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VINTAGE: Fast, Compact Ferrari 312’s Brief Reign
Redesign, new drivers for 1974 season put Enzo's Italian stalwarts back on track.
Wouter Melissen  | http://www.ultimatecarpage.com  |  Posted June 09, 2009   Monaco (FR)
The fourth of five T3s constructed was used by Gilles Villeneuve and Carlos Reutemann, who drove it to victory in the 1978 United States Grand Prix at Watkins Glen. (Photo: Wouter Melisssen)
By 1973, Ferrari was no longer able to compete with the Cosworth DFV engined 'kit-cars' from the UK. It's flat-12 engine 312 B proved a winner when first introduced in 1970 with four victories, but in 1973 the Scuderia won no F1 races. In order to become competitive again, Enzo Ferrari made some major personnel changes and pulled the Scuderia out of sports car racing.

Mauro Forghieri was reinstated as chief-engineer and set out to completely re-design the flat-12 engine. Appointed as team-manager was Luca de Montezemelo, who has been associated with Ferrari in various functions for over thirty years now. Finally, a new driver pairing was signed for 1974: Niki Lauda and Clay Regazzoni.

Mauro Forghieri,reinstated as Ferrari's chief-engineer, completely re-designed the 485-horsepower flat-12 engine. (Photo: Pieter Melissen)
Many modifications were carried through in the 312 B3 for 1974. Lauda proved the speed of the modified B3, securing nine pole positions. Poor reliability meant that only two out of the nine poles materialized in victories. Regazzoni scored another victory and was runner up in the championship behind McLaren's Emerson Fittipaldi. Three victories was a major improvement over the 1973 season, but there was more to come from the new team.

At the end of the season, work was started on a new car, the main focus to construct a very compact racer. The new transverse gearbox helped to keep the weight between the front and rear axle and gave the new car its name: 312 T (transversale). Centering the weight makes cornering easier. The gearbox was directly bolted on a 485 horsepower version of the flat-12 engine. Although slightly heavier than the DFV engine, the 12-cylinder unit out-powered its British counterpart by at least 20 horsepower.

All the improvements and the talented driver pairing gave Ferrari the best chance in years to win a championship again. However, it wasn't until the third Grand Prix that Lauda got his hands on the 312 T. He proved that the pace was there with a pole position, closely followed by his team-mate in the other 312 T. A crash in the first lap ended the hopes for the 312 T's maiden victory.

All was well in the next couple of Grands Prix, with Lauda winning four out of the next five races. Regazzoni won the all-important Italian Grand Prix at Monza and Lauda grabbed the victory in the final Grand Prix of the year. Lauda secured Ferrari's first driver's title since Surtees' title of 1964 and the Scuderia took the constructor's title as well.


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Wouter Melissen

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