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One of the manufacturers trying to interrupt Toyota's streak of success is the one with what is probably the biggest name on the scene: Ferrari.
The tenth overall victory at the Sarthe should it be for the brand Maranello. Between 1949 and 1965 Ferrari was successful in the endurance classic nine times, from 1960 to 1965 for six years in a row. Model manufacturer Ixo has released five of the Ferrari winning cars in scale 1:43, which are available in the ck-modelcars shop for the 100th Le Mans anniversary.
A Ferrari won the Le Mans 24 Hours for the first time in 1949, but with a privately entered car. The first works success for the Scuderia came in 1954 with the Ferrari 375 Plus. The car featured a bored-out 5.0 liter V12 engine borrowed from Ferrari's Formula 1 portfolio. The biggest competitor was Jaguar with its D-Type, which rolled out for the first time in 1954 and which was to win over the next three years. This time, however, Ferrari narrowly prevailed. It was won by Frenchman Maurice Trintignant and Argentinian José Froilán González, who became vice world champion in Formula 1 with Ferrari in the same year.
Ferrari 375 Plus #4 Winner 24h LeMans 1954 Trintignant, Gonzales 1:43 Ixo, RRP €34,95, item-no.: LM1954
After the aforementioned successes of the Jaguar D-Type, Ferrari hit back with the Testa Rossa. In 1958, 1960 and 1961 this car was victorious three times in different versions. All three cars are part of the Ixo collection.
It all started in 1958 with Olivier Gendebien from Belgium and the American Phil Hill, who became Formula 1 world champion three years later. In terrible weather conditions and a corresponding number of accidents, the duo prevailed against British competition from Jaguar and Aston Martin and secured the first victory for the Pininfarina-designed and Scaglietti-built Testa Rossa.
Two years later and without the participation of Jaguar and Aston Martin, the Testa Rossa lived up to its role as favourite. Victory again went to Olivier Gendebien, this time starting with fellow Belgian Paul Frère. Incidentally, a corner in Spa-Francorchamps is named after the latter – the former “Stavelot” corner on the go-kart track in the lower part of the track leading to the Blanchimont passage.
The third successful Testa Rossa from 1961 is visually even more clearly distinguishable from the original variant. The "I" in its model designation TRI/61 stands for "Independent Suspension", i.e. for the independent wheel suspension, which was one of the innovations. As in 1958, Olivier Gendebien and Phil Hill won.
Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa #14 Winner 24h LeMans 1958 Gendebien, Hill 1:43 Ixo, RRP €34,95, item-no.: LM1958
Ferrari TR60 #11 Winner 24h LeMans 1960 Gendebien, Frere 1:43 Ixo, RRP €34,95, item-no.: LM1960
Ferrari TRI/61 #10 Winner 24h LeMans 1961 Gendebien, Hill 1:43 Ixo, RRP €34,95, item-no.: LM1961
Ferrari's seventh victory at Le Mans made another entry in the history books as it was the first triumph by a mid-engined racer. He was part of Ferrari's six-year winning streak and succeeded in 1963 with the new 250P. With Lorenzo Bandini and Ludovico Scarfiotti, two Italians won Le Mans with Ferrari for the first time. Both also drove in Formula 1 with the Scuderia in 1963.
Ferrari 250P #21 Winner 24h LeMans 1963 Scarfiotti, Bandini 1:43 Ixo, RRP €34.95, item-no.: LM1963
[09.05.2023] 24h Nürburgring 2023: Our tips for the highlight of the season!
[09.05.2023] 24h Nürburgring 2023: Our tips for the highlight of the season!
