Ferrari 512/78 BB/LM

Ferrari began to consider a return to endurance racing competition with a version of their production Gran Turismo design.
The move was made in preparation for the 1978 Le Mans 24-Hour race – and two special 512 Boxer Berlinetta/Le Mans (512BB/LM) cars were prepared by outside sub-contractors in Italy.
These cars were lightened and stripped down to around 2,425lbs weight while the flat-12 5-litre engines were developed to deliver around 460-horsepower. A larger nose spoiler was fitted; balanced out along the car's length by a rear aerodynamic wing.
These 1978 Ferrari 512BB/LM cars were faster through the Sarthe circuit's high-speed curves than the old Daytonas and so lapped faster, but the transmission in these rather hastily modified and undeveloped cars proved fragile, and the results were elusive.
The Fiat-Ferrari combine had been encouraged – however – and with noisy encouragement from their concessionaires and with racing customers willing to open their cheque books and pay hard cash for some sport, a second series of 512BB/LM cars, was developed to higher specification. Fuel injection helped raise power output to some 480 bhp at 7,200rpm while mid-range torque was boosted by an even greater proportion. The suspect transmission was developed and strengthened for racing, and oil cooling radiators were added to preserve it for a full 24-hour race distance. Brakes and suspension were also further refined and upgraded while the cars' aerodynamic bodyforms were improved through wind tunnel testing.
The new long-tailed 512BB/LMs emerged as really exotic-looking projectiles, and with their weight further reduced to around 2,370 lbs they were not only going to be very fast in a straight line, but also relatively nimble around the tighter corners.