<< Prev Page 3 of 3 Now with the stress of Le Mans behind them, the Forghieri led development team started to work on a slimmed down and more powerful version of the 512 S. Dubbed 512 M (for Modificato or Modified), the revised car now produced 620 bhp and weighed in at only 815 kg, compared to the 512 S Spyder's 856 kg. A 'sharper' wedge-shaped nose was fitted and a large airbox was mounted on top of the engine to force air into the intake-trumpets. Further modifications included new rear bodywork and the spyder option was no longer available. The 'M-package' was far from cheap, but about 15 of the 25 512s were updated.
The 512 M prototype made its debut at the final race of the 1970 championship in Austria. Throughout qualification the Ickx/Giunti driven car suffered from fuel-feed problems, but still matched most of the 917s. With full tanks, and alleviated fuel-feed problems, Ickx beat the 917's pole time in the opening laps of the race. He continued to break the lap record and eventually beat his own Formula 1 lap record set two months earlier. For the first time that season, the Porsches were outpaced and by quite a margin. Unfortunately, alternator problems ended the race for Ickx and Giunti, but they had clearly proven that the development gap was finally closed.
Ickx and Giunti took the 512 M down to Kyalami for a non-championship 1000 km race. The only other works car was the Porsche 917K, driven by the newly crowned world champion Siffert and runner up Ahrens. The dominance of the 512 M was incredible; easily taking the pole from the best car Porsche had to offer. A one-minute penalty issued because of a false start did not discourage the team and after 1000 km Ickx and Giunti crossed the finish line, two laps ahead of the Porsche.
Things looked very bright in the 1971 season for the Maranello based team. Ferrari had some very different plans for that year and decided to focus on a 3-litre prototype program again. Most of the world championship rounds favoured the smaller prototypes and Ferrari feared the increased competition from Matra and Alfa Romeo. The works team concentrated on the new 312 P (B) prototype and left the 512 Ms to be run by customer teams. None of these could match the preparation and development of the Porsche works backed team and, although it was a superior machine, the 512 M was never a true force in 1971.
When the 5-litre class was abandoned for 1972, the career of both the 512 and 917 was effectively over. The two cars are forever connected and in conversations one is rarely mentioned without the other. Ferrari proved its choice to focus on the 312 PB to be right one, by winning the 1972 and 1973 world championships. << Prev Page 3 of 3
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Now with the stress of Le Mans behind them, the Forghieri led development team started to work on a slimmed down and more powerful version of the 512 S. Dubbed 512 M (for Modificato or Modified), the revised car now produced 620 bhp and weighed in at only 815 kg, compared to the 512 S Spyder's 856 kg. A 'sharper' wedge-shaped nose was fitted and a large airbox was mounted on top of the engine to force air into the intake-trumpets. Further modifications included new rear bodywork and the spyder option was no longer available. The 'M-package' was far from cheap, but about 15 of the 25 512s were updated.