Guide: Ferrari Pininfarina P6
Background
Unveiled in November 1968 at the Turin Motor Show, the P6 was the inspiration for Pininfarina's mid-engined production Ferraris that would come on stream in the early 1970s.
Of the myriad Ferrari-based Pininfarina show cars of the era, the P6 was perhaps the most relevant; it previewed many of the styling cues that would later be adopted on Ferrari's BB road cars.
Unfortunately, while the bodywork needed just a little refinement, complications with the BB's technical development meant it wouldn’t go into production for another five years.
Delays with the BB meant the conventional front V12-engined 365 GTB/4 (launched at the Paris Motor Show just a matter weeks before the P6 appeared) would stay in production longer than originally anticipated.
With Ferrari’s mid-engine racing experience, it was perhaps a surprise that their customers had to wait so long for a flagship model boasting a centrally mounted engine. In comparison, the Ford GT40 Mk1 was available in road trim from spring 1965 and the Lamborghini Miura started to roll off the production line two years later. De Tomaso entered the fray in the autumn of 1967 when the first Mangustas were delivered to customers.
However, all three of these models had major flaws: the Miura needed constant development, the GT40 was pretty impractical and the De Tomaso Mangusta was among the most ill-handling automobiles ever produced.
By contrast, Enzo Ferrari was notoriously conservative with regard to technological advancements and waited until a properly developed machine was ready for his demanding clientele.
The P6 was the fourth Pininfarina styling concept created on a Dino 206 S chassis. It followed the Ferrari Dino 206 Pininfarina Berlinetta Speciale built on chassis 0840 (unveiled at the Paris Motor Show in October 1965), the Ferrari Dino 206 S Pininfarina Competizione built on chassis 034 (unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September 1967) and the the Ferrari 250 P5 built on the much modified chassis 020 (unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show in March 1968).
Chassis
The P6 was based on Dino 206 S chassis 036. This was a tubular steel affair with stressed alloy panels riveted in place to create a semi-monocoque effect. The wheelbase was 2280mm and fuel tanks were originally mounted in each rocker panel.
Fully independent suspension was via unequal-length wishbones, coil springs and telescopic Koni shocks plus an anti-roll bar at either end.
Ventilated disc brakes were supplied by Dunlop and mounted outboard at the front, inboard at the rear.
Five-spoke Campagnolo alloy wheels were attached via a single centre locking hub nut.
Engine
Although completed as en engine-less push-mobile, the P6 was conceived to house a mid longitudinally-mounted three-litre 60° V12 engine.
Output was a quoted 400bhp at 9200rpm which marked the theoretical engine out as an F1 unit.
These were high revving and extremely complex motors running dual overhead camshafts, three valves per cylinder, twin plug ignition and Lucas fuel-injection – definitely not something ready to be shoehorned into a road car.
Bodywork
The beautifully executed bodywork incorporated a fashionable pointed nose with a shallow full width intake aperture that was obscured by slim quarter bumpers at each corner.
A fixed bank of three headlights per side were located under etched plastic covers. Although Ferrari would opt for pop-up headlights on the production BB, these distinctive covers were retained for the supplementary lights.
A three-window cockpit was adopted along with a fastback rear cabin profile that featured a bank of seven wraparound slats.
Flying buttresses swept back to an inverted Kamm tail that housed openings for a pair of custom tail lights above wraparound quarter bumpers.
Pininfarina installed a signature scalloped intake down each flank but there was little in the way of superfluous decoration.
The finished car was painted white with satin black bumpers and natural alloy rear windscreen louvres.
Interior
The interior was sensibly laid out and generally well considered; compared to most design concepts of the era, it appeared almost production-ready.
A simple anti-glare dash was installed and primary instrumentation was housed in a conventional binnacle while supplementary gauges were located in a pod on the transmission tunnel.
Fixed-back bucket seats were given vertically ribbed centres. The tall full-length transmission tunnel was home to an open gate gearchange, an ashtray, a cigar lighter and handbrake. The dash and door panel bands were upholstered in black vinyl. The rest of the upholstery, including the carpet, was coloured red.
The steering wheel had a traditional wood rim with three natural alloy spokes.
The P6 was left-hand drive with a central gearchange.
Subsequent History
After it was unveiled at the Turin Motor Show in November 1968, the P6 returned to Pininfarina where it was given a new light metallic blue paint job.
It remains in Pininfarina ownership to this day.
Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: Ferrari - https://www.ferrari.com & Pininfarina - https://pininfarina.it
