512M anyone??

[chris julian]

Saw a nice Beck Spyder at the CA DMV this morning.

We were both picking up our SB100 #'s.

#418 baby!!

He said he picked his up in Southern CA somewhere.

Fran where's my photos?

Chris

[Marcus]

That Ferrari was so way cool even the coolest guys couldn`t resist posing with it.

[Marcus]

As for the Penske beast...

[Marcus]

Dang, no idea why the pic upload works but the pic itself isn`t shown in the reply.

[Lynn]

Marcus,

Go to User CP -> attachments -> your pic - then right click to get a link to it (using the appropriate option that results from your right click.)

Then use "[img] paste link here [/img]" in your reply, without the quote marks.

Lynn

[Pete K.]

I've some pictures of 512's over at: Wallpaper like:

[Marcus]

Thanks Pete!

[Marcus]

Thanks Lynn!

[Marcus]

The 71`Penske 512 M is said to be the best 512 of all times,
its engine being prepped by California-based Traco engineering.

Mind you, I think its predecessor 512 S from 1970 was a rather heavy battleship, not particularly suited for twisty circuits like the Nürburgring or the Targa Florio.
See Joseph "Seppi" Siffert cursing towards the 512 S ahead of him during the 1000 Kilometeres race at the Nürburgring in 1970 and Nino Vacarella in his 512 S during the Targa Florio the same season. Both races were won by Porsche with its ultra-lightweight 908/3. It was said to only have weighed something around 350 - 400 kg, but for reasons of secrecy apart from race officialy only Ferdinand Piech and Prof. Hellmuth Bott were allowed to read the scales...

[I LOVE GT40- Paolo]

Marcus photo archive is something too nice ...everytime stunning photos, u are definitely a GREAT!!

Paolo

[Freewheel]

Fran,

I'm boldly assuming you'll be using an Aluminium Monocoque for this particular model, but the interest already shown leads me to suspect that your 512M chassis will have to be big enough to accept a big V12 and you might have to produce 512S bodywork too.....

I've long lusted after a P4, but now I have to decide between the 917 and 512 - or both!

[Fran Hall RCR]

Freewheel,

we are building two V12 Ferrari engined RCR P4 cars using my monocoque chassis, so it does actually fit a V12 quite well.

The 512 is a different story,as you well know it was a tube frame originally...

[Freewheel]

Fran,

You've been kind enough (or is that mean enough?) to share with us the body shots only, no information on chassis has been forthcoming so far.

So your 512 shares it's concept with your 917. Very interesting.

As for the monocoque and it's size, Ferrari lumps are extremely uncommon in these parts, thus my interest in recent questions about the BMW M70 - though it's by no means a done deal. We'll see what pops up.

[Fran Hall RCR]

Freewheel,

I did not say that the 512 will follow the 917...

The 917 is tube for tube a 917...

The 512 will be a mix of my chassis construction methods...for strength and also allowing many engine trans choices.... so pick your poison and lets get building....

[Eric Johnson]

On the Penske/Donohue 512m:

Kudos for Traco engineering( Coons and Travers) for taking on that engine.Traco was big on small and big block chevy motors but had the guts to tackle the 512 and make it one of the best prepared cars of the era.Culver City Cal. area was a hotbed of post wwII hotrod engineering knowhow that we'll never see again (Hillborn,Gurney,Guldstrand,Moon,etc) I miss it...



Eric Johnson

[Chris Ardern]

Eric,
Good stuff. One of my lifes special events was when I got the phone call from Frank Coons after knocking on his door a few weeks prior. I was an AMC gear head and while doing some detective work I ended up at Tracos door wondering if they had any AMC stuff left over. They did. Tons of trick parts that where in the parts book for 6 months to officially be "production" The phone call was to tell me they lost their lease in the storage unit out back, come and make us an offer on the AMC parts. I felt like Spanky sitting in the Giants treasure chest. What a great experience. I got to know Frank and Jim Jones, well. Jim Travers was retired by then. They ended up doing our engines for us in the Lola T600 we were running. Right there on the strip that you mentioned. All the real racers. Before the days of bubble packs. They made everythng. Years later there was an article on Jim Travers and Frank Coons about their days at Indy. I just about fell over. Never realized how huge they were.
Chris
Historic Race Car Replicas

[Freewheel]

Ahhhhh, patience will be the key - as always!

[wanni]

Originally Posted by kenshiro8

everytime I read about Ferrari spare parts I think at the always too high price they have (and the difficulty they have in supplying parts).
Dunno outside italy..but here those "red" details come incredibly expensive.

Go on Fran..I love all your works, good luck.

Paolo

I USUALLY REPAIR 355 360 430 550 575 599 612 GEARBOXES BUYING THE PARTS FROM MOTOR SERVICE IN MODENA, AND BELIEVE THAT THE BILLS ARE NEVER GETTING OVER 5.000 €UROS. THE AVERAGE IS 2.500 TO 3.000 €UROS. AFFORDABLE FOR A FERRARI OWNER, I THINK.
CIAO
WANNI

[John S]

Fran,

What has become of this car/idea? One of my favourite Ferraris and all time greats in my view. Are you planning on taking other great racing cars into production? Copyright on all the pictures by me as I have taken them all myself.

John

PS. A Testarossa engine with open pipes sounds absolutely wonderful. Don't know about the power though and isn't that engine too wide?

[John S]

Well I might as well post some of the lovely 330 P4 (all the original cars) to support your company (I just wanted to show these as well; what is it that you almost immediately notice