Ferrari: 1960-1965 The Hallowed Years

About this book

The subject of this book is Ferraris racing history from 1960 to 1965 a period that was one of the most successful in the marques history so far. In this era which began with completion of the transition from front-engined to rear-engined configuration Scuderia Ferrari won just about everything with a variety of iconic machinery that included the shark-nose 156 and the fabled 250 GTO. Driving Formula 1 Ferraris Phil Hill and John Surtees delivered two World Championship titles in the space of four years. Ferrari sports cars racked up a string of six consecutive victories in the Le Mans 24 Hours a feat subsequently surpassed only by Porsche. 1960: A year of transition in F1 struggling with the powerful front-engined Dinos while rear-engined Cooper blew away its rivals; Le Mans yielded five of the top six places with Testa Rossas placed 12. 1961: F1 supremacy with the all-conquering shark-nose 156 Ferraris design for the new 1-litre formula saw Phil Hill emerge as World Champion after Wolfgang von Tripss death at Monza and brought Ferraris first constructors title; another Testa Rossa sweep at Le Mans gave Olivier Gendebien his third Ferrari victory in this classic race and Phil Hill his second. 1962: After the departure of key engineering brains F1 fortunes plummeted with no victories all year; but Ferraris onward march in sports car and GT racing continued enhanced by the arrival of the 250 GTO; Gendebien and Hill won Le Mans yet again. 1963: Former motorcycle champion John Surtees began the effort to restore F1 success against Lotus pre-eminence; Ferraris rear-engined sports cars finally bore fruit as Lorenzo Bandini and Ludovico Scarfiotti in a 250 P won Le Mans where Ferraris now took the top six places. 1964: With the F1 title chase going down to the wire John Surtees delivered another pair of drivers and constructors crowns driving the new V8-powered 158; Nino Vaccarella and Jean Guichet in their 275 P headed yet more Ferrari steamrolling success at Le Mans. 1965: The last year of 1-litre F1 brought a lean Ferrari season while Lotus again dominated; sports car success continued topped by an unexpected sixth consecutive Le Mans victory achieved by Jochen Rindt and Masten Gregory in a 250 LM. This book covers this period in detail for the first time and exclusively features the work of one of the greatest racing photographers ever.