One to Buy: 1972 Ferrari 312 PB
Although the updated 512 M showed much promise towards the end of 1970, noise emanating from Porsche regarding potential improvements to the 917, the frankly disappointing performance of the original 512 S thus far and the fact the five-litre Group 5 era only had one season left to run convinced Ferrari to switch focus to a new three-litre Group 6 car for 1971.
During that inaugural campaign, the first iteration of the 312 PB showed a devastating turn of speed but less than perfect reliability.
However, alongside the legendary Matra MS670, the 312 PB went on to become the dominant car in the World Sportscar Championship between 1972 and ‘73. During this time the Italian machine racked up twice as many wins as its French counterpart.
Set to go under the hammer at RM Sotheby’s Villa Erba sale on May 20th is a veteran of Scuderia Ferrari’s victorious 1972 campaign when the Italian equipe vanquished the opposition to win that year’s World Sportscar Championship.
Chassis 0886 made its debut at the opening race of 1972, the Buenos Aires 1000km, where Ronnie Peterson and Tim Schenken started from pole and took a famous victory.
The car next appeared at the Sebring 12 Hours where Peterson and Schenken started from fourth and finished second. Peterson / Schenken subsequently put 0886 on pole for the Monza 1000km, a race in which they finished third. At the car’s final race, the Nurburgring 1000km, the same driver pairing took 0886’s third pole and second victory.
Ferrari sold this multi race-winning matching numbers 312 PB in July 1975, since which time it has resided in some of the world’s most highly regarded collections.
Reprinted below is RM Sotheby’s description for this most important ex-works Ferrari:
Estimate €14m - €18m
Chassis No. 0886
Engine No. 001/11 N42
Gearbox No. 012-N1
Winner of the 1972 Buenos Aires 1,000 Kilometres and the 1972 Nürburgring 1,000 Kilometres
2nd-place finish at the 1972 12 Hours of Sebring, and 3rd-place finish at the 1972 Monza 1,000 Kilometres
Scuderia Ferrari Works example campaigned by the factory to a landslide win in the 1972 World Sportscar Championship of Makes
The final evolution of Ferrari’s celebrated prototype-class “P” cars
The last Ferrari Works sports prototype to compete and win the World Sportscar Championship
One of the most original Ferrari 312 PB extant, retaining its factory matching-numbers engine and gearbox
Engineered with Formula 1-derived technologies, including the rare 3-litre flat-12 engine
Accompanied by numerous spare parts, including spare engine and bodywork
The Ferrari “P” series of sports racing prototypes stretched approximately a decade from 1963 to 1973 and resulted in some of the most iconic and legendary achievements in Ferrari’s illustrious racing history. Included among these were back-to-back victories at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1963 and 1964 and the famous 1-2-3 finish at the 1967 24 Hours of Daytona, which led to its triumph over Ford in the World Championship that year.
Fiat’s acquisition of Ferrari in 1969 lent a jolt of newfound financial support to the racing program, and throughout 1971 the 312 P sports prototype was further refined. In its typical fashion of exploring various engine combinations, Maranello had modified the flat-12 motor from the 1971 312 B grand prix car for use in the sports prototype racecar.
Christened as the 312 PB, the new prototype made its debut at Brands Hatch in mid-1971. Fitted with a dry-sump lubrication system, Lucas fuel injection, single-plug ignition, and dual-overhead cam actuation for each cylinder bank, the 312 PB’s 3-litre flat-12 developed 460 horsepower at 10,800 rpm, which was the preferred tuning for the 1,000-kilometre races.
Weighing less than 650 kilograms, the 312 PB featured a semi-monocoque chassis, cooling radiators on both sides just aft of the cockpit, and a 120-litre fuel tank that was mounted opposite the driver’s position for optimal weight balance. As development continued throughout 1971, the stage was set for a promising campaign in 1972. Little did anyone suspect that it would prove to be one of Ferrari’s most successful sportscar racing seasons of all time.
The featured lot, chassis 0886, was assigned as one of the principal six Scuderia Ferrari Works cars to run the 1972 Group 6 sports prototype racing season. In its debut at the Buenos Aires 1,000 Kilometres in January 1972, Works drivers Ronnie Peterson and Tim Schenken drove 0886 to its first of three pole positions that season. Wearing race number 30, the car leapt out to the lead following a flying start. While the other two PBs experienced their share of mechanical challenges during the race, chassis 0886 steadily advanced, eventually roaring to victory.
Following the race in Buenos Aires, the three spiders were returned to the factory for further preparation while chassis numbers 0888, 0890, and 0892 were dispatched for the season’s second race at Daytona. The first three cars returned in March for the 12 Hours of Sebring. Equipped with a new quick-change gearbox and thicker brake pads with revised calipers, chassis 0886 wore race number 3 and was again driven by Peterson and Schenken. By lap 80, it became apparent that the three Ferraris would likely sweep the podium, however, the fuel pump of chassis 0886 soon developed issues, and before long he ran out of fuel entirely, forcing him to run to the pit to retrieve more. By nightfall Peterson had regained 3rd place and was able to further move up to 2nd by the finish, only two laps behind the winning car of Jacky Ickx.
Chassis 0886 returned to action at the Monza 1,000 Kilometres in April. Now using race number 2, its coachwork was modified with a new rear cowling with trailing fins and secondary NACA ducts, the result of experiments conducted at the Le Mans practice sessions. The race was plagued by unrelenting rain and, although Peterson secured pole position, he came home behind teammates Ickx and Clay Regazzoni, further to a Porsche runner-up, to finish 3rd with Schenken.
The final outing for chassis 0886 took place at the Nürburgring 1,000 Kilometres in May wearing race number 3, where Peterson and Schenken again earned pole position. Despite another rain-swept start, Peterson drove furiously, establishing one lap record after another before giving way to Schenken on the 25th lap. The lead was so commanding that chassis 0886 was never further challenged in the race and roared to a resounding victory. This win resulted in an insurmountable points lead that assured Ferrari victory in the 1972 Championship.
Following the completion of its racing career, in July 1975 the factory issued a certificate of origin for chassis 0886 and the 312 PB was sold to Harley Cluxton, the well-known former NART driver and proprietor of Grand Touring Cars in Scottsdale, Arizona. A month later Cluxton entered the Ferrari in the Monterey Historic Races, marking the first of many appearances the car would make at the annual event.
Cluxton kept chassis 0886 for a decade and after passing through three other owners, the car was sold in 1993 to one of the most renowned Ferrari collections in the world with S. Robson Walton, the famed scion and longtime Chairman of Walmart. An avid motoring enthusiast, Mr Walton campaigned the Ferrari in a number of vintage racing events.
In 1998 the car was sold to a German collector who then entered it in the 1998 Spa Ferrari Days where it was driven by none other than Jacky Ickx, reuniting the car with one of the principal 1972 team drivers.
In September 2005 the Ferrari was acquired by noted British collector Lord Irvine Laidlaw, who kept it for five years until it was acquired by its most recent caretaker in 2010.
Very few cars can claim to have contributed to as important a season for Ferrari as the 1972 Championship of Makes. Chassis 0886 boasts the rare distinction of only ever finishing on the podium during its Scuderia Ferrari career, including two important victories during that 1972 season. Its victory at the Nürburgring 1,000 Kilometres essentially sealed the Championship for Ferrari, solidifying the manufacturer’s most dominant racing season until the rise of Michael Schumacher.
Among the most original of the surviving 312 PBs, chassis 0886 retains its correct matching-numbers engine and gearbox as installed when it was sold by the Factory in 1975 (Its original engine, numbered 001/1 N34, accompanies the car as a spare.
The Ferrari is currently fitted with the engine 001/11 N42.) The car is accompanied by numerous spare parts, and copies of its certificate of origin and original sales invoice as well as other documentation, making this sensational 312 PB without a doubt one of the most important sports racing cars in Ferrari’s history.
