1966 Ferrari 330 P3 - Images, Specifications and Information

Click here to download printer friendly version

Endurance racing was dominated by Ferrari when John Cooper turned the racing world up side down with his mid-engined F1 racers in the late 1950s. Caught off guard in Formula 1 by Cooper, Enzo Ferrari made sure he kept the upper hand in sportscar racing with a number of V6 and V12 mid engined prototypes.
First seen in action in 1961, the Dino 246 SP was Ferrari's first step into mid-engine sportcars. After two years of racing with smaller engined prototypes the first V12 engined car was launched, the 250 P. In the years to come the P-series would form the mainstay of Ferrari's sportscar program.
Enzo Ferrari was proven right, after his cars scored the final front-engined victory at Le Mans in 1962, the 250 P took the first ever mid-engined win a year later. On the track Ferrari's dominance was as big as ever both in the prototype and GT class, but across the Atlantic Ocean a scheme was designed to break the Scuderia's stronghold. At first Henry Ford tried to buy Ferrari, but when negotiations failed, Ford set out to design a car that could beat those 'fast little red cars' as he called them. With the Lola Mk 6 as base, the Ford GT made its debut at the 1964 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Now fitted with a four litre engine, the 330 P proved both quicker and more reliable than the little tested Ford GT. With no Fords finishing, Ferrari scored an impressive 1-2-3. In the GT-class Ford scored a first success by beating the GTOs with the AC Cobra Daytona Coupe. No expense was spared on either side of the ocean and Ferrari wheeled out the new P2 which would face Ford's 7-litre GT40. Again reliability problems let Ford down, but Ferrari's prototypes didn't fare much better, with the only surviving P2 finishing in 7th position. Ferrari's face was saved by the NART entered 250 LM.

For the 1966 season the FIA dropped the minimum windshield width regulations. The narrower windshields helped improve the top speed of the cars by around 15 km/h. Alarmed by Ford's 1965 pace, Ferrari set out to revise the P2 to suit the new regulations and bring it up to GT40 speed. In Ferrari tradition, modifications were made to the already reliable chassis.
Sleeker than ever, the P3 featured fiberglass doors. It was the first time the Maranello based team favoured the lightweight material over the aluminum used on the previous prototypes. The clutch was relocated from right behind the gearbox to between the gearbox and engine. The gearbox was a new ZF five speed unit. Lovely looking, but now getting outdated, the six Weber carburetors found on the 330 P2 were replaced by a Lucas fuel injection system on the P3's engine. The engine provided slightly more power, but the wider track added some weight, giving the P3 a similar power to weight ratio as the P2. Three P3s were constructed with the second one (s/n 0844) featured here.
Results in the opening races of the season were promising. Piloted by Mike Parkes and respectively John Surtees and Ludovico Scarfiotti the featured P3 won the 1000 km races at Monza and Spa. Luck changed for Ferrari as labor problems at the factory prevented proper preperations for the 24 Hours of Le Mans race. Down on development time, none of the P3s made it past the 17th hour of the race. In contrast, Henry Ford had his Le Mans victory with a stunning 1-2-3, a feat previously only displayed by 'those fast little red cars'.

Despite Ford's immense budget, Ferrari was reluctant to give up and the first tests with the P3's replacement were conducted in December of the same year. Apart from some cosmetic changes the most important new part of the P4 was its engine. Still displacing 4 litres, the unit was derived from the 3 litre F1 engine. Main new feature of the engine was the new head, with 3 valves per cylinder, one exhaust and two intake. The Lucas fuel injection was moved from between the cylinder banks to between the camshafts. The engine was rated at 450 bhp at 8200 rpm.
After 560 test laps at Daytona in December 1966, the P4 was ready for action. Two of the three P3s, including 0844, were fitted with P4 style bodywork and a Weber carbureted engine. Two unfinished 330 P3s were built up to the same specifications and dubbed 412 P. All four cars were sold to privateers, to back up the factory P4 effort. New from Ford at the 1967 24 hours of Le Mans was the Mk IV version of the GT40, featuring an American built aluminum-honeycomb monocoque and the familiar 7 litre V8.
All the testing at Daytona paid off as Ferrari dominated on Ford's home soil in the Daytona 24 hours race. The podium was filled by Ferrari drivers which underlined the Scuderia's dominance when the three winning cars crossed the line together. The first two were P4s, the third was 0844 entered by Luigi Chinetti's NART (North American Racing Team). At Le Mans, Ford was back with the new Mk IV and beat the sophisticated Ferraris on horsepower. Reliability again almost got the better of Ford, but one of the two surviving Mk IV finished on top, closely followed by two P4s. A piston failure forced 0844, driven by Pedro Rodriguez and Giancarlo Baghetti, to retire. Ferrari did win that year's overall sportscar World Championship, for the 12th time in 14 years.

Rule changes at the end of the season left the 330 P3, 330 P4 and 412 P obsolete. NART modified 0844 to campaign in the CanAm series, which was getting increasingly popular. Again pitched against big American V8s, the barchetta bodied racer was never a real contender in the series dominated by McLaren. Displacement was slightly increased to just under 4.2 litres, resulting in a power output of around 480 bhp. Driven twice by Scarfiotti, its best result was a seventh at its Bridgehampton debut.
In recent years 0844 has been completely restored to its 1966/1967 specification, with a 412 P-style bodywork and carbureted engine. In the hands of ace historic racer Peter Hardman, the beautiful Ferrari has seen frequent and very successful action since its restoration; it could very well be the most valuable car that is being raced. In three of the car's many outing, it is shown at the 2004 Spa Ferrari Days, 2007 Goodwood Festival of Speed and the 2006 Le Mans Classic.