9 replies to this topic

[68targa]

I have a rather trivial question but one that has bugged me for a while and rekindled since re-watching the excellent and at times moving documentary Ferrari Race to Perfection.

 

There is a brief glimpse (screen shot below) of Peter Collins at Silverstone in his Ferrari D50 at the 1956 British GP and shows the rear wheels painted red. I cannot recall any GP Ferrari of this era with wheels other than being silver.  This is his car #2 before he stopped and took over de Portago's D50 #4.

 

Surely not for recognition purposes, even though there appeared to be no nose bands on any of the Ferrari's at this race, all of the others had silver wheels.

 

Any thoughts why they would be different?

 

[Doug Nye]

Not particularly unusual where the Lancia-Ferraris were concerned.  Movie footage and stills from that Silverstone weekend show wheels being used which were finished in silver/grey, red, blue and a shade of green which - for my taste - looked particularly vile against the cars' red paintwork.

 

I suspect there might have been an intention to colour-code wheels for each driver/car combination but it quickly became a random matter and cars ran with a mixture as in the silver/grey-cum-red combo pictured above.  The experiment did not last long...

 

DCN 

[68targa]

Interesting experiment then, I'm glad that's all it was and the idea was dropped, it just does not look right somehow. 

[Jager]

Around the same period, it seems it was not uncommon for Ferrari's sportscars to often feature a mis-matched combination of red and silver wheels.

 

[Doug Nye]

LOVELY photo...

 

DCN

[Jager]

Model maker Art Models gives a bit of an insight into some of the various wheel colour combinations which seem to exist in 1956/57.

 

1956 Monza:

 

 

1956 Nurburgring:

 

 

1956 Nassau Trophy:

 

 

1957 Sebring:

 

 

1957 Nurburgring:

 

 

 

[Dipster]

Around the same period, it seems it was not uncommon for Ferrari's sportscars to often feature a mis-matched combination of red and silver wheels.

In this very good photo one car seems to have a matt blue front wing. Undercoat? But I have never seen blue u/coat.

[Arjan de Roos]

https://www.gettyima...1?adppopup=true

 

https://www.gettyima...8?adppopup=true

 

See also Paul Parker's Sports Car In Camera and Pete Coltin's Racing in Color.

Edited by Arjan de Roos, 24 December 2020 - 11:24.

[Michael Ferner]

Is that a Cuban Ferrari in the foreground?

[ensign14]

Is that a Cuban Ferrari in the foreground?

Alas it is Belgian - Frère/Milhoux' ENB entry.