The Ferrari 275 S was a

sports racing car Sports car racing is a form of motorsport road racing which utilises sports cars that have two seats and enclosed wheels. They may be purpose-built prototypes or grand tourers based on road-going models. Broadly speaking, sports car racing is o ...

produced by

Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988) in 1939 from the Alfa Romeo racing division as ''Auto Avio Costruzioni'', the company built its first car in ...

in 1950. It was the first Ferrari powered by a new

Aurelio Lampredi Aurelio Lampredi (16 June 1917 – 1 June 1989) was an Italian automobile and aircraft engine designer. Born in Livorno, he began his career before World War II at Piaggio, moved to Isotta Fraschini, and then joined Reggiane. This time he design ...

-designed

V12 V12 or V-12 may refer to: Aircraft * Mil V-12, a Soviet heavy lift helicopter * Pilatus OV-12, a planned American military utility aircraft * Rockwell XFV-12, an American experimental aircraft project * Škoda-Kauba V12, a Czechoslovak experim ...

engine, created as a large displacement alternative to the initial 1,5 L ''Colombo'' V12, used in

supercharged In an internal combustion engine, a supercharger compresses the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to produce more power for a given displacement. The current categorisation is that a supercharger is a form of forced induct ...

form in

Ferrari 125 F1 :''See also the 125 S, a sports racer sharing the same engine'' The 125 F1 was Ferrari's first Formula One car. It shared its engine with the 125 S sports racer which preceded it by a year, but was developed at the same time by Enzo Ferrari, Vale ...

. Formula One regulations allowed for up to 4.5 L in

naturally aspirated Naturally may refer to: ;Albums * ''Naturally!'', an album by Nat Adderley * ''Naturally'' (Houston Person album) * ''Naturally'' (J. J. Cale album) * ''Naturally'' (John Pizzarelli album) * ''Naturally'' (Sharon Jones album) * ''Naturally'' ...

form.

Development

The naturally-aspirated, then supercharged ''Colombo'' engine did not fulfil its expectations in Grands Prix and Formula One, and an alternative was required for Ferrari to stay competitive. Aurelio Lampredi designed the new V12 engine that was intended for

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

race cars, but first had to be tested in a sports racing car. Only two examples were ever created. Both had Touring barchetta bodywork. None of them survive in their original form.

Specifications

The new 'long-block' engine displaced , thanks to of bore and stroke and had

SOHC An overhead camshaft (OHC) engine is a piston engine where the camshaft is located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with earlier overhead valve engines (OHV), where the camshaft is located below the combustion cha ...

configuration with two valves and single spark plug per cylinder. Initially power output was at 7200 rpm with 8:1 compression ratio. Engine was fed by three Weber 40DCF carburettors and used

wet sump Within piston engines, a wet sump is part of a lubrication system whereby the crankcase sump is used as an integral oil reservoir. An alternative system is the dry sump, whereby oil is pumped from a shallow sump into an external reservoir.Wet sum ...

lubrication. Top speed was 240 km/h. The chassis was a ladder frame aided by steel tubes of a short, , wheelbase, derived from 166 MM. This value will change when upgraded to 340 America specification. Front suspension was independent and rear had a live axle with semi-elliptic springs. Stopping was by four-wheel drum brakes.

Racing

The 1950 edition of

Mille Miglia The Mille Miglia (, ''Thousand Miles'') was an open-road, motorsport endurance race established in 1927 by the young Counts Francesco Mazzotti and Aymo Maggi, which took place in Italy twenty-four times from 1927 to 1957 (thirteen before World ...

race was attended by both examples of 275 S.

Alberto Ascari Alberto Ascari (; 13 July 1918 – 26 May 1955) was an Italian racing driver and a two time Formula One World Champion. He was a multitalented racer who competed in motorcycle racing before switching to cars. Ascari won consecutive world titles ...

with Senesio Nicolini drove 0030MT and

Luigi Villoresi Luigi Villoresi (16 May 1909 – 24 August 1997) was an Italian Grand Prix motor racing driver who continued racing on the Formula One circuit at the time of its inception. Biography Born in Milan, Lombardy, and nicknamed "Gigi", he was the older ...

with Pasquale Cassani raced in 0032MT. Both teams encountered transmission problems, that could not cope with high amounts of power, and did not finish the race. Cars raced only a couple more times in its 275 S guise. Despite poor initial results the engine proved its desired potential and was immediately used for a single-seater Ferrari 275 F1, as was its original purpose.

275 S/340 America

1951-07-22 Susa-Moncenisio Ferrari sn0030MT Marzotto

Between 1950-1951 both cars were upgraded with the new 4.1 L, also '' Lampredi'', engines, that in turn were derived from Formula One powerplants. After conversion power dropped to . Now converted into 340 America model-line, one car s/n 0030MT was further rebodied by a new coachbuilder,

Scaglietti Carrozzeria Scaglietti () was an Italian automobile design and coachbuilder, coachbuilding company active in the 1950s. It was founded by Sergio Scaglietti in 1951 as an automobile repair concern, but was located across the road from Ferrari in Ma ...

, after 1952. The other car remained in the original Touring barchetta form. S/n 0030MT was auctioned in 2015 by

RM Sotheby's RM Sotheby's, formerly RM Auctions, is a classic car auction company headquartered in Blenheim, Ontario, Canada. With offices across the United States and several European countries, the company's services include restoration, private treaty sale ...

in Monterey for almost US$8 million.

References

Bibliography

* * {{Early Ferrari vehicles 275 S Sports racing cars