Ferrari 121LM

Production	1955
Class	race car
Body style	Scagliett aluminum body
Engine	6-cylinder
Curb weight	850 kg
max speed	290 km / h

The Ferrari 121LM was a racing sports car from the 1950s  that Ferrari built and used by Scuderia in sports car racing in  1955.

History

Scagliett produced bodywork for four racing cars in 1955. The 121LM was one of Ferrari's first six-cylinder racing vehicles, like the 118LM. The 121LM had a series engine with a displacement of 4412 cc that produced 330 horsepower. The engine was originally conceived as a four-cylinder by Aurelio Lampredi, but it was converted to be able to cope with Mercedes overwhelming competition wins at the time.

For the first time in a race, the 121LM was driven by the Mille Miglia in 1955 with the chassis number 0558LM with a body from Scaglietti and was driven by Eugenio Castellotti .  When 24-hour race at Le Mans this year  three works cars were registered. Phil Hill and Umberto Maglioli drove the chassis 0558LM, which was already used in the Mille Miglia. The two new vehicles  0532LM and 0546LM  were driven by Eugenio Castellotti, Paolo Marzotto , Maurice Trintignant and Harry Schell . All three cars were broken by technical defects, with the car of Harry Schell and Maurice Trintignant with 107 laps still came furthest.

At 1,000 km race from Kristianstad , the 1955 is not the World Sportscar Championship was one, there was the first finish for a factory 121LM. Behind the two Mercedes-Benz drivers Juan Manuel Fangio and Stirling Moss Eugenio Castellotti reached the third overall. Only once there was a factory operation; Umberto Maglioli failed in the Grand Prix of Venezuela with an overheated engine.

After that, all four cars - Maglioli drove in Venezuela chassis 0484LM, a converted 118LM - sold to US private teams that were quite successful with the 121LM. Ernie McAfee won in 1956 with the chassis 0546LM the two SCCA races in Santa Barbara. With the same vehicle, however, he crashed at the 1956 Pebble Beach National Championship Sports Car Road Race . Also, Carroll Shelby , Rory Chery Holmes and Phil Hill won SCCA race with privately reported 121LM.