Alessandro Gerelli’s interesting photo story, Power and Art at Cavallino, turned a light on here at the offices of VeloceToday, and we dug out an old Ferrari brochure from our archives to review and offer for sale.
In 1985, late in his career, Enzo Ferrari authorized the production of a special brochure on a subject which was very close to his heart. It wasn’t for public use, and no new cars were featured in this rather lavish, 44 page high quality booklet, which consists of nothing but black and white photos of Ferrari engines, with a complete fold-out chart with tech specs for each one of the 44 engines in the brochure. There is probably no other car manufacturer which could or would produce such a publication. But Ferraris were the lifeblood of Enzo Ferrari and his factory.
In the introduction to the brochure, Enzo Ferrari writes in Italian and signs it with his famous purple ink. While there is no English translation in the brochure, we have translated it below (and any mistakes are ours).
“I have always given a pre-eminent importance to the engine in the creations of Ferrari, trying to get the maximum yields, in the belief that it represents more than fifty percent of success in racing.
“So it was for so long and so, even though the percentage has changed, it is still done that way, after forty years of activity of the Ferrari since World War II.
“Ideas are our strength, and our stubbornness to support them is our patrimony. When I started, against the advice of all, I wanted a twelve-cylinder. The engine, through all the changes due to my ambitions, is still recognizable by its numbers, as are its children and grandchildren. The design walked the path of eight, six, and four cylinders, but twelve remains my traditional theme and certainly the most beloved.
“With my staff, generous interpreters of my exuberance, I conducted to date one hundred and sixty experimental constructions. I hope you will forgive me a certain pride and emotional enthusiasms that have always supported my passion as a builder, but with the stimulus of competition that always provoked us, we materialized an evolution of specific power from forty-eight to six hundred horses per liter.
“There still remains much to do.”
The brochure sorts the engine out in chronological order, beginning with the 125, and forty Ferrari engines built to 1985 are presented. There are omissions; the Dino engine is shown only in the early F2 version and no mention of the later 246 F1 series. But the most glaring omission, most certainly intended, was that of the 1956-57 Jano designed Lancia D50 based 90 degree DOHC V8, which gave Ferrari six Grand Prix victories in 1956 and Fangio his fourth world championship. One would assume that since Jano designed the engine for Lancia in Turin, it does not qualify as a Ferrari engine, despite two years of Ferrari development.
The fold out chart, however, lists 165 engines and the characteristic of each, including the complete Dino 246 series. Still no mention of the D50 or even the 1957 version, named the 801 F1 by Ferrari, but a remarkable document nonetheless, including layout, bore and stroke, cylinder cc each and total, max revs, compression ratio, horsepower, number of cams, type of carburetor, gas or alcohol, normally aspirated or supercharged.
Unabashedly for Sale NOW SOLD!
Since we have re-found this treasure, we decided to offer it for sale. Mint copies can be had for about $300 when found. Ours has a bit of dirt on the cover, the fold out section is excellent but no longer stapled to the book itself, but overall it is in good to excellent condition. We offer it at the same price as others; $300 USD plus shipping ($25 US domestic, more overseas). Contact me directly at vack@cox.net. Only one, first come, first served. Below are only eight of the forty in the brochure, which measures 12 by 8.75 inches.
Ferrari Columbo 125 GT.
340 A Lampredi