A footnote to my recent post about the Ferrari 312 Formula 1 car: apparently Enzo Ferrari once said "Aerodynamics are for constructors who can't do engines." Or he might have said "Handling is for constructors who can't do engines." He put so many cattle... er... ponies... into the 410 S that he needed the biggest hat seen then or since.
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| Above and below: the 1955-56 Ferrari 410 S. When Ferrari punched his V-12 out to 4.9 liters, with twin-plug ignition on the outsides of the heads, it required a 10-gallon Stetson to access it all. The hood climbed over the fender crowns and drooped down to the car's beltline. When, in 1957, Enzo "went the other way" so-to-speak and punched the 3.5 liter 290 MM out to 3.8 and 4.0 liters (the 315 S and the 335 S), he managed to get it all under a conventional hood. Even though those engines had 4 cams and twin-plug ignition in the centers of the heads. |
It's interesting that Enzo Ferrari is quoted so often, a quarter-century after his death. I recently saw the same quote in two different places by fans of the XK-E, that Enzo said it was the most beautiful car ever made. The likes Colin Chapman, Ferdinand and Ferry Porsche, Ferruccio Lamborghini, David Brown, and William Lyons should be so lucky. Of course Enzo knew how to turn a colorful phrase--perhaps better than any other auto magnate except Henry Ford. Both said some outrageous things, but Enzo had the good sense to confine his pronouncements to cars.
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