Ferrari 500

Blast! Once again interdomin and I have prepared posts on the very same car at the same time!

A little history

The World Championship for Drivers was not yet two years old when it faced its first crisis: with the pending withdrawal of the all-conquering Alfa Romeo team for 1952, starting grids would be rather slim. As an answer, the FIA therefore took the decision of running the third Formula One championship season under F2 regulations. This solved the problem, and even allowed for some of the largest fields ever seen in the sports. In turn, this induced a new predicament: most Formula Two cars of the time were built by artisans, most of them from England and, to some extent, from Germany. This situation paved the way to triumph for the only serious entrant, Ferrari.

The Maranello constructor easily understood the edge on the competition that it enjoyed. The car Aurelio Lampredi designed, the Tipo 500, was extremely conventional; its faultless preparation was to be the key of success over its amateurish rivals.

Made of welded tubes, the chassis was of ladder-frame type, a choice that was as predictable as the double-wishbone / de Dion axle front and rear suspension arrangement. Engine was a compact inline four displacing two litres; this light block was rated at a good 185 bhp. Better yet, it was small enough to be placed well behind the front axle, allowing for an excellent weight balance. The car was ready on time to make its debut at the very end of the 1951 Formula Two season, guaranteeing it to be fully developed when the next Formula One season would start.

A great car would be nothing without great pilots, and here again the Scuderia, which fielded some of the sport’s fastest and most experienced drivers, seemed to enjoy an advantage. Giuseppe Farina had just arrived from the departing Alfa team, joining forces with Alberto Ascari, Luigi Villoresi and the “Silver Fox”, Piero Taruffi.

The two-litre transitional formula remained in effect for two years until the scheduled 2.5-litre Formula One rules came into force in 1954. During these two seasons, Ferrari enjoyed a complete walk over. Out of fifteen Grand Prix, all but the very last one were won by the Scuderia’s cars. Of these, eleven went to the amazing Alberto Ascari, who clinched both championships and set a still-standing record of nine straight successes.

The Tipo 500’s career didn’t end with the introduction of the new Formula One rules. Formula Two cars being only at a small disadvantage in terms of performances, they were regular entrants for years to come in F1 events. In this particular case, Ferrari 500s continued to race until 1957, when the very last of them was entered by the Scuderia Centro-Sud – Mimmo Dei’s team would make itself a specialty over the years to enter racers in their faded glory.

About the model

Model: Ferrari 500
Year: 1952
Event: 1952 German Grand Prix, driven by Giuseppe Farina (finished 2nd)
Maker: Ixo
Scale: 1/43
Distributed by: Ixo (see below)
Acquired: brand new, in June 2008, in Manila, Philippines

No, Ascari wasn’t the only Ferrari pilot in 1952-53. Sure, he took another victory at the Ring (see his winning #101 Tipo 500 on interdomin’s excellent blog), but his teammate Nino Farina, the first F1 world champion in history, clinched the second spot with its sister car – actually, all four first finishers were Tipo 500s. Ixo reproduced this car with taste. Its die-cast isn’t exactly teeming with details, but is well assembled and – an Ixo tradition – seats on beautiful photo-etched wheels. My rating: 14/20.

That would usually be all, but there’s more to say about this model. It came to me in an Ixo “Ferrari Collection” box, but without any marking nor reference. Why? I think the answer can be found by comparing the models pictured, for example, on this page with the one on Ixo’s official site. Do you see the difference? Both models are sold in the “La Storia” collection under reference SF11/52, but sport different numbers. Nonetheless, in both cases they are clumsily advertised as #102... My bet is that Ixo started producing Ascari’s car for their La Storia collection with the erroneous number 102 (as far as I know Ixo’s catalog never included Farina’s car), until someone noticed – whoops! – that the Chinese company could have done well spending a little more time doing basic researches. The mistake was corrected (but not the written presentation on their site) and wrong models (which by chance tally another existing Ferrari entrant) were sold in plain “Ferrari” boxes, fooling buyers in the process as everyone involved in their distribution let prospective buyers believe they buy Ascari’s car.

“From enthusiasts to enthousiast”, reads their Ixo’s homepage. Mmm... it leaves me wondering. Perhaps “From your bank account to our bank account” would be more appropriate...













Model: Ferrari 500
Year: 1952
Event: 1953 British Grand Prix, driven by Alberto Ascari (finished 1st)
Maker: Brumm
Scale: 1/43
Distributed by: Brumm
Acquired: brand new, in March 2008, in Montpellier, France

Despite being rivalled by the Maseratis of both Fangio and Gonzalez, Ascari took another win with his Tipo 500 at Silverstone in 1953. The corresponding model is overly simplified, even to Brumm already simple standards. My rating is 8/20.

Ferrari 125

Welcome to JB, who after posting several comments has decided to join this blog as a follower.

A little history

Though Enzo Ferrari wasn’t able to baptize the first car produced by his small workshop with his own name, this pre-war Auto Avio was followed after World War Two by the first real Ferrari, the 125.

Reportedly, the Commendatore dislike road cars, and only built such automobiles in order to finance the racing activities of his company. Unsurprisingly then, the 125 was a racing car.

The very first 125 was a spyder named 125 S. The light structure of this sportscar was made of steel tubes but, apart from this, it was a rather conventional machine. Again, no surprise here as Enzo Ferrari also favoured engine development over any other technical aspect. While the Auto Avio had used a Fiat engine, the Ferrari 125 was powered by a brilliant 1.5-litre DOHC V12 designed by Gioacchino Colombo. With three double-barrel carbs, the little block was rated at no less than 100 bhp, a decent output in the Forties. Colombo knew his business: his previous creation, the supercharged 1.5-litre engine powering the Alfa 158 single-seater, was already a remarkable creation.

The Ferrari 125 S first appeared at a modest sportscars race at Piacenza. At its wheel was Franco Cortese, a potent veteran driver who had made his debut in the Twenties with Itala. Despite his long career and strong records Cortese is forgotten by most today, so Ferrari’s first step in motor racing as a full-time constructor can appear modest nowadays. The Ferrari didn’t win, though it showed promises. Those materialized two weeks later at the Rome Grand Prix, which Cortese won. Several successes followed during the next few months, all in national events. Nonetheless Ferrari felt its spyder was underpowered against the competition offered by the Maseratis, and a few months after the 125 had been introduced, its replacement the 159 entered the scene. As the 125 before it, the 159 took its name from the individual displacement of a single cylinder, thus its displacement had been enlarged to 1.9-litre, good for 125 bhp. The 159 finished the season, before a new 166 took over for 1948.

The 125 S was gone, but the 125 F1 soon entered the limelight. Competing in sportscar racing was one thing, but Enzo Ferrari was eager to defy its former partner Alfa Romeo in the most prominent class, Formula One. Note here that unlike what is so commonly, but totally erroneously written, Formula One wasn’t created in 1950 (the World Championship for Drivers was, hence the confusion) but in 1946.

Constructors willing to enter Formula One had the choice between two options: normally-aspired 4.5-litre or supercharged 1.5-litre engines. Alfa Romeo had opted for the latter and was dominant, and furthermore Ferrari already had a 1500 cc engine on hand, so it followed suit.

Colombo’s engine was reduced to a single carburettor and SOHC, but a single-stage Roots supercharger was grafted onto it. Ferrari’s V12 could peek at 230 bhp: it can seem impressive, but was still way below what the Alfas could rely on. Unsurprisingly, the 125 F1 was dominated by its rival from its first race, the Valentino Grand Prix held in September 1948. The Ferrari 125s could generally approach the Alfettas on smaller tracks, though a brilliant exception was the victory of Alberto Ascari at Monza in 1949, the first ever success of the prancing horse in an Italian Grand Prix. By then Ferrari had already took notice of its inferiority, and had tried to remedy this by reverting to DOHC and switching to a two-stage supercharger. The latter allowed outputs up to 280 bhp, but proved troublesome, so Ferrari decided to replace its 125 by a simpler 4.5-litre 375 model for 1950. Some privateers continued to race 125 F1s until the current Formula One rules were abrogated, at the end of the 1951 season.

About the models

Note that the first three models below represent the very same car: Ferrari 125 S chassis #01C, a spyder built by minor coachbuilder Peiretti, possibly working on blueprints provided by Touring. Only two 125 S were ever constructed.

Model: Ferrari 125 S
Year: 1947
Maker: Ixo
Scale: 1/43
Distributed by: Fabbri as no.16 of its Ferrari Collection press series
Acquired: brand new, in September 2005, in Souillac, France

Fabbri released this plain 125 S as part of its Ferrari series. It is correctly done but it is rather disturbing to see a car designed with racing in mind devoid of any race number – presentation models prepared for the introduction to the press didn’t exist in those days. My second concern is the bright red colour Ixo chose. One day that I had a Brumm Ferrari 125 (see below) to sell, a potential buyer refused it saying that it wasn’t red, or so he said. I suppose that Brumm has good reasons to paint its 125s a brownish sort of red, while Ixo prefers to cater to “collectors” preferring legend and tales than historical accuracy – too bad. My rating is 10/20.







Model: Ferrari 125 S
Year: 1947
Event: 1947 Mille Miglia, driven by Franco Cortese, co-pilot Adelmo Marchetti (see below)
Maker: Brumm
Scale: 1/43
Distributed by: Brumm, ref. R182
Acquired: brand new, in March 2008, in Montpellier, France

Here Brumm gives me some problems to identify this car, along with the next one. It is presented as the Ferrari 125 S that Cortese drove at the 1947 Mille Miglia. Cortese and Marchetti indeed entered that race, but their car sported number 219. The following year, the same pair had number 10. Hooray!… except this time their car was a Ferrari 166 S. In both years they retired, so at least we get this right… Otherwise this is typical Brumm, rather simple, not very well assembled, but correct enough – nice wire wheels, among the best plastic ones. Until I can identify this car better, I’ll have to limit my rating to 9/20.









Model: Ferrari 125 S
Year: 1947
Event: 1947 Circuito di Pescara, driven by Franco Cortese (see below)
Maker: Brumm
Scale: 1/43
Distributed by: Brumm, ref. R183
Acquired: brand new, in March 2008, in Montpellier, France

This time, based on quality alone, a rating of 12/20 is justified.











Model: Ferrari 125 F1
Year: 1949
Event: 1949 Italian Grand Prix, driven by Alberto Ascari (finished 1st)
Maker: Ixo
Scale: 1/43
Distributed by: Ixo “La Storia” series, ref. SF05/49
Acquired: brand new, in June 2008, in Manila, Philippines

Ixo included this model in its collection of Ferrari milestones “La Storia”. Having the ambition of being more exclusive than plain Ixo die-casts, La Storia models have to offer utmost quality, and in this respect this 125 F1 fulfils its promises. Ixo makes good use of photo-etched parts for the superb wire wheels and the spectacular front grille. My rating is 15/20.

Ferrari 246

A little history

The Ferrari 246 went through some of the best and worst times for the Scuderia. After a successful 1958 season, this single-seater rapidly turned into a dinosaur during a period of rapid changes.

The 246 model was designed by two of the greatest names in Formula One history: Carlo Chiti and Vittorio Jano. While the former drew the blueprints of the chassis, the latter, who had recently joined Ferrari after the Scuderia had taken over Lancia’s racing activities, was responsible for a radically new engine. Ferrari had been viscerally attached to V12 blocks up to then. Dino Ferrari, the Commendatore’s son, insisted on the development of a V6, a revolution at Maranello. Jano, to whom should be credited the world’s first production V6 (as the Lancia Aurelia’s engine) was obviously keen to give satisfaction to his employers, and designed a 1.5-litre block with a 65° “V” answering Formula Two rules. The original idea being credited to Dino Ferrari who had prematurely died in the meantime, the decision was taken to name “Dino” all non-V12 engines assembled in Maranello.

The success of this engine during the 1957 season prompted Ferrari to develop a Formula One variant, the Tipo 143, a DOHC engine enlarged to 2.4 litres. Fed on 100/130 AvGas, this engine was rated at 280 hp, and was developed on time for the opening of the 1958 season.

Seen for years as a simple curiosity, the rear-engined Cooper didn’t make anyone laugh anymore after winning the first two Grand Prix of the season. Caught off guard in Argentina, outclassed in the twisty streets of Monte-Carlo, the front-engined Formula One re-established their supremacy afterwards. The Vanwalls driven by Stirling Moss and Tony Brooks seemed to outclass the Ferraris. Fortune also played against Ferrari, which lost two of its pilots, Luigi Musso and Peter Collins, respectively killed during the ACF and German Grand Prix. Therefore the eventual success of Mike Hawthorn, who bagged only one win but proved extremely regular throughout the year, came almost as a surprise. Moss and Brooks totalled seven victories, which was well enough to give the very first title for manufacturers attributed in Formula One to their British employer.

For the next season, Ferrari’s workhorse in Formula One remained the 246, but re-engined with another of Jano’s creations, a 2.5-litre, 60° V6. The 2.4-litre, 65° engine’s career was far from over though, as it would be the very same engine that would later equip the road-going Dino 246. During 1959, the Coopers stood one step above the Ferraris, and no one could pretend to beat Jack Brabham for the title. The 246 still proved superior on very fast circuits, winning at Rheims and at the Avus, but the fact that the Scuderia was beaten on its very own Monza track, though itself anything but a slow circuit, was a peek at things to come during the following season.

Totally outshone in 1960, the 246 was easy game for the nimble Coopers and Lotuses. Wouldn’t it be for the cunning organizers of the Italian Grand Prix who bent the rules to advantage their beloved Scuderia, and in the process caused a massive boycott by the British teams, Ferrari wouldn’t have won even a single race. The machine’s obsolescence was acknowledged by the appearance of a new 246P, built around the same engine, but now placed at the rear à la Cooper, a first for Ferrari. Richie Ginther only raced a few times at the wheel of this car, which was never fully developed – Ferrari had better things to do, preferring to concentrate on the 1961 season for which it would unveil an effective weapon: the 156.

About the models

Model: Ferrari 246 - Dino
Year: 1958
Event: 1958 Formula One Championship (see below)
Maker: Ixo
Scale: 1/43
Distributed by: Fabbri as no.18 of its Ferrari Collection press series
Acquired: brand new, in November 2005, in Souillac, France

Despite the thick plastic wheels replacing the photo-etched metal ones used on genuine Ixos, this is a correct model worth 12/20.

Note: Fabbri doesn’t provide any indication regarding the event entered by this car. Pictures of Ferrari 246s during the 1958 season would help identifying this car - I have a few ones somewhere but didn’t take the time yet to look for them. Number 4 was used four times by the Scuderia during World Championship races that year: during the Dutch Grand Prix (Peter Collins, retired), the ACF Grand Prix (Mike Hawthorn, finished 1st, as die-cast makers like winners I’d bet this is the one), German Grand Prix (Wolfgang von Trips, finished 4th), and Moroccan Grand Prix (Phil Hill, finished 3rd)





Model: Ferrari 246 - Dino
Year: 1958
Event: 1958 Italian Grand Prix (see below)
Maker: Brumm
Scale: 1/43
Distributed by: Brumm
Acquired: brand new, in March 2008, in Montpellier, France

Brumm’s main trait isn’t necessarily the quality of its models, but rather the originality of most models among its wide range. Furthermore the Italian seems to have made its specialty of reproducing very correct wire wheels in plastic. On the other hand, the cockpit is traditionnally poorly detailed. I’d give 11/20 to this model.

Note: This model is presented as having raced in the Italian Grand Prix, but no Ferrari was given number 1 during this event. In those times, the habit was to give only even numbers to Formula One cars, though there were exceptions. During that season, a lone Ferrari 246 received number 1 during a World Championship race: this was Peter Collins’ car at Silverstone for the British Grand Prix. Pictures of the original car are welcome in order to confirm this.









Model: Ferrari 246 - Dino
Year: 1959
Event: 1959 Monaco Grand Prix, driven by Tony Brooks (finished 2nd)
Maker: Ixo
Scale: 1/43
Distributed by: Ixo “Ferrari” series
Acquired: brand new, in May 2008, in Manila, Philippines

A very nice “short-nose” 246. The wire wheels are superb but take care of their spinners, which are all too often badly centered. My rating is 14/20.

Lancia D24

A little history

Under the management of its founder Vincenzo Lancia, building quality and technical innovation were the keywords at the Lancia company – this allowed few space for such trivialities as motor sports… despite the fact that Vincenzo was a former racing pilot himself. All of this gradually changed after his death in 1937. His wife Adele took over for their young son Gianni. In 1945, now aged 21, Gianni Lancia formally assumed the direction of the firm with the assistance of Vittorio Jano, his technical director. Young Italians’ dreams were then filled with motor racing glory. Gianni Lancia was not different from other young men of his age, and Jano, made famous by his involvement with Alfa Romeo between the wars, would not be the one to discourage him.

During the early Fifties, Lancia launched an ambitious assault on motor racing. The company became involved in sportscars and Formula One races, with two different Jano-designed machines: the D24 and the D50, respectively.

A D20 model actually preceded the D24, appearing at the Mille Miglia early in 1953. A totally new design, the D24 soon followed its footsteps, being first entered at the Nürburgring 1000 kms in August of the same year. The D24 was indeed fast, but many a time and oft had to retire for mechanical failures. A resounding success finally came in the most trying event of them all: Lancia placed its D24s at the two highest spots in the 1953 Carrera Panamericana’s rankings.

Expectations were high in 1954. At first Lancia could rejoice: for the first time in its history, the company won the Mille Miglia. Then during the rest of the season, the D24 proved again undoubtedly brilliant but too fragile a machine. Jano developed a D25 but, as it turned out, it was only raced once before the expensive sportscar program was cancelled. Though far from dominating with a car that still needed much more development in order to reach its full potential, Gianni Lancia decided to pursue still higher goals, and launched its company in Formula One.

Though Lancia's bankers were alarmed, Vittorio Jano could rejoice at the prospect of his return onto the Grand Prix stage. For this he designed a new car, the D50. This advanced single-seater featured side-mounted fuel tanks, allowing for better handling than most of its rivals, which still had their tanks fitted in the rear tail, totally upsetting the weight distribution as races progressed and their tanks were emptying. The D50 appeared late in 1954. For its first race, the Spanish Grand Prix at Barcelona, its driver Alberto Ascari took the pole position in practice, drove the fastest lap during the race and retired while in the lead – a promising debut!

Now concentrating exclusively on Formula One, Lancia started its first full season in the most prestigious competition of all in 1955. More money was pumped into the company’s racing program which, in view of the results recorded thus far, was extremely expensive. Then, tragedy struck during the Monaco Grand Prix: Ascari, missing the chicane, plunged into the port’s waters. Rescuers came to the help of the unfortunate pilot, who could be brought to the surface after spending some long, anxious moments stuck in his sinking car. A rest would have done no harm after such a stunt, but Ascari didn’t want anything like this, and headed for Monza. With Lancia out of sportscars racing, he had received permission to race for Ferrari in non-Formula One events and, only four days after his dreadful accident, decided to test a 750 model for Lancia’s archrival. No one will ever know for sure what happened: Ascari left the track at high speed, was thrown out of the car and died moments later – some speculate that he kept sequels from his previous accident and fainted while entering the curve.

Without its star driver and in an increasingly dramatic financial position, Gianni’s dream was rapidly turning into a nightmare. In June 1955, he and his mother sold their shares of the company to businessman Carlo Pesenti. Coffers were empty, making the pursuit of a motor racing campaign out of the question. The whole Formula One outfit was ceded to Enzo Ferrari and his team who, with money, time and expertise, turned the D50 into a championship-winning thoroughbred.

About the model

Model: Lancia D24 Spyder
Year: 1953
Event: 1953 Carrera Panamericana, driven by Juan Manuel Fangio (finished 1st)
Maker: Brumm
Scale: 1/43
Distributed by: Brumm
Acquired: brand new, in March 2008, in Montpellier, France

Brumm soldiered on much longer than most of its rivals, stubbornly producing its models in Italy rather than the unavoidable China, and maintaining a wide range of original models sold at a fair price. This die-cast is quite representative: though quality, both in terms of design refinement and even more workmanship, is not extremely high, it received a splendid paint job and nice decals, and is very acceptable overall – well enough to award it a 13/20.