More on the Le Mans disqualification and why it happened would have been great.
Photography courtesy Girardo & Co.
While a car known for starting drama doesn't usually sound desirable, hear us out on this one.
A two-time entrant of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, this 308 GT4 was built and campaigned by none other than Luigi Chinetti’s famed North American Racing Team.
While its first Le Mans outing, in 1974, didn’t yield any dramatic results (the car was forced to retire following a clutch failure), next year’s event caused a stir.
The Automobile Club de l’Ouest, the governing body for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, disqualified the 308 before the race even started. Naturally upset, Chinetti withdrew all four of NART’s entries from the 1975 race.
Nonetheless, the Ferrari today has just three private owners from new, and is noted to be over 400 pounds lighter and offer nearly 50 more horsepower than the production 308 GT4.
Find this 1974 Ferrari 308 GT4 LM listed for sale from Girardo & Co., price available upon application.
More on the Le Mans disqualification and why it happened would have been great.
In reply to Coupefan :
Of course. I didn't want to get too into the weeds, but the short version is that the Ferrari, because it was so new and so few had been built, was placed in Group 5–a class in which it was not competitive–instead of Group 3 or 4 for the 1974 race.
In 1975, the 308 GT4 was once again placed in Group 5, but this time the ACO disqualified it, citing that it was not quick enough to compete in its class.
For the longer version, here's what the seller says:
Le Mans, 1974
Finished in its signature N.A.R.T livery, chassis number 08020 was sent from Italy directly to its first race: the 1974 24 Hours of Le Mans. Because of the nuanced homologation rules and requirements for the different categories in which cars could compete at Le Mans, the 308 GT4 LM found itself in somewhat of a grey area.
The only class for which it was technically eligible was Group 5, since the 308 GT4 was too new and not enough of them had yet been built to satisfy the Group 3 and Group 4 requirements. The trouble was that while Group 5 had no minimum production requirement, it was the category specifically for the all-out purpose-built prototypes. Cars capable of winning the race outright.
Nevertheless, N.A.R.T. and the drivers poised to be driving the ‘Dinotto’ at La Sarthe, Giancarlo Gagliardi and Jean-Louis Lafosse, were undeterred. It’s fair to say the 308 GT4 LM was in good company in the N.A.R.T. camp – the team fielded five cars at that year’s 24 Hours: three Ferrari 365 GTB/4 ‘Daytona’ Competiziones and an older Ferrari 312P which had been modified to resemble the angular 312 P/B.
Bizarrely, because of the homologation quandary, chassis 8020 was technically competing against the latter prototype and not the GT ‘Daytonas’ against which it was more equally matched. In fact, Gagliardi and Lafosse’s qualifying spot of 38th would have been good for 16th position in the GT class. Impressive for a brand new racing car with limited testing under its belt. Alas, after four hours and 30 laps of the race, clutch failure forced chassis number 08020 into retirement.
Le Mans, 1975
Clearly encouraged by its performance at Le Mans, Enzo Ferrari blessed Chinetti with permission to enter the ‘Dinotto’ in the following year’s edition of the world’s greatest endurance motor race. The occasion was to present arguably the most controversial moment in the fabled N.A.R.T. story.
Le Mans in 1975 was curious in that it was not included as a round in the World Sportscar Championship. As such, the Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO) had a bone to pick with Mr. Chinetti, whose N.A.R.T. outfit was fielding four cars, including a fascinating Michelotti-bodied 365 GTB/4 ‘Daytona’.
Despite Gagliardi and his new American teammate Harley Cluxton putting on a fine showing in pre-qualifying with the 308 GT4 LM, the ACO unfairly argued that the car was not quick enough compared with the Group 5 prototypes with which it was grouped and disqualified it. Fuming and visibly stressed, Chinetti threatened to withdraw all of N.A.R.T.’s cars should the decision be upheld.
Junior driver Harley Cluxton concludes the story better than we ever could, so we’ll afford him the pleasure. “Oh, [Chinetti] was hot. You know, here he was – a three-time winner and N.A.R.T. had won the race in 1965. They’d even made him an honorary citizen of Le Mans, for God’s sake! None of the drivers had any idea of what was going to happen because Chinetti was in with the ACO and with no factory entries, he was Ferrari at Le Mans.”
“There was no decision until Saturday afternoon, after all the cars, including the all four N.A.R.T. Ferraris, were lined up on the pre-grid. Finally word came down that the ACO would not relent and the 308 GT4 LM was to be excluded. We were all in our cars ready to go and Chinetti came out, walked down the pit lane and just said ‘Out!’ to all of us.” Barely an hour before the start of the race, he was forced to concede defeat. Call it passion or arrogance, the rules were the rules.
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Price
Price upon request
Color
Red
