve were constructed in between the end of the 275 GTB production run and the start of the 275 GTB/4 run. Even though it very much resembled the road 275 GTB, not one bodypanel was the same and under the lightweight body very little reminded of the road car.
Mauro Forghieri designed a special lightweight version of the 275 GTB chassis. Regular suspension was fitted, but it was made slightly stiffer by the addition of extra springs. Scaglietti bodied the chassis with an ultra thin aluminum body; the panels were about half as thick as the ones used on the GTO and the Cobra. Even leaning on the 275 GTB/C would dent the body and the entire rear section was reinforced by fiberglass to prevent it from flexing at the slightest impact. In all this focus on saving weight made a difference of over 150 kg compared to the alloy bodied road cars.
Like the four specials, the 275 GTB/C was powered by the 250 LM engine. Somehow Ferrari 'forgot' to mention to the governing body that the 275 GTB had a six carburetor option, so only a three 'carb' engine could be homologated. Specifically for the 275 GTB/C, Weber constructed the 40 DF13 carburetor of which three would replace the six 38 DCNs found on the 250 LM. The rest of the drivetrain was similar to the 275 GTB's, but strengthened slightly.
Two of the twelve built were sold for street use. Unlike the race cars, these street cars were fitted with alloy wheels shod with Pirelli tires. Competition cars were fitted with special Borrani wire wheels, shod with Dunlop's latest racing tires. It was this combination that would prove to be the weak spot of the 275 GTB/C; the tires had so much grip that they could overstress and break the spokes on the wheels. After the 275 GTB/C no competition Ferrari would be fitted with wire wheels again.
[edit] Four-cam
The four-cam 275s were substantially updated cars. Built by Scaglietti, they featured new bodywork and was the first Ferrari to not be offered with wire wheels.
Power came from a substantially reworked Colombo V12, still with two valves per cylinder but now with dual overhead cams. In a departure from previous Ferrari designs, the valve angle was reduced three degrees to 54° for a more-compact head. The dual camshafts also allowed the valves to be aligned "correctly" (perpendicular to the camshaft) instead of offset as in SOHC Ferraris. It was a dry-sump design with a huge 17 qt (16 L) capacity.
The transaxle was also redesigned. A torque tube connected the engine and transmission, rather than allowing them to float free on the body as before. This improved handling, noise, and vibration. Porsche synchronizers were also fitted for improved shifting and reliability.
[edit] 275 GTB/4
The 1966 GTB/4 featured a four-cam engine with six carburettors. The GTB/4 could hit 165 mph with its 300 hp. 280 of this version were produced through 1968.
In 2004, Sports Car International named the 275 GTB/4 number seven on the list of Top Sports Cars of the 1960s.
[edit] 275 GTS/4 NART
A NART Spider version was only available from a single American dealer, Luigi Chinetti, who was not satisfied with the GTB/4. He asked Sergio Scaglietti and Enzo Ferrari to build a few spider versions of the GTB/4, which he bought for approximately $8,000 each. NART stood for Chinetti's North American Racing Team, and the car was a spider version of the GTB/4. In a contemporary road test, Road & Track commended the Spider as "the most satisfying sports car in the world."
It was to be a custom run of 25 cars straight from Scaglietti, but just 10 were built in 1967 and 1968, making this one of the most valuable Ferraris. NART Spiders often command nearly US$2,000,000 today. The ten NART Spiders used chassis numbers 09437, 09751, 10139, 10219, 10249, 10453, 10691, 10709, 10749, and 11057.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- The website of the Ferrari 275 GTB speciale "officina" Competition n° 8249.
- FOUR FERRARI 275 GTB COMPÉTITION SPECIALES " SEFAC".
- Ferrari 275 GTB COMPETITION. HISTORIC, SEEK AND CENSUS.
- Buckley, Martin & Rees, Chris (1998). World Encyclopedia of Cars. London: Anness Publishing. ISBN 1-84038-083-7.
- The Ferrari Pages. Cars From Italy. Retrieved on November 16, 2004.
- James T Crow, ed. (1968). "Ferrari 275 GTS/4 NART". Road & Track Road Test Annual: 46–49.
| <- Previous | Ferrari road car timeline, 1960s–present | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Type | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | ||
| FR | GT | America | 330 | 365 | 365 GTB/4 Daytona | 550 | 575M | 599 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 250 | 275 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2+2 | 250GT | 330GT | 365GT | GTC/4 | GT4 | 400 | 400i | 412 | 456 GT | 456M GT | 612 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| RMR | V6/V8 | Dino 206 | Dino 246 | 308i | 308qv | 328 | 348 | F355 | 360 | F430 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 208 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2+2 | Dino 308 GT4 | Mondial 8 | Mondial 3.2 | Mondial T | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| F12 | 365BB | 512BB | BBi | Testarossa | 512TR | F512M | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Supercar | 250 GTO | 288 GTO | F40 | F50 | F50 GT | Enzo | FXX | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
