In 1964, it became necessary to further develop the 250GTO or to build a completely new racing car for the Gran Turismo class races. Ferrari decided to build a new car based on the Ferrari 250P. The 250LM was thus regarded as the 250P’s brother car, for some it was simply a 250P with a roof.
The road-going version of the 250LM was only really roadworthy in theory; however, it was the first road-going Ferrari with a mid-engine. Enzo Ferrari had long resisted mid-mounted engines. One of his maxims was allegedly that the donkey should pull the cart and not push it, i.e. the engine should have its place in the front of the chassis. But it was clear that the mid-engine concept had many advantages, especially in terms of weight distribution and handling.
The body of the 250LM was designed by Pininfarina. The roof ends very abruptly directly behind the seats and is somewhat reminiscent of the 1964 Ferrari GTO. The vertical disc that closes off the cockpit at the rear is also similar to the GTO from 1964. The overall shape of the 250LM is very compact, and the racing car makes a rather massive impression overall. At 2400 mm, the wheelbase is not at all small, but the body overhangs are quite short, which further emphasises the compact impression.
Enzo Ferrari tried to have the 250LM homologated for the GT class, but failed. Although the Ferrari factory maintained, or rather still maintains, excellent relations with the motorsport authorities, they could no longer ignore the fact that only 32 250LMs were built, as opposed to the required 100 units. This meant that the Ferrari 250LM had to compete against considerably more powerful prototypes, some of which were equipped with more than 5 litres of displacement. This may have been one reason why the Ferrari 250LM was not officially entered by the Ferrari factory in a single car race.
Even if the designation 250LM is basically wrong, or was only correct for the prototype, the 250LM was equipped with a 3.3 litre 12 cylinder engine and should therefore have been called the 275LM, the 250LM was actually inferior in the World Sports Car Championship. Nevertheless, the racing car was used by many private racing teams such as the Ecurie Francorchamps, the Suderia Fillipinetti, the Maranello Consessionaires and, last but not least, the North American Racing Team N.A.R.T..
The Ferrari 250LM’s greatest racing success was the overall victory in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the endurance race par excellence, in 1965 under the management of the North American Racing Team. Jochen Rindt and Masten Gregory were at the wheel. The 250LM that was at the start of this year’s Historic Grand Prix in Zandvoort bore the starting number 65, whether this was a coincidence or a reminiscence of the 250LM’s great victory in 1965, I don’t know, but I think it was intentional.
I like this very special Ferrari with its somewhat unconventional shape. Unfortunately, the 250LM’s appearances in historic motorsport races are very rare. In fact, I had this beautiful racing car in front of the camera for the first time in a long time at Zandvoort this year. I’m curious to see if I’ll see it in action again this season. Find out more about our photographer Ralph Lüker.
