Re: more less-is-more, plus various-

[Scott Fisher <sfisher71@domain.elided>]

--- John Hertzman <johnhertzman@domain.elided> wrote:
> 
> George Graves and I continued a partially off-digest
> dialogue on the Ferrari 156 business; [...] He did
not
> know of a 156 V-12, which I don't either.

There certainly isn't any 156 V-12 in the canon of
Ferrari engines.  If Ferrari had made a V12 with the
156 designation, it would displace 1872cc --
equivalent to two 936cc sixes, either of which I
suspect would put a grin on Will's face.

For those who aren't up on Ferrari engine
designations, the number traditionally indicates the
capacity of an individual cylinder, assuming that in
most cases that the cylinder count would be 12.  The
166 Ferrari engine, for example, displaces 1992cc --
only 30cc more than a 2L Alfa engine, but with three
times the pistons, rods, and valves.

There are exceptions: the F2 Ferrari 500 was a
four-cylinder engine, therefore the displacement was
two liters, not six.  This engine was also used in a
few of the sports-racing cars as well, so you may
encounter a listing for a 500 Testa Rossa in the
program of a vintage race; it uses the four-cylinder
2L engine, not a 6-liter V12.

The 156 F1 car's engine was called a Dino rather than
a Ferrari for a reason that Enzo found important at
the time.  He had stated categorically that Ferrari
engines had V12s; the legend says that his son Dino
suggested that he make a V6 for smaller-displacement
classes; Enzo did so, and named it after Dino who died
young.  In this case, the 156 designation varied from
the cylinder-volume rule used traditionally for the
V12s, and in fact quite simply means 1.5 liters, 6
cylinders.  The 206 and 246 Dinos, in turn, were
2-liter and 2.4-liter developments of the V6.  

Other deviations from the cylinder-volume rule include
the 512, which was Ferrari's entry into the 5-liter
sports car formula for the late 1960s, to compete with
Porsche's 5-liter 917.  While this was a 12-cylinder
engine, it was not a 6144cc engine as the designation
would suggest -- it was simply a 5-liter V12.

In recent years, the cylinder-volume rule has largely
been abandoned by Modena.  For some time, the V8 road
cars used the displacement/configuration rule -- e.g.,
a 308 is a 3-liter V8, a 328 is the same configuration
but 200cc larger, etc.  I haven't tracked modern
Ferrari nomenclature, so I can't say whether a 550
Maranello (front-engined V12) is actually a 6.6L
engine, but I am reasonably certain that the 360
Modena (mid-engined V8) is not a 3.6L engine of zero
cylinders.

Alfa content: when I first acquired my GT 1300 Junior,
one of my best friends at the time owned (still does)
a 330 GT 2+2 Ferrari.  I told him I had just purchased
a 322.5 GT 2+2 from Ferrari's "parent company"
(referring jokingly to Ferrari's years in charge of
racing Alfa Romeos before WW2).  He of course got the
joke immediately.

> Nick is also correct that he "may have eras and
> models muddled" in remembering
> Bandini's fatal crash at Monaco as having been in a
> sharknose. 

John has already set the record straight about
Bandini's career, so I'll suggest that what Nick has
probably muddled with Bandini was Wolfgang von Trips'
fatal crash at Monza in a 156 sharknose.  While Phil
Hill went on to win not only the race but also the
1961 world championship, it was a sad day for racing
enthusiasts everywhere.  It is suggested that von
Trips' death was the trigger that caused Ferrari to
have the remaining 156 racing cars cut up at the end
of the season.

--Scott Fisher
  Tualatin, Oregon
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