Ferrari Modulo

I seriously doubt that a "real" 512 S chassis would have fit under that skin. I think that it was a pure design exercise whose basis on the 512 is purely nominal. Here's what Automobile Year had to say about the Modulo in their 18th (1970-71) edition.

"The Pininfarina modulo, on the Ferrari 512 S chassis was, according to its makers, an expression of culture. It was little more than three feet high, and composed of two body shells placed one upon the other and separated by a groove surrounding the entire far-out shape. As in a modular object, the car, in theory, could be changed from saloon to coupe, and from coupe to convertible, simply by eliminating one or more panels. Strictly an "idea car", it would nevertheless be a very potent one with 550 hp of fuel-injected V12 under its shapely tail panels. The Modulo was firsy shown at Geneva in March, and in modified form in Turin in October."

 

The chassis is quite real (512 S/612 Can AM 0864 1968)
as are it's gearbox, engine minus internals uprights etc. It could be made to run with a lot of work.

http://www.barchetta.cc/english/All.Ferraris/Detail/0864.612.htm

 

The biggest problem in making it a drivable car will be to create space for the turning of the front wheels, whilst retaining the original look.
I could imagine a solution with front fenders to 'show' and front fenders to 'drive', where the front wheelhouses are open as on a normal car. No, a Nash Metrolpolitan doesn't count as a normal car. (I can think of a few others, but all have spades of space between the wheel and the body)
Someone earlier suggested mounting part of the wheel-covering on the axle, but it would still need quite a bit of space between panels to allow the suspension to also do its' job.

To me the objective would be to not destroy the original design when the car is in 'show' mode.

The mechanicals could be made to work, it would be a fantastic project, but it would cost a sh*tload of cash.

Just thinking out loud here...

 

As cool as the Modulo is, the "other" 512S (showcar) has always been on my want list.

Yes, to see Napolis put that car on the road would keep me on the edge of my seat during its buildup.

 

It´s a low quality YouTube video, so it´s hard to tell, but I´d swear that there is not any kind of FX involved in this. Besides the great quality of the image, I doubt that anybody would want to spend the amount of money necessary to make this film with CGI just to sell it to the few petrolheads interested in the Pininfarina Modulo. So that thing is real. Probably not a real car, but at least a real scale model.

GREAT VIDEO, BTW!!!

 

Does anyone know when the original footage was shot?

 

This is a cleverly made production with some towing and simply rolling it downhill.
Many Ferrari's can be seen posing in deserted places somewhere in Italy. This is the same, only in motion.

 

Hi Jim,

did Pininfarina confirm that the thing was real on video ??? I don't know why but I'm sure they said yes...

 

You are wrong.

They are sill on "Vacation" and haven't responded.

 

Wrong in thinking you have forgotten this thread.

Right in saying the car in the video is real...

 

Turning radius..........867ft.

This car is an obvious design work with the most striking feature being the treatment of the wheels and wheel wells. The very thing that makes it unsteerable. The wheels are almost encapsulated.

It could be made to work but at what cost? Four wheel steering? Moveable (transformer?) body panels? A hidden fifth wheel that actually turns the car? I could go on but it isn't going to happen.

I think that I can see in the video that the inside front wheel is horribly deflated in it's right turn. I thought that would just pull the steering wheel. What other tricks were employed to make the video? Are the wheels the same diameter for this shot?

I do love the design work though. It is striking and the kind of stuff that inspires future designs.

 

I hope vacation isn't a Euphemism.

 

It's a bit of one...

 

(Still no answer)

 

It's so real it was raced, and Enzo himself glued the wool tufts on for the testing in the Fiat wind tunnel.
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Do like those Pit Babes.

 

I agree, this is the real deal, not computer generated.

It's digitalized from a tape someone filmed however long ago.

 

I hope things are working out but Andreas' tragic passing reminds me of Jean Bugatti's in more than one way.

 

Interesting, Sad but True.

 

I thought that of him, and Agnellis as well. Very sad lost legacies.

 

Yes. I believe that this chassis was tested and crashed by Ferrari and that some assumed it was 0846's chassis with a 612 Can Am engine. Remember "destroyed at Mugello"?

It's definitely not a P3 chassis but is a modified 512 chassis. The chassis has no stamp I could see but the engine is stamped 0864. The gearbox is also stamped. I saw the stamps but don't remember them.

Marcel?