512 BB LM

I give the floor to my dear Greenwich friend cornerswell.

 

I dont understand the question.
Do you mean converting a street car to a BBLM racer ?

 

I dont think it makes sense to go that route for many reasons.
Purchasing a Koenig car would probably give the best results or a Norwood Turbo BB.

Your question does intrigue me as when I retire I plan on building a street/racer from a totaled BB frame and have BBLM body panels to go on it.

 

a bad copy of 18139
There is also a red one for sale (I believe in Germany)

 

Good Luck
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Where to start...

There were 25 BBLMs built by the factory, generally referred to by the Silhouette name. Of these 25, there were 3 separate "Series". The earlier Series I cars are usually easily distinguishable by the lack of side skirts and different rear air intake ducts. The Series II and III cars look very similar, and I'd have to check my records to see the specific under-the-skin differences. The biggest change, perhaps, was that Series III cars were lightened. Engines, however, are all the same...the "F102 B".

In addition to the factory-built 25, there were approximately 3 modified street BB racers. This includes the Thompson-liveried car, the yellow ex-Francorchamps car and the ex-Nart (18139). These are not factory-built and have significant differences to the Silhouette cars.

The 25, though, were all privateer entries, entered either with or without importer/dealer support. NART, Francorchamps, Ferrari France all got into the game to some degree or another. However, to the best of my knowledge, there never was any factory "support". There were other privateer entrants like Ron Spangler's Prancing Horse Farm, and Preston Henn sponsored a number of cars through the Swap Shop. This is still back in the days of "deals", and sponsorship often amounted by buying a spare engine that might (or might not) have ended up in a car. Regardless, at the end of the race/season, you got your spare motor. Some of which ended up as coffee tables. Some cars did not race in-period.

BBLMs ran in the GT Experimental (GT x) class as Le Mans in '82, and prior to that, I believe they were in Group 5 in European road racing. In the US, they ran in the IMSA GT class along. From the top of my head, the best finish for a BBLM was 9th OA at Le Mans (35527), but Spangler's 34445 (again, IIRC) was leading the Datyona 24H with Adamowitz when it was "collected" by Moretti's crashing Momo-sponsored 935.

I've always thought the BBLM was a great car, despite the racing results. It's got long, clean lines. It sounds wonderful. It's a pleasure to drive. It's unfortunate that it came along at a time when turbos were making HUGE horsepower (934 and 935s were lighter and had significantly more bhp) and the introduction of tubs (956 and IMSA GTP cars like Lolas, Marchs, Spices, etc.) and ground effects cars made it virtually obsolete. The BBLMs were just a bit on the long-in-the-tooth department by the time they were getting the cars sorted.

BTW, the two BBLMs pictured are the 1982 Series III ex-Pozzi (ex-Bosch) 41263 raced at Le Mans and (pretty sure) the 1981 late Series II (or perhaps early III) ex-Pappalardo/Wettach, 38181, which was never raced.

Also, while the Historic Challenge existed, the BBLM was the car to have. The 512S/Ms are slightly faster (more bhp), but there were up to 8 BBLMs racing in the Historic Challenge series, which as many as 6 on one grid. Hopefully, those days will return...

CW

 

Happy to help. If you have additional questions, I will do my best to answer them. However, here's a good Sheehan primer on the BBLM...

http://ferraris-online.com/pages/article.php?reqart=SCM_200303_SS

BTW, I know of at least one ex-BBLM owner who drove his on the street back in the day. I wouldn't recommend it, though.

I'm sure we'll hear from one of our European friends (tomgt) who is also knowledgeable about BBLMs, too.

CW

 

LG,

Factory panels? Or replicas? I ask because those factory panels are getting pricey, now. You might consider having a set of carbon body panels popped. Lighter and not nearly as valuable.

CW

 

Dont know.

 

Couple of questions...

What are your panels made of? All but the last of the BBLM body panels were fiberglass. The last BBLM (44023) was made of a lightweight body. Purportedly of "composite".

How are your panels finished? The factory fiberglass was finished in a pink/orange-ish primer. Unless pre-painted.

Where did you obtain your panels? There are several factory moulds around. It's possible they were produced from them. I know that there also exists at least two stockpiles of spares including original body panels, but some owners are producing carbon panels as replacements and are removing the original panels to preserve them.

What panels? Specifically, the BBLM has 5 major body panels comprised of the hood, front spoiler, sides (L and R) and rear deck lid. There are a bunch of minor panels, too, though. Which panels did you acquire?

If you're willing to post them, perhaps photos would be helpful in answering the question.

CW

 

GRP panels, how many sets do you need?
finished in orange primer

 

Bratke in germany has or had a raceprepped 512 for sale, but that car is nowhere naar a LM I think.