I had to check the documentation on my many Ferrari books and I finally
found that the Ferrari 712 of 1971 had been raced by Andretti at Watkins
Glen (where it finished fourth) with number “50”. While at
the Nurburgring Oldtimer Gran Prix in 1997, I was surprised to see the
712, that was in A. Obrist’s collection, still with the “50”
on its body.
And so finally I got the subject for my birthday party invitation, and
took photos of the 712 at various classic race events over the next few
years. The 712 was the largest capacity Ferrari ever constructed and therefore
of unique interest.
The 712 was a one off, very special Ferrari built expressly for the Canadian
American “Can Am” series of races in North America. The Canadian
American Challenge Cup was created in 1966 and was open to two-seaters
sport cars with unlimited engine capacity, just when the CSI decided to
limit to 3 liters the capacity for the sport cars of the group 6 (prototypes)
and to 5 liters the capacity for the sport cars produced in 50 models
(group 4).
The first Ferrari car to be raced in the CanAm series was the 412P (0844),
that had run the 24 hours of Le Mans in 1967: Chinetti sent the car
back to Maranello where the cars was stripped and modified and its body
modified according to the different rules of Group 7. The car was raced
by Chris Amon and Jonathan Williams without results.
In 1968 a new bigger engine was prepared to be competitive with McLaren
sports cars. The new car, called 612 for its displacement of 6 liters
with 12 cylinders, would only race in the final CanAm round driven by
Amon who retired after few laps
In 1969 a lighter car (612 CanAm) again with a 6.2 litres engine, was
ready in time, and, driven by Amon, achieved few positive results.
Our subject car, serial number 1010, was originally one of twenty five
512 S Ferraris constructed for the 1970 European racing season.
Ferrari wanted to used race car technology (and engines) for his road
cars. In 1969-70 there were rumors that Ferrari would use the seven
liter engine to power a huge new Ferrari road car, similar in concept
to the Bugatti Royale. Rumor or not, the car never materialized.
At Imola, on May 2, 1971, Arturo Merzario won the Interserie 300 Km
race with chassis 1010, now in 512M form. It was thought it might have
been equipped with the 7 liter engine. This, however, was stated as
incorrect by Engineer Mauro Forghieri.
Chassis number 1010 was then prepared with a 7 litre, 680 bhp engine.
The body was basically an enlarged 312P, and the performances was in
line with competitors. The car received an uprated suspension and drivetrain
to cope with the additional power of the 7 liter engine.
On July 25th 1971, 1010, under the Scuderia Ferrari banner, was entered
in the Watkins Glen Can Am race. Driven by Mario Andretti, it qualified
fifth, and in the race Andretti was running third and finally finished
fourth. The rear wing had come off and the car’s handling was
affected, and the car desperately needed development. “It was
one of the worst cars I ever drove,” said Andretti (Anthony Pritchard,
Scarlet Passion)
"The power unit was a supposedly 6.9 liter unit with a specially
cast, aluminum-alloy block. When Peter Lyons asked Andretti about the
engine dimensions, he said, “Oh, there are four different combinations,
I don't quite know which this is.” (Anthony Pritchard, Scarlet
Passion)
Ferrari decided to concentrate on other cars and issues, and sold the
7 liter monster to NART. Almost one year to the day the 712 was back
at Watkins Glen as a NART entry. Sam Posey was asked to drive but declined.
Jean-Pierre Jarier drove the still underdeveloped car to a tenth place.
Jarier was retained to drive the 712 at Road America on August 27th
1972. “I made some suggestions to increase downforce,” said
Jarier. “The 712 really deserved some time in a wind tunnel.”
Despite this, Jarier brought the 712 home in fourth place.
The 712 sat in a corner for the next two years. In July of 1974 the
712 again Again Sam Posey was asked to drive, but the brakes failed
in practice resulting in a broken foot for Sam. Brian Redman took over
and finished second in the first heat but retired in the second. It
was then retired and eventually passed to the Obrist collection.
Jarier told Cavallino’s Marc Sonnery about the positive side:
“It (the engine) was very reliable and was twenty five years ahead
of its time. (in the 1990s) in the FIA GT series, you see cost no-object
six and seven liter V12s with the same architecture and rpm bands. It’s
the same concept, excepting, of course, the electronic mapping/cartography;
amazing, when you think about it.
Today the car is one of the attractions of the Ferrari Historic Challenge
and is now driven by Paul Knapfield and prepared by Roelofs Eng.
