 The Ferrari 330 LMB was the last of the Ferrari front-engine racing berlinettas. See more Ferrari pictures. |
The Ferrari 330 LMB (Le Mans Berlinetta) sports-racer was another mix-and-match job in which Ferrari employed existing components and design features to create a new model in the continual quest for speed. The car also allowed Ferrari to compete in a new prototype class that allowed an engine displacement of 4.0-liters rather than 3.0.
The Ferrari 330 LMB used a modified powertrain out of Ferrari’s luxurious 400 Superamerica. The 4.0-liter V-12 replaced three Webers with six to help bump horsepower to 390 from 340. Like its roadgoing cousin, the Ferrari 330 LMB used a four-speed gearbox.
The chassis and underpinnings also found their origins in the Superamerica. Both cars’ tubular frames rode on a wheelbase of 98.4 inches (2500mm), though the Ferrari 330 LMB had wider front and rear tracks. The suspension was nearly identical, with double wishbones and coil springs in front, rigid axle and semielliptic leaf springs in back.
Pininfarina designed the coachwork, a successful amalgam of existing Ferrari models. Forward of the windshield, the Ferrari 330 LMB was a near dead ringer for a Ferrari 250 GTO. From the A-pillar back, it was a double of Pininfarina’s Ferrari 250 Lusso, though with rear fenders sliced by lower vents and topped with intakes that funneled air to the brakes and provided greater tire clearance.
The mix of street- and competition-car styling proved surprisingly slippery. The model’s first appearance was at Le Mans, where its near-190-mph showing on the long Mulsanne straight was actually faster than that of Ferrari’s first midengine V-12 prototype, the Ferrari 250 P.
Four Ferrari 330 LMBs were entered in that ’63 24 Hours; just one survived, finishing fifth overall. That turned out to be the car’s only true success. It was now clear: There was no stopping the midengine revolution.
 The Ferrari 330 LMB stands for "Le Mans Berlinetta," the race it was designed for. |
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