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HISTORY OF CHASSIS 27577

Chassis 27577 was ordered by the Belgian Ferrari distributor, Ecurie Francorchamps, on behalf of Jean Blaton who purchased it to contest the 1979 Le Mans 24 Hour race.

Blaton, who raced under the pseudonym “Beurlys”, hailed from a wealthy family which had made a fortune in highway construction and maintenance. Their company, Batiments ET Ponts Construction SA, was later sold to French multinational, Vinci SA.

After taking up motor racing in the 1950s, Blaton went on to race a large variety of cars, but became most closely associated with Ferrari. During a driving career that spanned a little over 20 years, Blaton campaigned myriad Sports and GT models that bore the Cavallino Rampante and became one of the Maranello firm’s best customers.

When Ferrari quit Sports and GT racing in the mid 1970s, Blaton had a brief dalliance with Porsche, however, when he heard about the impending arrival arrival of a 512 BB Competizione for 1978, the Belgian put in an order.

Unfortunately, the Ferrari Assistenza Clienti department could only get three completed cars ready in time for the ‘78 Le Mans (which went to Charles Pozzi and Luigi Chinetti). As a consequence, Ecurie Francorchamps had to build Blaton’s example out of an existing road car using a mixture of factory-supplied and improvised parts.

There was no such drama when it came to Blaton’s subsequent 512 BB LM though which was completed a few weeks after the first three copies (which had contested the 1979 season-opening Daytona 24 Hours).

All three of the Daytona entries were present at Le Mans in 1979 along with chassis 27577 which was the only new BB LM in attendance. The handsome yellow and black car was driven by Blaton, Nick Faure, Bernard de Dryver and Pink Floyd manager, Steve O’Rourke. It qualified 45th and, despite temporarily stopping out on the circuit with a soaked ignition system during Sunday morning, was the only BB LM to see the chequered flag. Chassis 27577 crossed the line twelfth overall to bag fifth spot in the over 2.5-litre IMSA class.

The car’s next appearance came at the 1980 Silverstone 6 Hour race by which time O’Rourke had acquired the by now green-painted machine. Prepared by Vic Norman’s Rosso Racing (the West Country Ferrari agent based in Cirencester), chassis 27577 qualified 18th. It came home seventh overall (second in the IMSA class) after a steady run in the hands of O’Rourke, Norman and Chris Craft.

Following its Silverstone outing, the green Ferrari headed to Le Mans where O’Rourke was partnered by Richard Down and Simon Phillips. Having started from 55th on the grid, wet conditions during the race saw O’Rourke come in early for a plug change and a plastic bag to be fitted over the distributor to keep it dry.

Then, on Sunday morning, chassis 27577 suffered a tyre blowout heading down the Mulsanne Straight which made a mess of the rear bodywork and also damaged the oil tank. A rear clip was purchased from Fabrizio Violati’s already retired 512 BB LM and, although there were some issues matching up the wiring, chassis 27577 was back out within the hour. The BB LM recovered to finish 23rd overall and ninth in the IMSA class.

Chassis 27577’s final period outing came at the 1981 Silverstone 6 Hours. Now in the ownership of Ferrari agent Modena Engineering (based in East Horsley, Surrey), it appeared in a handsome yellow livery for Richard Bond, Bobby Bell and Steve Griswold. Disappointingly, after qualifying 30th, the car’s last event was cut short when something punched through the differential casing at mid distance.

In 1990, chassis 27577 was sold to Pink Floyd drummer, Nick Mason, who returned it to a dark green colour scheme. Mason has retained the car ever since.

Notable History

Yellow

Sold to Ecurie Francorchamps / Jean Blaton

10/06/1979 IND Le Mans 24 Hours (N. Faure / B. de Dryver / S. O'Rourke / J. Blaton) 12th oa, 5th IMSA 2.5+ class (#61)

Sold to Steve O'Rourke

Re-painted Green

11/05/1980 WSC Silverstone 6 Hours (S. O'Rourke / C. Craft / V. Norman) 7th oa, 2nd IMSA class (#11)
15/06/1980 WSC Le Mans 24 Hours (S. O'Rourke / R. Down / S. Phillips) 23rd oa, 8th IMSA class (#78)

Sold to Modena Engineering

Re-painted Yellow

10/05/1981 WSC Silverstone 6 Hours (R. Bond / R. Bell / S. Griswold) DNF (#42)

1990 sold to Nick Mason

Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: unattributed, ACO - https://www.24h-lemans.com/en & Supercar Nostalgia

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