VIN: the Ecurie Francorchamps Ferrari 512 S / M chassis 1030
History of chassis 1030
Chassis 1030 was one of the 512s delivered to Ferrari’s factory-supported satellite organisations for 1970. Its destination was Ecurie Francorchamps, the racing division of Belgian Ferrari importer, Garage Francorchamps, run by Jacques Swaters.
Like the majority of the Francorchamps team cars, chassis 1030 was painted the Belgian national racing colour of yellow.
The handsome Berlinetta made its competition debut on May 17th at the Spa 1000km World Sportscar Championship race
Unfortunately, the first day of practice was wasted in the pits as a result of a sticking throttle. Nevertheless, the next day, Derek Bell managed to qualify 1030 well; he and co-driver Baron Hughes de Fierlant lined up seventh for the race.
The pair had a steady run until two thirds distance when Bell went to rejoin for his final stint. As he was about to set off, somehow the car caught fire and Bell couldn’t get out because the door release catch had broken. A quick-thinking mechanic managed to open the door and the fire marshals soon had the blaze under control.
With little more than singed eyebrows, Bell jumped back into the surprisingly undamaged car and continued. Despite losing valuable time, 1030 came home eighth.
After his impressive drive at Spa, Bell was promoted to a works 512 S for Le Mans.
Hughes de Fierlant was joined by Alistair Walker in the Francorchamps entry at la Sarthe. Like most of the eleven 512s present at Le Mans, 1030 ran in long tail trim; it qualified slowest of the bunch in 25th.
However, by midnight, the yellow Ferrari had moved into the top ten and, by 2am, it was seventh (one of only two 512s still in the race). With four hours to go, de Fierlant and Walker had risen to fifth where they finished.
1030’s final outing of 1970 was the end-of-season Kyalami 9 Hours in November. Bell / de Fierlant qualified fourth, but in the race the engine ran flat and handling proved unpredictable. The unhappy drivers eventually finished sixth.
Hughes de Fierlant teamed up with fellow Belgian, Gustave Gosselin, for the first two World Sportscar Championship races of 1971. They qualified 16th for the Buenos Aires 1000km and had a steady run to finish sixth.
At the Daytona 24 Hours three weeks later, 1030 started eighth on the grid. It was lying fourth at the four hour mark, but retired a few minutes later owing to fuel-injection trouble.
Prior to 1030’s next outing, it was sent back to the factory and converted to the latest M specification.
The reconfigured car then appeared at the Le Mans 24 Hours where de Fierlant was co-driven by wealthy British amateur, Alan De Cadanet. They qualified tenth for the race and were seventh on Sunday morning when the transmission broke approaching the 18 hour mark.
De Fierlant subsequently had one final drive in 1030 (winning the Benelux Cup at Zandvoort against limited opposition) after which the car was sold to De Cadanet.
De Cadenet entered the Ferrari for the Watkins Glen 6 Hour World Championship race three weeks later where he was co-driven by Lothar Motschenbacher. They qualified tenth, but brake problems in the race meant the drivers were having to lift too soon to be competitive.
They nevertheless come home a very respectable fourth.
However, the problem had worsened by the time the Can-Am race came around the next day; De Cadanet qualified 25th and finished 18th, some 13 laps behind the leader.
On its return from the USA, De Cadanet sold 1030 to Anthony Bamford whose father was the founder of JC Bamford Excavators (JCB).
Bamford had Peter Brown race the car in the 1972 Special GT Championship where he won all six races contested. Willie Green was given a one-off outing at the Silverstone Interserie race and claimed second.
1030 was later later sold to fellow Ferrari collector, Philip Walter Dowell, who also owned a 250 Testa Rossa (0770 TR) and a 275 GTB/C (9035).
It was subsequently also owned by noted collectors Nigel Chiltern-Hunt, Carlo Bonomi and Yoshiho Matsuda.
Notable History
512 S Berlinetta
Jacques Swaters (Ecurie Francorchamps), Brussels, Belgium
17/05/1970 WSC Spa 1000km (D. Bell / H. de Fierlant) 8th oa, 7th S5.0 class (#23)
Fitted with Coda Lunga bodywork
14/06/1970 WSC Le Mans 24 Hours (H. de Fierlant / A. Walker) 5th oa, 4th S5.0 class (#12)
Returned to standard body configuration
07/11/1970 SPR Kyalami 9 Hours (D. Bell / H. de Fierlant) 6th oa, 3rd E class (#3)
10/01/1971 WSC Buenos Aires 1000km (H. de Fierlant / G. Gosselin) 6th oa, 4th S class (#18)
31/01/1971 WSC Daytona 24 Hours (H. de Fierlant / G. Gosselin) DNF (#26) oil pressure
Upgraded to 512 M specification
13/06/1971 WSC Le Mans 24 Hours (H. de Fierlant / A. de Cadenet) DNF (#9) clutch/gearbox
04/07/1971 IND Zandvoort Coupes Benelux (H. de Fierlant) 1st oa, 1st S/P1.3+ class (#156)
Sold to Alain De Cadanet, London, UK
24/07/1971 WSC Watkins Glen 6 Hours (A. de Cadenet / L. Motschenbacher) 4th oa, 3rd S class (#63)
25/07/1971 CAM Watkins Glen (A. de Cadenet) 18th oa, 5th S5.0 class (#63)
Sold to Anthony Bamford, East Staffordshire, UK
19/03/1972 SGT Thruxton (P. Brown) 1st oa (#163)
26/03/1972 SGT Snetterton (P. Brown) 1st oa (#160)
07/05/1972 SGT Croft (P. Brown) 1st oa (#??)
21/05/1972 INT Silverstone (W. Green) 2nd oa (#50)
28/05/1972 SGT Thruxton (P. Brown) 1st oa (#??)
18/06/1972 SGT Thruxton (P. Brown) 1st oa (#??)
02/07/1972 SGT Silverstone (N. Corner) 1st oa (#20)
Later sold to Philip Walter Dowell, Worcestershire, UK
Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: unattributed
