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A Rare $8 Million Dollar Track Weapon: The Ferrari 275 GTB Competizione

The Ferrari 275 GTB Competizione is a car that very nearly never existed, it was hurriedly developed from the standard 275 GTB road car after the FIA refused to homologate Ferrari’s mid-engined 250 LM for GT class racing.

This refusal made perfect sense, as the 250 LM was far more akin to a prototype than a production-based GT class competitor. This left Enzo Ferrari with a dilemma, the Ferrari 250 GTO was too long in the tooth to be competitive and so a new GT class racing car was needed, and it was needed quickly.

Fast Facts

Many have called the Ferrari 275 GTB Competizione and its siblings the Ferrari 250 GTO 2 due to the fact that this was the car that essentially took over the GTO’s role on the race tracks of the mid-1960s.
Each competition version of the Ferrari 275 GTB featured a lightweight chassis and a body that was made from such thin aluminum that if a person leant on it it would dent.
Despite their rapid development cycle the cars proved a major success for Ferrari, winning the GT class at Le Mans three years in a row in 1965, 1966, and 1967.

A New 250 GTO – The Ferrari 275 GTB Competizione

The Ferrari 275 GTB started production in 1964, in Ferrari tradition the model name was derived from the size of a single cylinder and the vehicle’s styling. This car has an individual cylinder capacity of 275cc and it’s a grand touring (GT) car with a Berlinetta body style (a hardtop coupe), so the model name was “275 GTB.”

The 275 GTB represented a significant evolutionary advance over the outgoing 250 GT models, it would be the first Ferrari road car with four-wheel independent suspension, and it had near perfect front/rear weight distribution thanks to the use of a rear-mounted transaxle that helped shift weight backward.

Just 12 examples of this version of the Ferrari 275 GTB Competizione were built, all with lightweight, thin-gauge alloy bodies and 300+ hp Ferrari Tipo 213 Colombo V12 engines.

The ever popular styling of the 275 GTB was completed by Pininfarina and the bodies themselves were built in steel for the regular road cars, and aluminum alloy for specials and competition cars.

Enzo Ferrari had hoped to replace the successful Ferrari 250 LM, a mid-engined supercar that had very little in common with the company’s regular production cars. The FIA had nixed this idea and so Ferrari technical director Mauro Forghieri and his team of engineers set to work creating an all-out racing version of the still-new 275 GTB.

Forghieri first designed a lighter chassis for the car using smaller diameter tubing, the engine was mounted lower and further back thanks in part to it being a dry sump V12 design from the 250 LM, and the body was made from such thin aluminum alloy that just leaning on it would leave a dent.

The engineering team had an understandable obsession with saving as much weight as possible, so the transaxle casing, sump plate, clutch bell housing, and the timing case covers were all cast in lightweight magnesium alloy.

The windshield was a regular production glass unit but all other windows were replaced with Plexiglas. The completed car tipped the scales at just 980 kgs (2,160 lbs), only a few kilograms more than an MGB Roadster.

Back To The Drawing Board

These new 275 GTB competition cars were so light that the FIA refused to homologate them, once again noting that the cars didn’t have a whole lot in common with the production models.

Ferrari engineers went back to work and created a car that would meet the FIA’s demands – building three Speciale 275 GTB competition examples which were officially approved (after some heated debate and Ferrari threatening to abandon racing entirely) and allowed to race.

Not long after the car had been approved it took a class win at the 1965 24 Hours of Le Mans, having proven its mettle Enzo Ferrari signed off on the production of 10 cars for the 1966 season intended for privateer racers who wanted to user them to compete.

These Competizione Clienti cars were much more similar to the standard production GTB, though they did have alloy bodywork, racing fuel fillers, additional body vents for heat dissipation, and larger fuel tanks for endurance racing.

The Arrival Of The Ferrari 275 GTB/C (Competizione)

The final cars built in this series would be the Ferrari 275 GTB/C, of which 12 would be built, these were vastly changed from the earlier competition cars and they incorporated a slew of upgrades as a result.

The interior is surprisingly well-appointed for a competition car, with full carpeting and upholstery, and two bucket seats.

The 275 GTB/C, otherwise known as the 275 GTB Competizione, was based on the long-nose variant of the 275, they all featured specially lightened chassis and aluminum bodies that used exceptionally thin sheet metal to save weight. They were fitted with twin 140-liter fuel tanks, alloy floorpans, and like the first generation they used magnesium extensively in castings and other parts to save weight.

Power was provided by the Ferrari Tipo 213 Colombo V12 competition engine capable of 300+ bhp, with a bore/stroke of 77mm x 58.8mm, a compression ratio of 9.5:1, and a single overhead camshaft per bank with two valves per cylinder. The engine was topped with six Weber 40 DCN/2 carburetors and the total swept capacity is 3286cc, or 3.3 liters.

The 275 GTB/C proved to be a significant success for Ferrari, winning a slew of important races including a class win at the 1967 Targa Florio, more class wins at the 1966 and 1967 24 Hours of Le Mans, and outright victory in the 1966 and 1967 Italian GT Championship.

The surviving cars today are worth considerable sums, up to and over $10,000,000 USD, with examples that took race victories in period fetching an understandable premium.

The 1966 Ferrari 275 GTB Competizione Shown Here

The car you see here is one of those final 12 competition variants of the 275 GTB, this is the car that took a class win at the 1967 24 Hours of Le Mans, followed by class wins in the 1969 1000 KM of Spa-Francorchamps, and the 1969 500 KM of Imola.

It’s currently fitted with a six-carburetor high-performance engine and a custom transaxle built by Roelhofs Engineering of The Netherlands, however it comes with the numbers-matching engine and gearbox as part of the sale.

After a restoration in 2018 it’s now optimized for vintage competition, and it will doubtless be welcomed at any event the new owner should wish to attend. It’s now due to pass across the auction block on the 13 of August with a price guide of $8,000,000 – $10,000,000 USD and it’s Ferrari Classiche Red Book certified.

If you’d like to read more or register to bid you can click here to visit the listing on RM Sotheby’s.

The post A Rare $8 Million Dollar Track Weapon: The Ferrari 275 GTB Competizione appeared first on Silodrome.

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For Sale: The First Automobile – A Benz Patent-Motorwagen Ectype – $60,000+ USD

This is an exact reproduction of what is widely regarded to be the world’s first production automobile, the Benz Patent-Motorwagen. It was built by John Bentley Engineering of England to exacting standards, so exacting in fact that Mercedes-Benz Classic commissioned 100 of them to be built for publicity and display purposes.

Although many expect it to just be a static model, this simple automobile is 100% operational and drivable – each was driven after it was built to test it, and then the wheels and tires were changed with new clean examples for display.

Fast Facts

The Benz Patent-Motorwagen is considered the first production automobile, it was developed by Karl Benz who worked closely with his wife Bertha Benz on many aspects of the design.
The vehicle uses a simple three-wheel arrangement that took considerable influence from the world of bicycles, which had been a lifelong passion for Karl Benz.
Power was provided by a rear-mounted four-stroke engine with a single cylinder that had been designed by Karl Benz and included a number of his own patented inventions, like the speed regulation system, the ignition system using a spark and a battery, a spark plug, and a carburetor.
The Benz Patent-Motorwagen was built with a tubular steel frame, steel spoked wheels with solid rubber tires, tiller-type steering, and seating for two.

Karl, Bertha, and the Benz Patent-Motorwagen

The chronicle of Karl Benz’s invention of his Benz Patent-Motorwagen cannot be told without much of the story also being devoted to his wife Bertha Benz, without whom it’s unlikely that the Patent-Motorwagen would ever have been built.

Above Image: An exact reproduction of the original 1886 Benz Patent-Motorwagen.

Not only did Bertha fund the project using money from her dowry, she also provided some much-needed business savvy that Karl Benz lacked. There can be no doubt that Mr Benz was an engineering genius, however the process of monetizing his creations had been something he had struggled with – until Bertha arrived.

After showing his Benz Patent-Motorwagen to the public in 1885 and applying for a patent which was granted in 1886, the company put the new automobile into production over three primary model families, the Benz Patent-Motorwagen Nr. 1, the Benz Patent-Motorwagen Nr. 2, and finally, the Benz Patent-Motorwagen Nr. 3.

The First Ever Cross-Country Road Trip By Car

These early automobiles sold in limited numbers of approximately two dozen, mostly to well-heeled folk who saw the newfangled invention as a bit of curiosity. Bertha Benz realized they needed to expand their customer base, and so in early August of 1888 she set off with her two sons, Eugen and Richard, for what would become the first ever cross-country automobile journey – or the first road trip.

She drove from Mannheim via Heidelberg and Wiesloch, to Pforzheim to visit her mother, she completed the trip without telling Karl of her plans, and without informing any of the local authorities. The trip covered a distance of 106 km (66 miles), the stops in Heidelberg and Wiesloch were to buy fuel, the vehicle ran on a petroleum product called ligroin which was only for sale at chemists, there were no gas stations at the time of course.

This journey brought in much newspaper coverage and turned Bertha into a celebrity of sorts, sales of their automobiles increased as a result and it played no small part in the uptake of the automobile as daily transportation.

Above Image: Karl and Bertha Benz in a Benz-Victoria during the 1890s. Image courtesy of Mercedes-Benz.

Classic car enthusiasts now meet to complete the same journey in a long procession every two years, it’s called the Bertha Benz Memorial Route and it’s now officially sign posted for visitors who want to retrace her steps.

“Only one person remained with me in the small ship of life when it seemed destined to sink. That was my wife. Bravely and resolutely she set the new sails of hope.” – Karl Benz speaking of Betha Benz in 1925

The 1886 Benz Patent-Motorwagen Reproduction

As mentioned up top, this is an exact working replica of the original Patent-Motorwagen, the only key difference being the use of white gas as fuel rather than the harder to source ligroin.

Like this original, this simple automobile is powered by a 954cc, horizontally-mounted, single-cylinder, four-stroke engine with an electric ignition and it’s capable of 0.75 horsepower. This output is fed to a belt drive through a large, horizontal flywheel in the rear, reaching the rear wheels via dual chain drives – one on each side.

This carefully built replica is now due to be offered for sale by RM Sotheby’s on the 14th of August with a price guide of $60,000 – $80,000 USD. It comes with detailed operating instructions and it was only recently removed from its original shipping crate after many years of storage, it’s now been returned to running condition ready for sale.

If you’d like to read more about it or register to bid you can click here to visit the listing.

The post For Sale: The First Automobile – A Benz Patent-Motorwagen Ectype – $60,000+ USD appeared first on Silodrome.

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The 400+hp Chevrolet Aerosedan By Ken “Posies” Fenical

This is the Chevrolet Aerosedan, it’s a one-off hot rod built by the legendary Ken Fenical, aka Posies, of Hummelstown, Pennsylvania.

In the world of hot rod building, the name Posies is well-known, it’s a company that supplies everything from parts and mechanical work to fully-built custom cars.

Fast Facts

This highly unusual hot rod was built by Ken Fenical, aka Posies. His company is known for producing hard to get hot rod parts and for their work in fabricating and building custom hot rods.
Ken built this car for himself, not for a client, and so he had full free reign to do whatever he liked.
It’s powered by a 400 bhp Roush Performance 308 cubic inch (5.0 liter) inline 6-cylinder engine with a Powerdyne supercharger.
It has seating for four adults in four custom-built bucket seats – two in the front and two in the back.

The Posies Aerosedan

Back in 2006 Ken decided to build himself his own hot rod, it would be something altogether unique that flouted a number of common hot rod traditions. First and foremost the car wouldn’t be powered by an American V8 – by far the most common engine choice for hot rod builders, dating back to the mid-20th century.

Instead of a V8 Ken and the team at Posies opted for a fire-breathing Roush Performance 308 cubic inch (5.0 liter) inline 6-cylinder engine with a Powerdyne supercharger. This engine was fitted with a Roush head, a Posies valve cover, and a Posies/Holley manifold.

Exact horsepower figures for this engine aren’t available however a reliable source is indicating that it’s capable of an estimated 400 bhp, vastly more than the original car’s 216 cubic inch inline-six would have been able to muster.

The car that was chosen as the starting point was a ’47 Chevy sedan, an unusual choice for a full hot rod build. Ken and his team cut 12 inches from the center and fused the two halves together creating a narrower, lighter body.

This body was then mounted to a low-slung custom steel tube frame chassis, the hood was discarded and the engine bay sides have large vents running down both sides to keep the highly tuned Roush engine as cool as possible.

Above Image: The car is fitted with a Roush Performance 308 cubic inch (5.0 liter) inline 6-cylinder engine with a Powerdyne supercharger that’s capable of a reported 400 bhp.

Inside the car you’ll find a fully trimmed interior with four bucket seats, a full length center console, air conditioning, a C4 automatic transmission with a Deltrans converter and a Gear Vendors overdrive, Haneline instruments, Dynamat sound deadener, and for safety, a Posies 10-point roll cage.

Braking power is provided by period-correct 11 inch drums on all four corners with a dual reservoir master cylinder. The car rides on Posies Super Slide springs at each wheel and it has Bilstein front shocks and Air Ride ShockWaves in the rear.

Those eye-catching rims are Colorado Customs wheels, with a 19×2 up front and a 20×3 in the rear, they’re shod with Coker Excelsior Racing tires, with a 19×4.5 in front and a 20×6 in the back.

Once completed the car was displayed at the 2007 SEMA show where it was seen by tens of thousands of show goers, it was later featured in Street Rodder Magazine and in Hot Rod Magazine.

By all accounts Ken used this car regularly and was known to drive it in a rather spirited manner, scaring the wits out of a Hot Rod Magazine writer back in 2007 on the streets of Hummelstown.

The car is now available to sale courtesy of Mecum Auctions who will be offering it as part of their Monterey sale in mid-August. At the time of writing there’s no price guide available, if you’d like to read more about it or register to bid you can click here to visit the listing.