In October 1963 at the Paris Auto Show Ferrari introduced what they thought would be a new GT car to take over after the successful career of the 250 GTO. The result was the 250 LM, a rear-engined berlinetta very mechanically similar to the then current Ferrari prototype racer the 250P and its immediate successor the 275P. Although the first 250 LM originally had a three liter V12, even that car and its brethren would soon receive the 275 3.3 liter version. This change was no doubt pushed forward by the FIA’s unwillingness to allow what was in reality a thinly-disguised prototype to be recognized as a GT car.
The 250 LM seen here, built in 1964, was taken over by the U.K. Ferrari importer when its first sale to an Australian buyer fell through. With the car sitting around for about two years, Maranello Concessionaires, the importer, finally acquired it, painted it in their standard racing livery of red with a light blue stripe, and selected the talented Richard Attwood to drive it. Attwood drove this 250 LM numerous times throughout 1967 as here at the Martini Trophy at Silverstone on May 22, 1967 where it finished third overall in a field of pure sports racing cars.
Later in 1967 this 250 LM was purchased by a British amateur driver who continued to campaign it with only modest success as this 3.3 liter 250 LM was nearing the end of its competitive career. In May 1968 this well used 250 LM appeared at the Targa Florio, to be driven by its amateur owner and the experienced independent Ferrari driver David Piper. On the second lap Piper had a huge crash which pretty much destroyed the LM, ending its competitive life. Subsequently, the engine and various other of its components were switched to another LM which assumed the wrecked LM’s identity in the hope of being able to fulfill the first LM’s entry for Le Mans where the replacement car failed to finish with gearbox failure. Some of these same components, removed following Le Mans, then resurfaced some years later in two replicas of this destroyed 250 LM.
Photo by Nigel Snowdon ©The Klemantaski Collection – http://www.klemcoll.com
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