1959 Ferrari 196 S

The 196 was the first Ferrari sports car to be fitted with the new Dino V6 engine. The engine received its name in honor of Alfredo 'Dino' Ferrari, the first son of Enzo Ferrari who had Duchenne muscular dystrophy and died in 1956 at the age of 24. Dino is credited with designing the V6 engine, along with engineer Vittorio Jano. In comparison to the traditional V-12 engine found in past Ferraris, the six-cylinder units were more compact, lightweight, and more fuel efficient.

The Dino engine arrived in 1957 in 1.5-liter Formula 2 capacity. It had a 65-degree angle and was fitted with twin overhead camshafts. Its size quickly grew and was soon fitted in the company's sports racers.

Ferrari's traditional naming scheme for its vehicles was based on the unitary displacement of the engine. For the Dino powered vehicles, however, the first two figures in the name represented the displacement while the third was for the number of cylinders.

In 1958, Peter Collins drove a 206 S in its racing debut at the Sussex Trophy, where it finished 2nd overall. Along with the V6-powered sports racer, Ferrari also had its Scaglietti-designed 250TR powered by a Colombo 12-cylinder engine. Both the 250TR and the 206S shared many visual and mechanical similarities. The 206 S showed tremendous promise and potential during the season, but in the end, Enzo decided that the Dino-powered machines would not be powerful or fast enough to replace the 250 TRs.

By the close of the season, two sports racers had been given V6 engines. The first was Peter Collins 206 S. The other was a three-liter engined 296 S driven by Mike Hawthorn. Both engines were later removed and the 3-liter car was given a V12 engine and sold as a 250 TR to Luigi Chinetti. Chassis number 0740 was given a newer version of the Dino engine. The new engine had the same displacement as before but instead of a quad-cam setup, it had a single camshaft. With this configuration, the new two-liter V6 was named the 196 S. The 196 S, with chassis number 0740, also received a new Fantuzzi roadster body.

Chassis number 0740 made its racing debut with its new configuration at the Coppa Sant'Ambroeus at Monza in May of 1959 where it was piloted by Giulio Cabianca to first place. Cabianca and Giorgio Scarlatti then raced it at the Targa Florio and the Nurburgring where it failed to finish on both occasions. At LeMans, it ran out of fuel on lap 63. It would score two 2nd place finishes throughout the rest of the season.

There was a second 196 S built, with chassis number 0776. Upon completion, it was sent to Chinetti and his North American Racing Team (NART). The car was raced by the Rodriguez brothers, Ricardo and Pedro, during the remainder of the 1959 and early 1960 season. It raced at the 12 Hours of Sebring but retired due to a clutch failure. It then raced at the Targa Florio where it finished 7th overall. In 1961 it returned to Sebring, this time piloted by Wiliiam Helburn, Buck Fulp, and Skip Hudson. It finished first in its class and 18th overall.

By this point in history, the front-engined cars were starting to be replaced by a mid-engined setup. Nevertheless, Ferrari built two more front-engined cars with 2.4-liter versions of the Dino V6. These were chassis numbers 0778 and 0784. These cars were intended to serve as backups for the V12 powered cars, which did not perform as well as the nimble and lighter Dinos on certain tracks. One such example was at the 1960 Targa Florio where Phill Hill and Wolfgang von Trips drove chassis number 0784 to a second place finish.

For 1961, Ferrari switched their Dino sports cars to a mid-engine configuration. With this setup, Ginther and Von Trips drove a 196 SP (chassis number 0790) to a first place finish at the Targa Florio. Other notable accomplishments included a first at the 1962 Nurburgring with Phill Hill and Gendebien driving.

by Daniel Vaughan | Mar 2018