113 replies to this topic

[bournenville]

My choice goes to

In order of preference
1) Ferrari 250 SWB
2) Porsche 917
3) Ford GT40


Opinions?

Besides this,does anybody know where I can find bibliography on this 3 cars?

Thank you!

[Ray Bell]

Unquestionably... and you had to see it to understand...

Bob Jane's McLaren M6 Repco V8.

With Doug Macarthur's Rennmax not too far behind... once the front was changed.

[JohnS]

1 - Porsche 917

2 - Ferrari 312 PB

3 - Ferrari P4

John

[Muzza]

1. Ford 3L
2. Porsche 917 Langheck
3. Howmet Turbine

[Rob Miller]

1) Ferrari 275 P

2) Ford 3L

3) Dino 206 S

[dretceterini]

Here is 5 from the 60s and 70s..

Ferrari GTO 1962/63

Alfa Romeo SZ long tail

Alfa Romeo TZ (first version)

Lamborghini Miura

Ferrari Lusso 2+2

[Ray Bell]

I would think that 'racing sports cars' might exclude the Lamborghini Miura... as much as I totally agree that they were beautiful... nay, very beautiful cars.

[HEROS]

To answer Bournenville, currently I read a book about Ford GT 40 made by
Ronnie Spain : GT 40 An individual History and Race Record by Motorbooks
International ISBN 0-7603-1694-5.

It's a good book about the GT 40 history, I advise it to you.

[bournenville]

dretceterini !!
I know its a hard choice
Only three ;)

TXS HEROS,appreciated it!

[bournenville]

Dear Ray,

I agree 100% with you but I wont consider the MIURA in this category

[Ray Bell]

Thanks, bournenville...

While I'm here, why don't I make my third selection... the front engined Lola of 1959... especially when painted in Torreador red and leading a Lotus 23.

[Arturo Pereira]

1. Ferrari 330 (any version)

2. Ford GT40 MkII

3. Porsche 911

[Pedro 917]

1. Porsche 917LH (Le Mans 1971)
2. Ferrari 250 GTO 1964
3. Ferrari P3/4

[Keir]

Ferrari 330P4 circa 1967
Porsche 917 #25 as raced at Le Mans by Elford and Ahrens.
Jaguar D-type - long nose and tail fin Le Mans spec

[D-Type]

Ferrari 250 LM
Ford 3L
Maserati Tipo 61 - criticised in period for putting round wheeels in square wheel arches, but with time I feel its lines show it to be the last of the front-engined sports cars

Kier, the D-Type was fifties and the short nose without fin is more attractive when you see it in the metal

[bournenville]

While I'm here, why don't I make my third selection... the front engined Lola of 1959... especially when painted in Torreador red and leading a Lotus 23.

Ray...can you post a photograph of that car?

No one likes the 250 SWB...

[Reyna]

1- Lola T280
2- Chaparral 2F
3- Abarth 3000 SP '70



Rafa

[ian senior]

Three in no particular order:

Chevron B16

The Lindner-Nocker "low-drag" E-Type

Daren mk 2

[Vitesse2]

There's only one, IMO: the 917 - brutality and beauty in one.

And for a book about it: "Fabulous Porsche 917" by Peter Hinsdale. But be prepared to pay big bucks .... cheapest I can find is $95!

[Keir]

D-Type,

OOPS!!

Sometimes, when you have been on the planet as long as I have....................

What was I saying again??

Oh yeah! You tend to blur the decades a little bit and.............

Maybe you could show us a "side by side" comparison??

The Jag is still a great looking race car, but to correct myself, how about the 60's V12 Jag meant for LeMans but never raced?? Alain (you lucky bastard) DeCadenet drove it on the Speed TV specials.

[conjohn]

To me, the most beautiful sports car is undoubtedly the Lola T70 MkIIIB GT, especially in BonGrip yellow. (what, me patriotic?)

[2F-001]

Well, the three that came to my mind first have all been mentioned now...

Chevron B16 (a kind of 'baby Lola T70'?)
Ford 3L (the 'P68')
and, well... the 2F I guess!

(Others that I really liked to look of - if not what one might call beautiful - include the Chevron B16 spyder, B19, etc etc; Porsche 917-30; Lotus 19.)

Bournenville -
other sources for info on the 917 include
Paul Frere's "Porsche racing cars of the 70s"
Kimberley's Racing Sportscar Guide No1 "Porsche 917" by Michael Cotton
Peter Hinsdale's book does seem to be much sought after - lots of £££ in the UK - I wish I'd taken slightly better car of mine (see thru sticky-back plastic on the cover)
For development of the CanAm cars specifically: Mark Donohue's "The Unfair Advantage" (damn good read anyway).

[ensign14]

They say "if it looks good, it goes well".

Unfortunately, to me the 3 best looking 60s cars I can think of all did not go well.

Scarab F1
Iso Grifo
Ford F3L

I have the latter 2 in Matchbox form somewhere.

As for sources, I can only think of "Scarab" by Preston Lerner for the 1st (obviously covering the sports cars as well), which may be available in bargain bins (I got it for £2 at Blackwells in Oxford - thought all my Christmases had come early, its RRP was £30, it is VERY rare to get a bargain at Blackwells) and the Aston Publications book on 60s Sports Racing & Prototypes by Michael Cotton that I bought at the British GP in 1988. Can't remember the exact title but it has bumf on the Iso and the F3L.

If we're not allowed F1 cars I'll plump for the 250GTO as well.

[petefenelon]

Fairly uncontroversial picks but purely from an aesthetic point of view:

Chevron B16 - book "Chevron: The Derek Bennett Story" by David Gordon
Ford F3L - no one book on this?
Ferrari 330P3 - many books on Ferrari prototypes cover it well

For sports car racing fans I recommend the following general books which aren't specific to individual marques or races.....

Time and Two Seats Janos Wimpffen's magnum opus, for those with sturdy wallets and shelves and a lot of time.
The Automobile Year Book of Sports Car Racing - superb photos with Jenks captions. 50s-early 70s.

Super Sports: The 220mph Le Mans Cars - terrible title, but a nice mostly-pictorial book on big coupes at Le Mans from the 60s to the late 80s.
Directory of Classic Sports Racing Cars by Mike Lawrence, covers the 50s very well.

Specialist British Sports-Racing Cars of the Fifties and Sixties, Anthony Pritchard's tour through the good, the bad and the profoundly ugly British "specials".

For fans of "moderns":
Endurance Racing 1982-91 by Ian Briggs,
Directory of World Sports Cars by Michael Cotton - GpC and IMSA GTP to the late 80s
There are a couple of expensive books about IMSA that I don't have - on pedigree, I'd guess that Ken Wells/Jim Martin's "Prototypes" will be good (one day I must get a copy)..... and there's a John Starkey one too

[VAR1016]

The GTO has never quite appealed to me as much as it does to so many others; I think that there is insufficient rake on the windscreen.

So for me:

Alfa-Romeo Tipo 33 2-litre coupe
Ferrari 250 swb
Jaguar XJ-13

PdeRL

[petefenelon]

I should also add Pete Lyons' Can-Am to the booklist.

[BRG]

By the 1970s, I fear that effectiveness had by and large ousted beauty from amongst sports racers. The 917 is my ultimate sprots racer, but I would hesitate to accuse it of being very beautiful.

So it has to be cars from the 1960s. I wanted to propose the Aston Martin DBR1, which is exceptionally gorgeous to look at, but that was 1950s wasn't it?

So maybe.... Lola T70, Porsche 904 Carrera, Ferrari P4.

[P 4 Staff]

Originally posted by Vitesse2
There's only one, IMO: the 917 - brutality and beauty in one.

And for a book about it: "Fabulous Porsche 917" by Peter Hinsdale. But be prepared to pay big bucks .... cheapest I can find is $95!

I have that book in mint condition and I won´t part with it for money.
There were at least 12 different models made of the 917...and I find it hard to pick one.

1...Ferrari 330 P4
2...1969 917 KURTZ (brutal)
3...Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta Lusso

Best: Staff

[Frank S]

Someone liked the XJ13 Jaguar. I think it has some lovely aspects, but all together it seems 'assembled'.

The ones that make me smile, every time:

Lola T70 GT
Ford GT40
Ferrari 330 P4

Not to say others don't, but on a desert island...

Here are recent photos, to show what I mean


--
Frank S

[Reyna]

Books:

- "Endurance 50 ans", three volumes by: Christian Moity, Alain Bienvenu and Jean-Marc Teissedre (ETAI)
- "La grande époque des Sport et Prototypes", Denis Jenkinson (Edita)
- "Directory of Classic Prototypes and Grand Touring cars", Anthony Pritchard.
- All the Pete Lyons and David Friedman books about the Can-Am.
- Peter Morgan's "Porsche 917, the winning formula" and "Porsche in Motorsport"
- "Ferrari Sport Prototypes" by Antoine Prunet

[RTH]

The short tail 917, the F3L and what about the Lola T600 in Ted Field's interscope black with stripes "00" livery ? But there are a great many worthy candidates

[ian senior]

The F3L is a lovely beast, but I didn't nominate it as it looks a bit short in the wheelbase. Gather this was its undoing too, in part at least. Anyone remember the Airfix model of this car?

I've never actually seen a decent picture of the open P69 version - only front and rear views. Can anyone point me in the direction of a shot showing the car in profile?

[Stefan Ornerdal]

1. Ferrari 330 P4
2. Chevron B23
3. Alfa Romeo T33 -67

[2F-001]

Richard - I was going to mention the T600 (especially the Interscope one), too, - well aware that some would find it quite ugly - I have an unfinished tenth-scale model of one sitting on top of my TV.
But isn't it strictly an 80s car?

[lanciaman]

Originally posted by BRG

So maybe.... Lola T70, Porsche 904 Carrera, Ferrari P4.

Snatched the very list from my mouth, BRG.

Mike Robbins campaigned his silver 904 in SCCA events in the Indianapolis area, in the late 1960s and early 70s, and it was always a pleasure to see the car, which remained streetable. Local driver Jaack Ensley had a Lola T70, though the first I ever saw was parked in front of the Speedway, in Penske colors with, as I recall, one of the Unser's names on it as driver; a beautiful blue car with loads of typical Penske pinstriping.

[jlp]

Fun question and so many choices....
1 - Ford GT 40
2 - '64 Shelby Cobra Daytona
3 - Lola T70

[hhh]

1. Ferrari P4
2. Cobra Daytona Coupe
3. Ferrari SWB - Ford GT40 (cannot decide which!)

[eldougo]

Lots to choose from but i still get back to these 3:-



Ferrari P4
Lola T70 GT
Ford GT40................ cars

[bobbo]

In no particular order and subject to my changing moods:

Ford GT40
Lola T70
Ferrari 250 GTO

Although I think highly of the Porsche 904, Ferrari Testa Rossa series, the original Lola GT, Cobra Daytona coupe and the Scarab sports car just to add a few others to the mix . . .

Bobbo

[jj2728]

1969 Ferrari 312P spyder...
1971/72/73 Ferrari 312PB...
1970 L&M Lola T-220 Can-Am...

[rdrcr]

...just three? I couldn't begin to pick only three "most beautiful" racing cars from those decades. However, I do have favorites (of the moment) and all are mid-engine designs. But ask again in a half-hour and I might just choose; the Maserati 450S Fantuzzi Spyder, the Shelby Daytona Coupe and the Ferrari Lusso Competition Coupe (with Williams & Pritchard coachwork). All, front-engined beauties!

Let's have a look at those current favorites shall we?


McLaren M6 Coupe - got to agree with Ray on this one...


Chevron B16 - very sexy from almost every angle - photo courtesy of Pedro917


Ford GT40 - like dominatrices on wheels

[zaktoo]

Alfa Romeo 33
Ferrari P4
Porsche 906 Carrera

I must say the Pipers were also sweet-looking, but we have to stick to 3...

Ciao

Zak

[harryglorydays]

The Lola T-70 Mk3B, or any car prepared by Penske:





Daytona 1969

[harryglorydays]

I almost forgot my other two: the most beautifully prepared Ferrari of all time:




Sebring, 1971



And, of course, the most awesome endurance racing car ever built (although I never had to drive one):




Daytona 1970

[F1 Tor.]

Sorry, I picked 4.

The 60's-Ferrari SWB Spyder and the Jaguar E-type XK 150

The 70's- Lotus Esprit and of course the 911 Turbo

so many choices!!!! Great post. thxs

[Jimmy Piget]

1 - Ferrari 156 (F1 1961) painted yellow for Gendebien

2- Maserati "birdcage" (SP 1960)

3- Lotus 72 (F1 1970) painted in RRC Walker colours

[2F-001]

A few random thoughts:

Interesting (to me, at least) that a few of the cars that crop up routinely in our suggestions - namely, M6GT, B16 coupe, T70 Mk3BGT and to a lesser degree F3L (P68) bear some resemblence to one another.

Yes, the Penske 512 was a real beauty - but I can never think of that car without recalling an image of it AFTER it hit the backmarker...

Is that Rob Walker Lotus the least-photographed of all 72s? I don't remember ever seeing a picture of it until I discovered TNF.

The GT40 has never 'done it' for me. Do I have gene missing or something?

[Ray Bell]

Originally posted by 2F-001
.....Is that Rob Walker Lotus the least-photographed of all 72s? I don't remember ever seeing a picture of it until I discovered TNF.

The GT40 has never 'done it' for me. Do I have gene missing or something?

No, not at all... the GT40 was a poor relation, aesthetically, to the Lola that spawned it...

As for the Rob Walker 72, which doesn't actually belong in this thread, I'm sure there's a pic of it in Motor Sport's colour pages at some race or other during that year.

But it is so rare I actually asked Barry Boor this morning if he had a shot of it...

[ian senior]

Originally posted by Ray Bell


No, not at all... the GT40 was a poor relation, aesthetically, to the Lola that spawned it...

As for the Rob Walker 72, which doesn't actually belong in this thread, I'm sure there's a pic of it in Motor Sport's colour pages at some race or other during that year.

But it is so rare I actually asked Barry Boor this morning if he had a shot of it...

You're right, Ray, there was such a picture. I mutilated my copy of Motor Sport and glued the thing to the cover of a schoolbook. Not a good idea, in retrospect......

[angst]

Brabham-Alfa BT45B
Porsche 917
Lotus-Ford 49

The Brabham still looks like what I expect a racing car to look like. The Porsche elegant and brutal in one car. The Lotus for it's simplicity - a real beauty.