Ferrari P 1961-1973 - Ferrari Rear-Engine Sports Cars and Prototypes

Ferrari has experienced many moments of glory, but the advent of "P" series Sports cars was certainly among the brightest, for a variety of reasons. First of all, the switch to rear-mounted engines; then, the technical validity of those cars, the first to incorporate aerodynamic engineering and the champions of numerous victories; lastly, they deserve an important place in Ferrari history for the pure and simple fact that they were the firm's last Sports cars. The twelve years between the unveiling of the 246 SP, the first rear-engine Sports car from Maranello, and the cessation of activity in this sector are said to have signalled an important technical milestone. Enzo Ferrari was not particularly inclined to follow the fashion launched by Cooper, but it was not true that he firmly opposed such a move. Mauro Forghieri and Carlo Chiti, who lived that period in the first person, maintain that Enzo Ferrari always favoured any innovation in the direction of progress. Initially, he did not feel the rear engine offered any great advantages, but he was soon converted. The book records the history of the ‘P’ cars from 1961 with the 246 SP, 196SP to the later 1968-70 Cam Am 612, 712 models along with the 512 S/M and finally the P312PB of 1969-73. Of the many events which the cars competed in, it is perhaps Le Mans and the Targa Florio which many would view as the pinnacle and are a focus on the illustrations used within these pages.