The 48° Targa Florio took place on 26 April 1964, on the

Circuito Piccolo delle Madonie The Targa Florio was a public road endurance automobile race held in the mountains of Sicily near the island's capital of Palermo. Founded in 1906, it was the oldest sports car racing event, part of the World Sportscar Championship between 1955 ...

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(

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

). Porsche took the overall victory. pp. 56-7

Race

The event was marked by the absence of Scuderia Ferrari:

FIA FIA is the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (English: International Automobile Federation), the world's governing body for all forms of motor sport where four or more wheels are used. Fia or FIA may also refer to: People * Fia Backs ...

refused to

homologate Homologation (Greek ''homologeo'', ὁμολογέω, "to agree") is the granting of approval by an official authority. This may be a court of law, a government department, or an academic or professional body, any of which would normally work fr ...

the brand new 250 LM as a GT-class racer, and Ferrari boycotted the race in protest. The Ferraris that took part in the race were all driven by privateers.
The prototype-class Porsche 718 RS Spyder driven by

Jo Bonnier Joakim Bonnier (31 January 1930 – 11 June 1972) was a Swedish sportscar racing and Formula One driver who raced for various teams. He was the first Swede to both enter and win a Formula One Grand Prix. Early life Jo Bonnier was born in Stockh ...

and Graham Hill took the lead, but had to retire during the second lap. Then the leading Porsche 904/8 of

Edgar Barth Wilfried Edgar Barth (26 January 1917 in Herold – 20 May 1965 in Ludwigsburg) was a German (East German until 1957, then West German) Formula One and sports car racing driver. Racing career Barth was born in Herold. He began his care ...

and

Umberto Maglioli Umberto Maglioli (5 June 1928 – 7 February 1999) was a racing driver from Italy. He participated in 10 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 13 September 1953. He achieved 2 podiums, and scored a total of 3 championship ...

suffered some time-wasting issue and was overtaken by the Ferrari 250 GTO '64 of Carlo Facetti and Jean Guichet, which had to retire during lap 6 for

gearbox Propulsion transmission is the mode of transmitting and controlling propulsion power of a machine. The term ''transmission'' properly refers to the whole drivetrain, including clutch, gearbox, prop shaft (for rear-wheel drive vehicles), differe ...

issues. The

Shelby Cobra The AC Cobra, sold in the United States as the Shelby Cobra and AC Shelby Cobra, is a sports car manufactured by British company AC Cars, with a Ford V8 engine. It was produced intermittently in both the United Kingdom and later the United ...

's debut at the Targa Florio was disappointing as they soon proved too heavy and unwieldy for the narrow and twisty track. In the end, the podium went to 3 GT-class, with Porsche scoring a double victory with the 904 GTS of Antonio Pucci/Colin Davis and Gianni Balzarini/Herbert Linge, respectively.

Official results

References

Targa Florio

Targa Florio The Targa Florio was a public road endurance automobile race held in the mountains of Sicily near the island's capital of Palermo. Founded in 1906, it was the oldest sports car racing event, part of the World Sportscar Championship between 1955 ...

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