Racing career of #2643GT Esperimentale

Introduced on May 16 1961 the first outing of #2643GT, fitted with a Testa Rossa engine, was at Le Mans 1961 where it ran with a rear spoiler. In this shape the present owner showed the car at Pebble. Drivers at Le Mans were Tavano and Baghetti, and although the car was very fast, it retired with engine trouble in the 13th hour while in 8th position OA. In the last pic at Le Mans the spoiler can be seen. The last pic shows the present spoiler.
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The next race was the Daytona Continental 3 hours of 1962 where Stirling Moss raced the car for NART. It was painted in Walker blue at the special request of Stirling, who raced for the Rob Walker team for many years. Stirling first tried the car before the Italian Grand Prix and he was really impressed. He finished 4th OA in the race and won the GT class. Afterwards the car was sold to Californian McKelvy.
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In March 1962 Hugus and Reed campaigned the car at the 12 hrs of Sebring finishing 8th OA and third in their class. The same team was entered at Le Mans that year finishing 9th OA and 4th in GT. The last pic shows the car at Laguna Seca in 1963.
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Boudewijn, a seemingly unending supply of interesting pictures! The rear wheel arches seem to have suffered much attention; especially later, through the various incarnations...
ch

 

See, but it only has the spoiler in that one picture, and in the other pictures from its '61 days it appears not to have the spoiler.

I was actually preparing to start a thread on 2643's spoiler today before I found this one.

Ok, so, specifically, what do we know about this spoiler? Clearly, by 1962 it did not have the spoiler - See your pics from the later years and also my pic of a model of the car in 1962 form (and, seemingly, it has not had its spoiler for its entire life until its most recent restoration.)

In addition, Boudewijn, it did not have a spoiler in the first Introduction pic that you posted in your first post. See a side shot from the same photo shoot below.

So, when did it get this spoiler, and when was it taken off? Could they have simply added it for the '61 Le Mans and then taken it off right after. If so, why? Also, I know the spoiler is small, but it really seems not to be present in the other pics that you posted from the 1961 Le Mans. Perhaps it is just the angle, but with so many pics showing this car without a spoiler, I guess I'm just being skeptical... Your last last black and white pic is definitely at Le Mans is 1961? Though obviously not conclusive, I do have a pic of a model of the 1961 Le Mans car (see below) where you can also see the spoiler, so you are probably right.

Then the question becomes when and why and then, later, why not - why take it off. If the first pic is indeed from its "introduction" - which I'm assuming was before the 1961 Le Mans? - then this bring to mind 2 specific issues with the most current restoration.

1. The spoiler, which I've already discussed at length. When did it go on? IF your first pic was taken before the 1961 Le Mans, that means that the car started its life without the spoiler, and it was put on for the race. If taken after, that means the spoiler must have been taken off probably right after the race (because, the car appears to be in its 1961 color scheme). which leads us nicely into issue:
2. The color. IF the first black and white pic is from around the '61 season, then the color appears to be quite a bit darker than the current light blue that they have given the car. In the '61 race pics the color appears to be a bit lighter, but all this might be due to how the sun was shining... But, I draw your attention to the model that I have posted. This indeed does show the spoiler but also shows a much darker shade of blue.

Sorry for the rambling. As you can tell, I'm pretty convinced that this spoiler was only on for a short period, and that last black and white pic is actually the only shot that I have ever seen depicting it. A big question for me is when were the intro. shots taken? If before Le Mans, then who added the spoiler, and who took it off, and when?

 

I have this book dedicated to this sole chassisnumber:"Ferrari 250 GT Sperimentale "No2643" published by "La Mile Miglia Editriche" in 1990 in a limited run of 1500 pieces with a price tag of about $400-500. Also the book "Le Ferrari di Pininfarina" by Anselmi from 1988 gives clear information.
Factory records show the paint scheme as Max Meyer 10776 light cobalt blue with a side stripe of Max Meyer 10043 bright red. This means the BBR model has a darker colour. The chassis entered the Pinin Farina plant on April 5, 1961, and the body was ready on May 16. The introduction pics were taken at the Pinin Farina plant when several mechanical components were not yet installed, the discbrakes for example. Of course the Le Mans race was in June 1961.
During practice for Le Mans the car proved unstable: the nose section had the tendency to lift giving the front train less adhesion, whereas the posterior section gave adhesion difficulties in faster curves. This was the reason Carlo Chiti and Giotto Bizzarrini decided to put on a rear spoiler. This resulted in a better handling of the car.
After the Le Mans race the car's mechanicals were modified, making the spoiler inutile.

 

Very interesting, thank you.

So, assuming that under the most recent restoration they haven't reverted to the old mechanical setup (and why would they), as it stands now, the car's current spoiler is equally inutile.

My larger question, then, to the community here is how do you feel about restoring cars to represent various stages in their history? Adding the spoiler to 2643, here, is wholly aesthetic. I understand painting in an historical livery, but how about adding bodywork such as a spoiler that, given the cars subsequent history has beocome functionally useless? Most 250 GTOs had their noses modified at some point for better airflow. But I can't see any owner putting a GTO back to its original nose configuration. So where do you draw the line? If I bought 3445 GT and wanted to rebody it in a recreation of its old Drogo body, would that be fair game? Is adding a spoiler to 2643 when it no longer needs it fair game?

 

I think it comes down to what the owner and thus restorer consider the most important part of the cars history. Maybe the current owner considers Le Mans a big deal ... OR maybe while the modifications may have improved the car and made the rear wing redundant back in the old days, modern thoughts and driving styles grave down force ... so maybe the new owner is being clever and even further increasing the down force by using an old design that was thought unnecessary?

Pete

 

Interesting.
Perhaps I missed something, but this thread had me digging into my collection of the old Euro magazine Ferrari World (Deutsche Ausgabe) and in #25, they have a nice historical article ( Silvana Casarotto) with great modern photos, but refer to the 250 Sperimentale twice as Fahrgestellnummer 2463. Same car as it's described in this thread.
This is one of my favorite Ferraris, so is there a transversion of the #s?

 

2463 has been a type failure because #2463 represents a 250 GTE 2+2.

 

Many thanks!

 

You guys are, for the most part, correct on the details of the 2643. The car was delivered to Ferrari by Pininfarina without the rear spoiler, the winglets in front of the front wheels and the small scoops on the brake cooling ducts. There are pictures of the car outside of LeMans scrutineering without these add-ons. This means that the bits were all added at the track by Ferrari to tame what was well documented as horrible aero lift.

The color of the car is absolutely correct. I personally sanded down through seven layers of paint in the door jamb and the current blue is what was on the bottom. We have the same model as pictured above, and the paint is incorrect.

The car was restored to "as ran at Lemans 1961". The aero add-ons do little to help or hurt the car at the pace that it will be driven during its current vintage racing career. Furthermore, it would make little sense to restore a car to an "as deliver by Pininfarina" or "as arrived at Lemans, before first practice" condition when racing Lemans was obviously the car's most significant point in time. We also could not have shown the car at Pebble Beach in the competition class if the car was not in its correct race configuration.

I hope that helps. So how'd you guys like the car, anyway?

 

Stunning! Always has been one of my favorites, that's why I bought that one elusive, though italian written, book on the car. Thanks for confirming the history notes.

Best
Boudewijn

 

It's brilliant! Thanks for posting.

 

My pleasure!! I'll try to post some additional pictures that I have of the car.

 

Please.

Detail pictures of suspension and other areas would be great. What we miss that you don't is the hours you can spend lying under the car looking at the little engineering details that make up such an interesting Ferrari.

We can easily find the photos of the car sitting on the lawn at Pebble, or random engine shots or even an interior shot ... but not the shots that really reveal the cars hidden details.

BTW: I think the car looks great, and fully understand why you restored it to that format. I would have to.

Pete

 

Agree.
Brilliant photos. Any mechanical details to me are the real elegance of a Ferrari.
Many thanks!

 

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This is about it for period shots that I have digitized. As for detailed pictures of the current restoration, I don't feel that I should post pictures of the car on the forum since it is not mine. Know, however, that there is nothing "special" about the underpinnings of this particular car. The important points are the body and TR spec motor.
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great Le Mans shots!

 

i like the car too. and i totally agree that to restore it as raced at lemans makes most sense. i can't imagine that the spoiler ever was truly 'inutile'. (was that word chosen by an MD?) from what we know now, the lift at the speeds it was capable of, with such a low rear and high nose must have been harrowing.

and i particularly like the cornering shots. the springing is clearly very soft. kindof reminds me of the lean angles in my pf coupe.

this car is wearing some fat rubber though!

wonderful car.

thanks for sharing.

tom w

 

Hello, I have this photograph of 2643GT but I do not arrive at knowing where it was taken.
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The attachment says Laguna Seca

 

Another one from Le Mans.
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