Ferrari: il Reparto Corse Clienti

Very cool.

Here are some for sale:

http://www.modena-motorsport.de/

Unfortunately no prices are being mentioned. I would love to play with the 412T1 and the F2000...

 

That would be F1-2000.

 

Whatever happened to the old Ferrari-powered A1GP cars? Are they eligible?

 

That Ickx car would be pretty bad-ass!

 

They were auctioning off the whole series (cars, equipment, safety/medical cars) last year. I tried making some bids for several of the cars, but they rejected my offer and replied that they were trying to sell everything together.

 

+1

There's a couple of guys on F1technical.net that have purchased fairly recent F1 cars and are sharing their stories about getting 'em going - Interesting stuff if you're that way inclined....

Otherwise, suffice to say any non DFV powered F1 car is a major league PITA. (IMO!)

Cheers,
Ian

 

+1

I went to the F1 Historics at Road America a couple of weeks ago and always feel so bad for the guys running their 312 Tx Ferraris: Must cost them a fortune to keep that engine going. A Cossie weekend is about 10k. No idea what a Ferrari powered one goes for...

Regarding the more modern F1 cars (BOSS series): I'm still wondering what the shelf life is of carbon fibre: That Ferrari F1 (Kroyman?) crash at Laguna Seca some years ago really made me wondering whether these cars remain safe past their use date???

 

No idea really but interesting question. The price of admission to have the crap scared out of you for a couple hours maybe a few times a year is astromonical. I see it as being good for bragging rights but not much else. I would rather have the thing sitting in my living room.

I saw Prost's Ferrari at Lake Forrest Sports cars a couple years back and thought that's precisely what I would do with it. Sit it in my garage and stare at it every once in a while. Either that or I would use my experimental shrink ray so I could reduce my height a good 10 inches so I could fit in the thing (Prost is tiny!).

 

Driving F1 cars can be fun, but I would not go the Clienti route: There are several locations around the globe where for a few thousand bucks you get to experience them and leave the headache of maintenance to the owners.
And if you seriously get the bug, buy a seventies F1 with a Cossie. Costs a fraction of what a Ferrari F1 or Clienti would go for.

I have seen that car many times. It gets so little exercise, it is a shame. The size problem can however easily be addressed: They can modify the fuel tank and widen the seat area for "normal" builds. They do that all the time with historic F1 cars. Most owners don't fit the jockey size, not a problem.

 

Yep. Better yet, get yourself a Champ Car from the 80's - 90's era - cheaper than a comparable F1, and still use a Cossie motor (albeit turbocharged, but parts are available).

Or, if so inclined, you can convert to SBC power and make it even more affordable.

One day, good Lord willing!

 

A friend of mine bought an Indy Lights car. Has full aero, is super fast, but a fraction of the operating costs of a F1. AND: He is allowed at some events to run with the big boys from the BOSS series (modern F1).

 

Ahh ha. I asked that same type question to Tyler there and he said they wouldn't do that. The build width is not my problem, I just need a good 8 inches and I am in! If we had but the time and resources (by resources I mean vast truckloads of $$$$$$).

 

Good question indeed. My WAG; Carbon fiber is "inert" (can't think of the right word, but you get my drift) - As long as it hasn't cracked I reckon it should be as strong now as then.

I guess the problem is seeing if it's "giving up" - It could delaminate internally and you'd never know (?)

It does last pretty well in airplanes, but they have a much longer expected shelf life of course.

Hopefully someone more knowledgeable will be along soon.....

Cheers,
Ian

 

Agreed - I've done an F1 driving day - Actually twice - The first one was at Spa and the practice runs were in F3's - A lot of fun! By the time my turn came around for the F1 car, it (actually both) was seriously broken and they gave me my money back. I subsequently returned and ran at Lucy Lervis (near Magny Cours). But, it sure was nice to not have to worry about anything other than getting to the airport afterwards!.....

"Old" Indy Lights, F3's or even Super Vee's are plenty fast, you've gotta come to terms with the aero and grip and are way beyond the capabilities of most of us. And I reckon you could do an entire season for the cost of one F1 outing.

I agree, other than the ego boost of owning an, eg, ex Schumi GP winner it doesn't seem worth the pain. [Unless your money pit is bottomless I guess?]

Dunno if they still do it, but we once built a "show-car" - It was amazing how much was left out! - The engine & 'box had no internals and most stuff that isn't visible we simply didn't bother installing! - If you just want it as "art", that maybe a more reasonable approach.

Cheers,
Ian

 

I never thought CF could be a problem since (as you mention) they put it in airplanes as stressed elements. Then again that Kroymans crash really gave me the creeps. OTOH who knows whether that car was tampered with?

At any rate it is a bit of an academic discussion since I wouldn't want to go that route anyway as those cars need their own computers/programs/mechanics just to get them started.

 

Care to mention which companies your experiences were with? I did two "F1 arrive and drives" myself, one in Le Luc and one in the States. Sure enough the second time, the F1 car broke down and we got a rain check. When I came back, all was good though.

And learning to trust the aero is really the key. I got a tiny bit of that when driving a Formula BMW. I can only imagine what it takes to do it with a full aero car.

 

I've seen similar shots before and always wondered:

a) Are these the Clienti cars that are spoken for?
b) Are these old F1 cars new Clienti customer could pick from?
c) A mix of the above

 

These guys; http://www.adren-a-line.com/

They hooked me with "this will be the last time we get the chance to run at Spa."

Back when I did it they had a Larrousse & Damon Hills Arrows - I lapped the guy in the Arrows *twice* in the space of my 10 laps!

Cheers,
Ian

 

I think I remember you mentioning that on here somewhere.

Funny enough I drove the Hill Arrows as well. Here in the States.

 

I´ve read that the Kroymans car had a crashed and badly fixed chassis only valid for display, but the owner wanted to go for a ride anyway. Don´t know if that´s true.

Regarding the life span of carbon fiber, I remember that the first manufacturers of composite frames for bycicles reccomended using them for only three or four years, as nobody was really sure about how long that crap would last. I suppose that even today nobody is really sure about this. Only time will tell.

 

That is certainly what it looked like. I'd buy that rumor in a heart beat.

 

That's a fact and that's why the Corse Clienti program is worth every penny. I have a friend who's been a client who runs two modern cars in Clienti (here and in Europe) and runs a 312T5 here also (the quicker one at the KIC). PRD takes good care of him on the older car outside the Clienti network, but there aren't many spares, gear changes are problematic, etc. He's quite happy with Clienti on the new cars, they always run and run well, they're prepared and maintained properly between dates. If you don't do the pre-flight correctly, you're talking at least $250K for motor...

I took apart and put back together a Type 179C V-12 Alfa twenty years ago, got to run it a little and it was incredible. The sound, oh, the sound! But again, everything was made of unobtanium...

 

Interesting.

I saw him and his racing suit said "Clienti corsi" on it, but I thought that his T5 was outside of the program (had to be since it doesn't get transported there by Ferrari etc). So I was wondering what deal that was. Now it makes sense.

I see how he is happy but still I have an emotional problem with Clienti Corse: If it were my car, I would prefer to have it at home all the time and have my mechanics dealing with it and change the car in a way I'd like it. Ferrari runs this program more like an "arrive and drive", which is cool if you only pay for the drive, but not so cool if you were actually the owner. I always felt that Clienti Corse is more like being a custodian than an owner.

<stepping off my soap box now>