After 50 years of absence, the presentation last October of the Ferrari 499P confirmed the Prancing Horse on the starting grid of the next 24 Hours of Le Mans. And under that framework that mixes expectation and nostalgia, its last great exponent in the category in the mythical endurance races, the Ferrari 312 PB of 1972, has just been auctioned in Italy for a figure that touches 13 million dollars.
The vehicle in question was the star of the meeting organized by RM Sotheby's this month in Villa Erba, on the shores of Lake Como, in the north of the European country. There were offered 56 luxury cars from all eras, from a historic Fiat 501 Tourer from 1920 to others just as coveted but more current, such as a Bugatti Chiron from 2019.
Ferrari 312 PB: paid $12,993,917.71.
The new owner of the Ferrari 312 PB won the bid by offering 12,042,500 euros for it, a figure that, at today's exchange rate, is equivalent to 12,993,917.71 dollars. A price more than three times higher than the 3,717,500 euros that were paid for the next model in the list of the most expensive cars of the event, a Ferrari 500 TR Spider by Scaglietti of 1956.
Considered by many to be one of the most important cars in the brand's competitive history, the Ferrari 312 PB is the final evolution of its celebrated "P" class prototypes. Its 12-cylinder flat engine is a 3-liter that knew how to reach 466 hp at 10,800 rpm, more than enough to propel a vehicle of less than 650 kilos.
Ronnie Peterson in front of the Alfa Romeo Tipo T33 at a stop during the 1,000 km of Buenos Aires.
Other qualities are its dry sump lubrication system, Lucas fuel injection, ignition of a single spark plug and double overhead camshaft by cylinder bank. But in addition, for the design of this semi-monocoque Ferrari appealed to cooling radiators on both sides, just behind the cabin, and to a 120-liter fuel tank mounted in front of the driver's position, a decision designed to optimize the distribution of its weight.
Ferrari 312 PB
The 312 PB was a real beast that in its debut year, 1972, did not lose any of the races it played. And in particular this auctioned example, chassis 0886, was more than up to the task: it was one of the main cars of Scuderia Ferrari Works for the 1972 season of the World Endurance Championship and took two victories, including the first presentation of the year, the 1,000 kilometers of Buenos Aires.
It was the Swedish Ronnie Peterson and the Australian Tim Schenken who commanded this unit to the undisputed triumph that January 9, 1972, a day that would end up being the last test of these characteristics in Argentina and in which Ferrari celebrated twice: the second place went to another of the three 312 PB presented by the house of Maranello, hosted by Clay Regazzoni and Brian Redman.
Ferrari 312 PB: 3-liter engine and 466 horses.
That success of the 0886 on Argentine soil was followed by another in May, in the 1,000 kilometers of Nürburgring, its final presence on track and the one that sentenced the championship in favor of Ferrari: an almost seamless season in which the 312 PB won 10 of the 11 races disputed and was crowned with a total of 160 points, almost double the 85 of Alfa Romeo, his escort.
It was Ferrari's most overwhelming season in motorsport until the arrival of a certain Michael Schumacher to the Formula 1 team. But it could not be the perfect season for a simple reason: the race he failed to win was nothing less than the most emblematic of all, the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Ferrari 312 PB
In fact, on June 11 there was no 312 PB at the La Sarthe circuit. Why? Knowing of its invincibility in the rest of the championship, Ferrari decided directly not to appear in the test, aware that the engine of the prototype would hardly withstand the demand represented by a whole day of racing.
Ferrari 312 PB
The last decades of the 312 PB
Three years after that unforgettable season, the Ferrari 312 PB chassis 0886 was sold to former driver Harley Cluxton, who had it for a decade and used it, for example, to compete in historic car races in Monterey, California.
Ferrari 312 PB
After Cluxton, the car passed through three other hands until arriving in 1993 to one of the most outstanding Ferrari collections on the planet: that of billionaire Samuel Robson Walton, eldest son of Walmart founder Sam Walton, and then director of the company.
Walton enjoyed the specimen for five years, participated in vintage car races and other events, until he sold it to a German collector who opened the door to a historical fact: at the Spa Ferrari Days of 1998 the car had at the wheel Jacky Ickx, one of the drivers who made history in that 1972 feat.
Ferrari 312 PB
In September 2005 the car arrived in the garage of the famous British collector Lord Irvine Laidlaw, who had it in his possession for five years until in 2010 it passed to its until now last owner.
The 0886 is, they assured at Sotheby's, one of the 312 PB that is in better condition: it maintains, for example, the engine and gearbox with which Ferrari sold it in 1975, and is accompanied by documentation of the time and numerous original spare parts, including its first engine.
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