Guide: Ferrari 350 Can-Am
Background
The day after the 1967 Le Mans 24 Hours had witnessed record speeds, the FIA announced a three-litre engine limit would be imposed on Group 6 Prototypes from the beginning of the 1968 season.
Dressed up as a safety measure but made with no manufacturer consultation, the decision made a whole raft of cars obsolete.
Considering the decision to blatantly favour Porsche (whose engines were best placed to take advantage of the new regulations), Enzo Ferrari announced his team would play no role whatsoever in the 1968 World Sportscar Championship.
At the time, there were few high profile alternatives to the world series, but in North America, the Can-Am Challenge Cup had experienced a very successful inaugural season in 1966.
Organised to Group 7 rules for unlimited sportscars, the Can-Am season ran for two months between September and November. A huge prize fund attracted a spectacular line up of drivers and machinery.
Ferrari's West Coast distributor, Bill Harrah, was the driving force behind a Ferrari Can-Am programme. Harrah contributed much of the budget once an official campaign was approved. This would comprise a limited schedule for the 1967 season as preparation for a more serious run in 1968 when Ferrari would have time to prepare a proper Group 7 car.
The Group 7 class had been introduced when the new Appendix J competition regulations were brought in for 1966. Qualifying cars had to have two seats, a full width body and a windscreen, but there were no production requirements, no engine limits and no tyre size or aerodynamic restrictions.
As Ferrari did not have time to develop a new car from scratch for the 1967 Can-Am season, two surplus-to-requirement P4s underwent conversion from Group 6 to Group 7 trim. This was done after the Brands Hatch 6 Hour race on July 30th.
However, Ferrari knew these reconfigured P4s would not be ready until mid October, by which time the Can-Am championship would already be half-way through.
Therefore, to get a head start, Luigi Chinetti's NART 412 P (chassis 0844) had been returned to the factory immediately after Le Mans in mid July. It was hastily rebuilt with new aluminium Group 7 bodywork and shipped to the US in time to contest rounds two and three (Bridgehampton and Mosport).
Aside from the bodywork, 0844 was a pure 412 P underneath and thus designed for Group 6 endurance racing instead of Group 7 sprints. This meant the Ferrari was heavier and much less powerful than the super lightweight McLarens and Lolas with their big-block American motors.
Scuderia Ferrari driver, Ludovico Scarfiotti, managed to finish seventh at Bridgehampton but was then forced to retire at Mosport when a puncture caused him to crash out after 44 laps.
Both races were won by works McLaren M6A Chevrolets.
By the time round four at Laguna Seca came around on October 15th, Ferrari's surplus 330 P4s had been transformed to 350 Can-Am trim and delivered to California.
Chassis
The 350 Can-Am cars ran the same Tipo 604 chassis as the P4. This was a tubular steel spaceframe extensively reinforced with riveted aluminium panels and a fibreglass central tub to create a semi-monocoque effect.
Suspension was fully adjustable via unequal length wishbones, coil springs and Koni shocks. Anti-roll bars were fitted at either end.
Ventilated discs for the outboard brakes were supplied by Girling.
The P4's 15-inch diameter Campagnolo cast magnesium wheels were retained. They measured 10.15-inches at the front, 12.15-inches wide at the back and were shod with Firestone tyres.
The original 57-litre fuel tanks were retained in each rocker panel.
Engine & Gearbox
Although the original P4 rolling chassis remained little changed, Ferrari did spend some time enlarging the existing four-litre 60° V12 engine.
Displacement was taken from 4 to 4.2-litres. The additional 209cc was achieved thanks to a 2mm bore increase (from 77mm to 79mm). Stroke stayed at 71mm for a displacement of 4176cc.
The new Tipo 237 engine utilised the P4's Lucas fuel-injection, three-valve cylinder heads, twin-plug ignition and two coils. It was also dry-sumped and of course ran dual overhead camshafts for each bank of cylinders.
A compression ratio of 11.0:1 was the same as the P4.
Thanks to its additional cubic capacity, 30 additional horses were available. Peak output went from 450bhp at 8000rpm to 480bhp at 8500rpm.
An improved Tipo 603R five-speed gearbox was also installed along with a triple-plate Borg & Beck clutch and limited slip differential.
Bodywork
By far the most obvious difference between the original P4 and these revamped 350 Can-Am cars was the bodywork.
Unlike Group 6, Group 7 vehicles did not have to adhere to a minimum windscreen height, provide a spare wheel or luggage container for the mandatory FIA suitcase. There were also effectively zero lighting requirements. This enabled Ferrari to discard the beautiful P4 bodies in favour of a simpler, lighter design.
Ferrari fitted both chassis with fibreglass bodies that were updates of the converted 412 P used by Scarfiotti at Bridgehampton and Mosport.
However, there were some subtle alterations to the forward cooling solutions plus new twin intake snorkels on the rear deck and a bigger full-width rear spoiler.
Dimensionally, the 350 Can-Am was 185mm wider, 60mm lower and 235mm shorter than the P4.
Interior
As per the P4, a right-hand drive configuration with right-hand gear change was retained.
The sills and steeply raked bucket seats were trimmed in a mixture of red and black ribbed vinyl. Otherwise, there was no upholstery to speak of.
Instrumentation was located on a transverse chassis crossmember. Directly behind the three-spoke leather-rimmed steering wheel was an 11,000rpm rev counter. Additional read outs for oil pressure and oil temperature were located off to the left. Underneath them was a fuel gauge along with a bank of flick switches.
Weight / Performance
All told, the 350 Can-Am weighed 700kg dry which was 92kg less than the P4.
Top speed with circa 185mph and 0-62mph would have taken less than four seconds.
Production
Two 350 Can-Am cars were built on chassis numbers 0858 and 0860.
Both were dispatched from the factory in a red colour scheme with white and blue centre stripes.
1967 Laguna Seca Can-Am
The two cars made their debut appearances at the Laguna Seca Can-Am race on October 15th.
Factory drivers were on hand in the shape of Chris Amon (0860) and Jonathan Williams (0858).
The Ferraris ran under a Harrah's Club entry as they would at every race.
31 cars lined up for the 106-lap race. Amon qualified 16th in 0860 and Williams started 20th in 0858.
Bruce McLaren was on pole in a McLaren M6A Chevrolet and Dan Gurney was second in his All American Racers Lola T70 Mk3 Ford.
A promising race saw Amon rise to fifth at the chequered flag while Williams came home eighth. However, it was clear a specialist Group 7 car would be needed if Ferrari wanted to take on the top teams with their brutish American engines and lightweight English chassis.
Victory went to Bruce McLaren who finished a lap clear of Jim Hall's Chevy-powered Chaparral 2G and two ahead of the Penske Lola T70 Mk3 driven by George Follmer.
1967 Riverside Can-Am
36 cars started the next race at Riverside two weeks later.
Amon qualified 15th in 0860 with Williams 21st in 0858.
At the sharp end of the grid, Gurney was on pole in the Ford-powered AAR Lola and Bruce McLaren was second in his M6A.
After 62 laps of racing, the result was a near duplicate of the previous round. McLaren took the win from Hall in the Chaparral with a Penske Lola third (this time the car of Mark Donohue).
In the Ferraris, Amon finished eighth, three laps behind the winner. Meanwhile, on lap 13, Jonathan Williams had a coming together with a privateer Lola and retired from the race.
1967 Las Vegas Can-Am
Stardust International Raceway in Las Vegas hosted the Can-Am season finale on November 12th.
28 cars started the 70 lap race and, once again, Bruce McLaren was on pole in his M6A. Jim Hall started second in the Chaparral and Gurney's Lola was third.
The Ferraris qualified 13th (Amon) and 18th (Williams).
Unfortunately, Williams went out on the first lap after a stone got lodged and caused the throttle to stick open.
Amon lasted until the 66th lap before he collided with Bud Morley's Lola while dicing for fifth.
A high attrition rate saw both works McLarens also retire along with Gurney's AAR Lola and the Chaparral.
This left John Surtees to take the win in his Lola T70 Mk2. Mark Donohue was second in the Penske Lola Mk3B and Mike Spence rounded out the podium in his Ecurie Soucy McLaren Elva Mk3B. All three cars were powered by Chevrolet engines.
With his fifth place at Laguna Seca, Amon managed to finish equal twelfth in the Driver’s Championship.
Bruce McLaren took the title on 30 points with team-mate Denny Hulme second on 27 and John Surtees third on 16.
Ferrari had undoubtedly hoped for more, but would be back in 1968 with a new car.
Subsequent Histories
The 350 Can-Ams were both sold after the Las Vegas race.
Amon's chassis (0860) was purchased by Luigi Chinetti. It would go on to contest the 1968 Can-Am races at Road America (13th) and Bridgehampton (DNF). On both occasions, 0860 was driven by Pedro Rodriguez. This car was subsequently sold to French collector, Pierre Bardinon.
Chassis 0858 was sold to Australian, David McKay, who purchased it for his Scuderia Veloce team to contest the Tasman support races during February and March of 1968.
As Chris Amon would be at all the Tasman races driving Scuderia Ferrari's monoposto Dino 246T, McKay convinced the Kiwi to pilot the 350 as well.
For the Tasman series, 0858 had lights installed and a spare wheel hung out the back to comply with local regulations.
0858's chief competition came from the impressive Repco-powered Matich SR3 run by team owner/driver Frank Matich.
Amon took second at Surfers Paradise, retired at Warwick Farm and was second again at Sandown Park. He then won the race at Longford where he was hitting nearly 185mph down the main straight.
After the Tasman series had concluded, 0858 was entered for the Bathurst Gold Star meeting on April 15th. It was driven by Bill Brown who took a second win for the Ferrari.
Scuderia Veloce's final race with the car was the Surfers Paradise 6 Hours on September 1st where Bill Brown was joined by Jim Palmer. However, 0858 failed to finish what was Australia's most important endurance race for sports cars. Victory went to Scuderia Veloce’s sister car, a 250 LM, driven by Leo and Ian Geohegen.
After the Surfers Paradise race, McKay sold 0858 to fellow Aussie, Paul Hawkins.
Hawkins had the car repainted orange and brown to reflect the colours of his sponsor, Gunston Tobacco.
0858 was immediately sent out to South Africa for the end-of-season Springbok series where it proved extremely fast and reliable.
In the showpiece 1968 Kyalami 9 Hours, Hawkins was partnered with John Love and finished third overall behind a Gulf Racing Mirage M1 and a Dino 206 S.
Driving solo, Hawkins went on to do even better. He recorded wins in the Cape Town 3 Hours, the Pietmaritzburg 3 Hours and the East London 500km race.
0858 was then returned to Europe and Mike Hailwood used it to win the non-championship Criterium des Vitesse at Magny Cours on May 1st 1969.
Unfortunately, Paul Hawkins was tragically killed during the Oulton Park Tourist Trophy on May 23rd when his Lola T70 Mk3B GT crashed at Island Bend and burned furiously.
After Hawkins’ death, 0858 was purchased by David Piper. Piper in turn sold it on to to Alistair Walker who contested the 1969 Springbok series. Walker’s most notable result was a second at Lourenco Marques (now Maputo).
After 0858’s last race in December 1969, it was sold to Walter Medlin of Florida who retained it for the next 38 years.
Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: Ferrari - https://www.ferrari.com
