VIN: the works / NART Ferrari 250 P / 275 P chassis 0814
History of chassis 0814
Scuderia Ferrari campaigned four examples of their new mid V12-engine 250 P during the 1963 season, one of which was chassis 0814.
0814 made its competition debut at the Nurburgring 1000km in May. The German event was round three of the four-race International Trophy for GT Prototypes which also included the Sebring 12 Hours, Targa Florio and Le Mans 24 Hours.
At the time, the de facto World Championship was organised for GT cars (like the 250 GTO) and held over 15 rounds.
Unfortunately, because of a heavy crash in practice, 0814 never made it to the start-line at the Nurburgring; Nino Vaccarella was behind the wheel but lost control, left the road and 0814 went into the forest which caused serious damage. The Sicilian suffered a broken arm that put him out of action for the rest of the season.
Having been repaired back at the factory, 0814 next appeared in a couple of non-championship support races for the French and British Formula 1 Grand Prix.
At Reims on June 30th, Mike Parkes started the 25 lap contest for Sports and GT cars from pole. The race should have been a walkover for the rapid 250 P, however, Parkes’ clutch failed to properly engage at the start and he was left behind. Within a few laps, the Englishman lost drive and retired.
Parkes then drove 0814 in the 25 lap Sports and GT race at Silverstone three weeks later (July 20th). For this event, the car appeared under a Maranello Concessionaires entry.
Parkes was once again on pole, but had another unfortunate start. As he went to move off, the engine died and 0814 was overtaken by several cars before being hit in the back by a Lotus.
The Ferrari managed to carry on with its exhaust pipes trailing, but then had to take to the grass to avoid a spinning Austin-Healey which hit the pit wall and killed the race scrutineer.
With most of his exhaust system missing, Parkes moved in to fourth before the car packed up for good and retired.
0814 was not raced again that season and did not appear in 1964 either (when Ferrari moved up to 275 and 330 engines).
For 1965, the car was sold to Ferrari’s North American distributor, Luigi Chinetti. By this time, 0814 had been converted to ‘Lightweight Roadster’ trim with a cut-down windscreen and rear body section that lacked Pininfarina’s original basket handle aerofoil (a small rollover bar was added behind the driver instead).
In this new configuration, 0814 appeared at the 1965-season opening Daytona 2000km (February 28th). Bob Grossman, Walt Hansgen and David Piper were brought in to drive. They qualified ninth but retired with clutch failure having completed 130 of the 327 lap race.
Four weeks later, Chinetti entered 0814 for the Sebring 12 Hours. However, because of Enzo Ferrari’s protest at the organiser’s allowing unlimited Sports cars from the likes of Chaparral to compete, there were no works cars on hand and Ferrari’s distributor teams also had to officially stay away. As a result, Chinetti ran his fleet of machinery under the auspices of his best customers: 0814 attended the race under an Ed Hugus entry.
Hugus, Tom O’Brien, Charlie Hayes and Paul Richards qualified 16th and eventually came home in twelfth overall to claim third in the four-litre Prototype class.
0814’s final period outing came a little over a year later when Luigi Chinetti entered the car for his son, Coco, and Charlie Kolb in the minor St. Jean Baptiste Cup at Mont-Tremblant on June 12th 1966.
While Coco Chinetti was at the wheel, he sped through a line of fire caused by a crashed Elva that covered almost the entire width of the track. Unbeknown to Chinetti, 0814 was already leaking fuel from its tanks, (for which it was about to be black-flagged) and caught fire. When Chinetti realised what had happened he pulled over. However, the marshals were unable to put the fire out before their extinguishers emptied and the car suffered severe damage.
The remains of 0814 were taken back to Luigi Chinetti’s workshop where they sat for several years.
There is a possibility the repaired chassis was later used to mount the Robert Peak-designed 275 P2 Speciale body fabricated by Michelotti. This Gullwing-doored body had originally been mounted on chassis 0812 and then displayed at the 1968 New York Motor Show.
0814 has since been restored to its original configuration
Notable History
Scuderia Ferrari
19/05/1963 WSC Nurburgring 1000km (N. Vaccarella) DNS (#114)
30/06/1963 IND French GP Support Race, Reims (M. Parkes) DNF (#10)
20/07/1963 IND British GP Support Race, Silverstone (M. Parkes) DNF (#52)
Unraced in 1964
Converted to ‘Lightweight Roadster’ trim
Sold to Luigi Chinetti (NART), New York, USA
Fitted with 275 P engine
28/02/1965 WSC Daytona 2000km (B. Grossman / W. Hansgen / D. Piper / P. Rodriguez) DNF (#99)
27/03/1965 WSC Sebring 12 Hours (E. Hugus / T. O'Brien / C. Hayes / P. Richards) 12th oa, 3rd P4.0 class (#32)
12/06/1966 IND St. Jean Baptiste Cup, Mont-Tremblant (C. Chinetti / C. Kolb) DNF (#3)
Severely burned at Mont-Tremblant after catching fire
Circa early 1980s repaired chassis possibly used to mount the Robert Peak-designed 275 P2 Speciale body fabricated by Michelotti that was originally fitted to chassis 0812
Later restored to original configuration
Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: unattributed
