A surprise new contender emerges for next year's Nürburgring 24 Hours race.
It's fair to say that the Drive Cult team are big fans of the Nürburgring 24 Hours. In fact, the entire team are planning to be there next year (except for me, since I'll be getting married!). While the guys are likely to be cheering on regular N24 drivers DIckie Meaden and Chris Harris, I'm sure they'll also be casting an eye over a new contender at the 'Ring, in the form of the Ferrari P4/5 Competizione making its competition debut.
Many petrolheads will recall that a few years ago, wealthy American car collector Jim Glickenhaus had a Ferrari Enzo rebodied by Pininfarina in a style evocative of the Ferrari P cars of 1966 and 67 (of which he owns two of the eight made). That car is named the Ferrari 612 P4/5.
Now Glickenhaus has turned his attention to creating a new Ferrari racing car, the P4/5 Competizione. The new car shares the same basic shape as the previous P4/5, but In order to build a car that is both competitive and compliant with the regulations, the thirsty V12 Enzo has been rejected as a base. Instead, Glickenhaus and his team have used a Ferrari 430 Scuderia chassis and fitted the running gear from a 430 GT2. If you're wondering why the whole car isn't based on the GT2, when this car's race career is finished Glickenhaus plans to turn it into a road car which requires a road-homologated chassis, hence the GT2 donor.
Despite likely works or works-supported entries in the N24 from Porsche, BMW, Audi and Mercedes (with the new GT3 spec SLS), this Ferrari-based special should have enough pace to be up near the sharp end of the grid.
Glickenhaus is a fan of social media and is a very frequent poster on Ferrarichat, amongst other motoring websites, and has created a specific website for the new car: www.p45c.com which, together with an associated Facebook page is charting development of the car.
Also posted on YouTube is the first part of a documentary series about the car. The video also includes footage of some of his mouthwatering collection of cars. I'm not at all jealous. Honest.
All pictures from www.p4/5c.com.
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