FERRARI 246 DINO

 

The birth of the F246 Dino

The ancestor of Ferrari 246 Dino was the Lancia D50 of 1955, a very special car. It had specifics gasoline tanks on both side of the car. This new characteristic gave him one “more”: the gravity center of the car was lower. That favoured it in the turns and more especially in the large curves.

Lancia D50 :

1955 for Lancia could have been more promising if the silver arrows - nickname given to the Mercedes - had not been forwarded the same year.
Facing high quality pilots (Moss and Fangio), Lancia could only incline itself.

Juan Manuel Fangio's Mercedes W196  :

This same year, Ascari (Italian pilot of Lancia) which was world champion in 1952, went to test a new prototype of Ferrari on Monza race track. Oddly, he lost the life in an accident on the circuit. His death remains unexplainable today.

Deeply touched by its death, and in addition to its financial standing, Lancia sold the mark to Ferrari.

After this sale the Dino 246 was born.

Before the F246 Dino

In 1955, Ferrari remained only a small label. Two of its models ran this year; the F555 and the F625.
Its best result this season was to finish a Grand Prix in 2nd position following a crazy Grand Prix in Argentina : two cars only finished the race, but in the unique Ferrari which finished, three pilots had used the same car during the race! Their points were shared.

The Ferrari whose finish second driving by Maurice Trintignant :

A quite poor year for Ferrari.

In 1956, with the absence of Mercedes (which aimed to win a title then to withdraw itself), Ferrari made very good results. Over seven races, three are wan and five are finished in second place.
Juan-Manuel Fangio wins the constructors championship with the new D50 Lancia-Ferrari. Following the purchase of Lancia, a new Ferrari appears, the D50 Ferrari.
One can see his very special characteristic there: specific tanks are outside the body (but connected to the frame).

Fangio drives the Lancia-Ferrari D50 at Buenos Aires :

1956 were one conclusive season even if Ferrari remained behind Maserati.

In 1957, Ferrari still created a new model: the Ferrari 801. Unfortunately it was much less competitive than the glorious D50. Its best performances was to finish 2nd three times in Rouen , Aintree and in Nürburgring.

The Peter Collins' Ferrari 801 at the nürburgring :

Ferrari 246D was born: it will be a mix from Ferrari 801 and from this same model in a Formula 2 version.
One can see its first prototype appearing during the Grand Prix of Morocco 1957 (except championship). It engages cars driven by Collins and Hawthorn. Both will not finish the race.

In 1958, Ferrari could align a car which seemed to be their asset. After 3 years meditating on the question, Ferrari 246 Dino took part for the first time in the Grand Prix of Argentina and finished second - with Luigi Musso - and third - with Mike Hawthorn - behind Fangio.
For a first Grand Prix, it’s a success.

Here are characteristics of this car:

Ferrari 246 F1 1958 - Caractéristiques Techniques

1958 Ferrari 246 F1- Technical Specifications

Constructeur

Ferrari

Car maker

Ferrari

Architecture

·         Moteur avant

·         Transmission aux roues arrières

·         Masse, 560kg à vide

Architecture

·         Engine location, front

·         Drive type, rear wheels

·         Weight, 1235 lbs

Moteur

·         V6 à 65°

·         Un arbre à cames en tête par banc de cylindre

·         2 soupapes par cylindre

·         Alésage Course 85 x 71 mm

·         Cylindrée 2417 cm3

·         Admission par 3 carburateurs Weber double corps de 42 mm

·         Carburant AvGas 160 L

·         Lubrification par carter sec

·         280 CV à 8,500 t/mn

Engine

·         65° V6

·         One chain driven OHC per cylinder bank

·         2 valves per cylinder

·         Bore & Stroke 85 x 71 mm

·         Capacity 2,417 cc

·         3 twin-choke downdraught Weber 42 DCN carburettors fuel injection

·         160 L of alcohol fuel

·         Lubrication by dry sump

·         280 bhp at 8,500 rpm

Transmission

Boîte de vitesse transversale à 4 rapports + MA et différentiel à glissement limité

Gearbox

4 speed + reverse mounted transversally in unit with ZF limited-slip differential

Châssis

·         Structure à deux tubes elliptiques principaux renforcée par une structure multitubulaire

·         Freins à tambours ventilés de 350 x 48 mm AV, 300 x 50 mm AR

·         Roues Borrani de 16"

Chassis

·         Composed of two main elliptic tubes and other small tubes to form a light, rigid structure

·         Hydraulic drums with helical fins; F = 350 x 48 mm , R = 300 x 50 mm

·         Borrani wire spoke 16"

Voies:

Avant 1,240 m

Arrière 1,240 m

Track:

48.81" Front

48.81" Rear

Empattement

2,160 m

Wheelbase:

85.03"

Longueur

4,03 m

Length:

158.66"

Hauteur:

0,98 m

Height:

38.58"

On transparencies below one can clearly see the side tanks around the pilot, inspired by Lancia D50.

And now for Ferrari the 1958 goal is to win the new constructors world championship and the drivers’ championship.
We will know it thereafter.

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