1951 Ferrari 340 America

Prior to World War II, Giacchino Colombo had been a principle engineer for Scuderia Ferrari. In the postwar era, his 1.5-liter engine in various forms would power models like the 125S, 166MM, and the 212 series. The Colombo short-block V12 would prove significant to Ferrari's evolution with longevity that would span more than a dozen years. Colombo, himself, exited Ferrari early, joining Alfa Romeo in 1950. In his wake, engineer Aurelio Lampredi was brought in to design large naturally aspirated alternatives to the diminutive Colombo-designed V12s used in most Ferrari cars up to that point. The Colombo V12 had thrived in the sports car models, however, it was considerably less successful in the all-important Grand Prix competition format.

The immediate postwar period of Grand Prix racing had been dominated by supercharged Alfa Romeo cars that Colombo had designed for them prior to the war on Scuderia's behalf. Their success championed the belief that Grand Prix victories were reliant upon blown motors of relatively small displacement. This setup came at a cost though, as the high-revving motors were particularly susceptible to wear and required high degrees of tuning, parts replacement, and maintenance. While at Ferrari, Colombo had attempted to supercharge his postwar V12 Grand Prix entries, but the short-block engine was unable to outpace the finely tuned and highly developed Alfa unit.

Racing regulations dictated small-displacement sizes for blown engines. On the other end of the spectrum, un-supercharged engines could accommodate larger displacement. Lampredi proposed a naturally aspirated 4.5-liter motor with taller and longer architecture, thus prompting the 'long-block' nickname. The design was approved for development by 1949 and featured twin ignition per cylinder and single intake porting.

The Lampredi engine powered Scuderia's 1950 Grand Prix cars, and the success was immediate, resulting in Ferrari abandoning further development of the short-block V12 and prompting Colombo's departure. The long-block initially displaced 3.3-liters in the Grand Prix configuration. Versions of 3, 4.1, 4.5, and 5 liters were eventually developed, and powered Ferrari's sport car racing campaigns for the following five years, and were the major force behind their World Sportscar Championships of 1953 and 1954.

After the disastrous accident at Le Mans in 1955, displacement limitations were imposed by the FIA which signaled the end of the long-block's campaign. This opened the door for Colombo's original short-block design to re-appear, being installed in such legendary vehicles as the 250 Testa Rossa and Tour de France Berlinetta.

The 340 America
Two Ferrari 275 S were entered in the 1950 Mille Miglia, one driven by Alberto Ascari and the other by Luigi Villoresi. These Touring-bodied Barchetta's were powered by the 3.3-liter Grand Prix motor designed by Lampredi. During one of the final stages of the race, both Ferrari's suffered transmission failures. This was followed a few months later by the introduction of a 4.1-liter Lampredi engined car, shown at the Paris Motor Show in September of 1950. These new larger-engined cars were called the 340 America, designed to compete in the United States, specifically in SCCA competition where large-bore sports cars excelled.

The car shown at the Paris Motor Show was 0030 MT. The first production example was chassis number 0082A, a Vignale-bodied Berlinetta which made its debut in April 1951 at the Mille Miglia. It was driven by Villoresi and Piero Cassini to first-place overall. Its success helped spawn 22 additional purpose-built 340 America examples, all receiving even-numbered chassis designations which signaled their competition intent. Despite their race-bred intentions, eight of the 23 cars were clothed as road-going examples. Touring and Vignale provided both open and closed coachwork for 19 examples, and Ghia built four Coupe.

by Daniel Vaughan | Nov 2019