1963 Ferrari 330 LM Berlinetta
1963 Ferrari 330 LM Berlinetta Chassis no. 4725 SA
Highlights
Class winner and fifth overall in the 1963 24 Hours of Le Mans
Raced by the Works Ferrari driver Lorenzo Bandini to a class victory in the 1963 Guards Trophy at Brands Hatch
The sole right-hand-drive 330 LM Berlinetta of the mere four cars built by Ferrari – almost 10 times as rare as the 250 GTO
Two period race entries and two corresponding class victories – a one-hundred percent win record, making it the most successful 330 LM Berlinetta
Retaining its original matching-numbers V12 engine
Delivered new to the Colonel Ronnie Hoare’s illustrious British Ferrari privateer outfit Maranello Concessionaires
The Ferrari with which Maranello Concessionaires’ contested its very first 24 Hours of Le Mans
Eligible for the world’s most prestigious historic motoring events, from Pebble Beach and Villa d’Este to the Goodwood Revival and Le Mans Classic
Powered by the hallowed Colombo V12, enlarged to four liters in capacity and developing a heady 400bhp
Boasting an aggressive Pininfarina-designed prototype body fusing the sultry Ferrari 250 GT ‘Lusso’ with the 250 GTO
The first Ferrari model – and indeed the first car at all – to exceed 300kph on the Mulsanne Straight at Le Mans
The Ferrari 330 LM Berlinetta
April, 1963. The traditional 24 Hours of Le Mans test day. A chance to shape up the opposition ahead of the main event. An occasion at which to signal your intentions – something Ferrari certainly did when it became the first manufacturer to shatter the 300kph barrier on La Sarthe’s Mulsanne Straight.
Given the 250 P sports-prototype was the car which topped the timesheets that day, you’d presume that the mid-engined scarlet spaceship was the car that smashed the speed record. But you’d be wrong. It was actually one of these handsome Gran Turismos: the 330 LM Berlinetta. Allow us to explain.
Ferrari specially built just four 330 LM Berlinettas at its Gestione Sportiva skunkworks in 1963, primarily to exploit the experimental GT category at Le Mans. It was a relatively simple yet remarkably effective recipe: install a potent 400bhp four-litre dry-sump V12 low in the short and strong chassis of the 400 Superamerica, before clothing the entire assembly in a wind-cheating Pininfarina-styled and Scaglietti-built body which harmoniously fused the gorgeous 250 GT ‘Lusso’ with the era-defining 250 GTO.
The debonair mild-mannered college prefect who went off the rails. It’s the vibe we get from the 330 LM Berlinetta’s coachwork, with its obvious overall Lusso shape studded with myriad competition prototype features. Those three D-shaped intakes so synonymous with the GTO, for example, the slatted outlets aft the rear wheels and the rectangular tyre clearance extenders above the rear wheel arches. And who doesn’t get excited at the sight of a crackle-black dash or period bucket seats upholstered in blue fabric? Today’s generation would describe it as something of a restomod. We prefer the term ‘outlaw’.
Substantially rarer than their GTO and ‘SWB’ contemporaries, these commandingly powerful Berlinettas are special for so many reasons, not least the fact that, despite their fundamental Gran Turismo pedigree, they are essentially Works-built thoroughbred prototype competition cars. And for disciples of the Prancing Horse, that’s a seriously big deal.
Chassis no. 4725 SA
One hundred and seventy-six miles per hour. That’s the frankly astonishing speed the British Ferrari factory racing and development driver Mike Parkes clocked during a pre-delivery shakedown with this very 330 LM Berlinetta. On the public roads between Modena and Bologna… In Sunday morning traffic… It beggars belief.
The sole right-hand-drive example of the mere four 330 LM Berlinettas built by Ferrari for the 1963 season, chassis number 4725 SA was earmarked for Colonel Ronnie Hoare’s illustrious British Ferrari privateer outfit Maranello Concessionaires.
Though relatively new on the international motorsport scene, the Colonel had positively wooed Enzo Ferrari with a string of remarkable results, including a fine second-place finish in the 1961 RAC Tourist Trophy at Goodwood, a win in the 1962 Guards Trophy at Brands Hatch and second overall in the 1962 World Championship-qualifying 1,000-kilometre race at Montlhéry, Paris.
So impressed was Il Commendatore that he thought it was high time Maranello Concessionaires added the world’s greatest motor race, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, to its competition résumé. It was of little coincidence that Ferrari also had just the car with which the Colonel could go about dipping his toe in the Le Mans waters: the experimental four-liter 330 LM Berlinetta, which was designed with this very race in mind.
And so, in June of 1963, Ronnie Hoare travelled to Maranello to collect chassis number 4725 SA directly from the factory. As was customary in those days, he slapped on a ‘GB’ stickers and some British trade plates and personally drove the 1,200 kilometres to the Circuit de la Sarthe in France.
A staggering 300,000 spectators descended on Le Mans for the 1963 running of the 24 Hours. The fact certainly wasn’t lost on the Colonel, who was keen to take every possible measure to ensure his 330 LM Berlinetta would reach the finish and bolster his team’s reputation. That meant quickly getting the notoriously stringent French officials on side with food and wine. And preaching to his designated drivers, ‘Gentleman Jack’ Sears and Mike Salmon, about the utmost importance of mechanical sympathy.
Mercifully, his drivers knew better than to disregard their orders. A careful ‘run-in’ outing for the new car it was. Chassis number 4725 SA was one of three 330 LM Berlinettas entered at Le Mans – the others by the Works itself and Luigi Chinetti’s North American Racing Team. But despite the impressive strength of their driver pairings (the names Noblet, Guichet, Gurney and Hall should get the pulse racing), the Maranello Concessionaires entry was the only 330 LM Berlinetta still racing come sunrise on the Sunday morning.
The race proved to be a real war of attrition for virtually the entire grid – Sears and Parkes included, who battled an overheating issue which forced a reduction in pace from half distance. Nonetheless, heartbeat-like consistency and admirable teamwork resulted in a class victory and fifth overall after 24 hours of racing.
The impressive achievement on the world’s greatest motorsport stage only served to strengthen Ronnie Hoare and Enzo Ferrari’s working relationship, the fruits of which would continue to bloom well into the latter half of the decade. In fact, in August of 1963, for the prestigious Guards Trophy at Brands Hatch, Ferrari loaned Maranello Concessionaires one of its star drivers, the Italian Lorenzo Bandini, also fresh from his Le Mans victory, albeit outright!
He would be driving this 330 LM Berlinetta, chassis 4725 SA, in what would be its second and final period competition outing. The grid was a curious one, mixing small-capacity Climax-powered prototypes with GT cars of all shapes and sizes. Not that this stopped the finest drivers in the world from taking part. Penske, Salvadori, Hill, Bianchi – they were all there!
Bandini put on a typically deft display with the Colonel’s 330 LM Berlinetta, winning the three-litre-plus experimental GT category with aplomb and signing off chassis number 4725 SA’s 100-percent class-winning competition record. Its competition duties complete, this 330 LM Berlinetta was sold to France, where it would remain for 27 years, passing through the hands of notable Ferrari collectors including Baron de Rothschild and Pierre Bardinon.
Great Ferrari collections stud chassis number 4725 SA’s life, as the accompanying comprehensive report from the leading Ferrari authority Marcel Massini attests. In fact, the car is currently offered directly from one of the world’s finest stables of Prancing Horses. Retaining its original factory matching-numbers four-litre V12, this 330 LM Berlinetta today is a Ferrari with which to experience the world’s greatest historic motoring events. From exhilarating road rallies such as the Colorado Grand and the Modena Cento Ore to the most prestigious concours competitions – Villa d’Este and Pebble Beach very much included. It goes without saying that the Duke of Richmond would welcome chassis number 4725 SA with open arms to the Revival and the Festival of Speed.
Both rarer and considerably more approachable than a 250 GTO, this Works-built GT competition Ferrari prototype ticks every possible box for the ever-discerning collector of today. There are few higher peaks for the serious Ferrari connoisseur to summit.
A pilgrimage (by road) to the Circuit de la Sarthe for Le Mans Classic in 2024? Now there’s a thought…
