The convoluted history of the 312B3:

Unraced Ferrari 312B3 Spazzaneve.

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One wonders who at Ferrari actually did the design. I'd still like to know why Forghieri was taken out of the loop. Obviously that was a big mistake!

 

I know the Spazzaneve has done some vintage racing. I wonder how its performance compares with the actual B2 and B3 race cars.

 

Great thread.

 

Super thread! Well done!

 

This was the first race victory for both Lauda and the 312B3.

 

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One of the very first if you look at the positioning of the mirrors...some would say they took a saw and cut the wings, lolo0

 

As you noted, this is the original car, still with the original mirrors and side radiators, which weren't working well and caused the engine to overheat. Maybe this was an attempt to improve the airflow to the radiators. It appears that they did simply saw the front wings off. Obviously, this either didn't help the overheating problem, or didn't provide enough front downforce, because this concept was abandoned.

Also note that they have appeared to have moved the rear wing aft of its original location. This continued among all the teams throughout 1973 before F1 said "enough!" and forced them to move the wings forward for 1974, as was implemented on Forghieri's revised car.

 

Forghieri states in his book that after the 72 season and early 73 car was done he was moved out by Enzo and replace by Colombo. This was because in 72 - Ferrari did terrible in F-1 they basically screwed up the 312B initial design and the car kept getting heavier and heavier and needing more fuel to last a race. Forghieri kept on with the under mounting of the Flat 12 vs. a dedicated stressed member gearbox and as the Lotus and Tyrrell kept getting faster and lighter - Ferrari was slower.

They then got Thompson in the UK to build the initial monocoque vs. tubular frame car. so the metal workers strike was used as an excuse - the real issue was that they did not know how to build a moncoque chassis..... Colombo went along to supervise the design. All this time Forghieri was focused on Experimental work - and the Sport car program for 73 - 74. sports cars went ok in 73,- perfect in 72, but Peter Schetty left so there was a void in team management and Forghieri could not gap both design and team managing. After Ickx left and Merzerio could not do anything with the car, it was evident that Enzo had been listening to the wrong people, and he brought back Forghieri from testing. at the time Forghieri was good friends with Piero Ferrari, and also with Della Casa - Enzo's accountant. who all were pushing for Ferrari to bring him back into the F-1 team. It also has to be remembered that Enzo was not physically well from late in 71 - to early 73 suffering from kidney issues - most likely stones. Gozzi states that there were weeks where Enzo could not finish a full day and would go to Rimini on his own, speculation is that he had severe kidney stones and eventually had them removed in mid 73. I think they can make you cranky at least and kill you at the worst... so Enzo was not him self. this is what also set Angelli to introduce him to Montezemolo in mid 73. the story is that Enzo heard him defend Ferrari on a radio program - but reality is the Gianni Angelli introduced Montezemolo to Enzo in Feb. of 73 and asked if he could work with Ferrari for "a while" to see how he runs the company. Enzo at first was hesitant, but Montezemolo won him over - and gave him a much more clear picture of what was actually happening at the races.