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The overweight Ferrari 512 BB LM - A difficult chapter in the history of twelve-cylinder engines

Name: Ferrari 512 BB LM 1978
Brand: Ferrari

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Created on April 6, 2016

Text:

Martina Mäder, Balz Schreier

Photos:

Daniel Reinhard

Balz Schreier

Bruno von Rotz

Bonhams

Julien Mahiels

FabPetersson Fotografie

Gilles Bouvier

fotorissima.net

Jochen Van Cauwenberge

Pawel Litwinski für Gooding & Company

Pierre-Yves Riom / Peter Auto

Ferrari S.p.A.

Archiv

Daniel Reinhard

Balz Schreier

Bruno von Rotz

Bonhams

Julien Mahiels

FabPetersson Fotografie

Gilles Bouvier

fotorissima.net

Jochen Van Cauwenberge

Pawel Litwinski für Gooding & Company

Pierre-Yves Riom / Peter Auto

Ferrari S.p.A.

Archiv

Ferrari 512 BBLM (1979) - in Plateau 6 (1972-1979) at the Le Mans Classic 2012

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Ferrari 512 BB LM (1981) - 24 Hours of Le Mans 1981, NART Cudini/Gurdjian/Morton in #49 (Chassis 35527)

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Ferrari 365 GT 4 BB (1971) - Premiere in Turin 1971

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Ferrari 512 BB Pininfarina (1976) - side view

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Racing version of the Ferrari 512 BB at Le Mans 1978 - Luigi Chinetti with Guérin/Delauney/Young in number #87

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Ferrari 512 BB (1978) - Le Mans 1978, Team Pozzi-Thomson with Delaunay, Guérin, Young

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Ferrari 512 BB (1978) - Le Mans 1978, Beurly's BB with Pilette, Blaton, Touroul from the Ecurie Francorchamps

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The NART Ferrari 512 BB/LM at Le Mans 1981 - retired early.

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Ferrari 512 BB/LM (1982) - The Prancing Horse Ferrari 512BB achieved 3rd place in the GTX class (Pierre Dieudonné, Carson Baird, Jean-Paul Libert)

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Ferrari 512 BB LM (1981) - 1000km Monza 1981 - View of the 12 cylinder engine

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Ferrari 512 BB LM (1981) - 1000km Monza 1981 - Driver Flammini/Dini/Violati in the #15 Bellancauto BBLM

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Rennod Racing Ferrari 512 BB LM at Le Mans 1981 - Third place in the GTX class behind Pozzi BBLM and Porsche 935

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This was the most successful Ferrari 512 BB LM - Winner of the IMSA GTX class and fifth place overall in the 1981 24 Hours of Le Mans - Driver Andruet-Ballot-Lena in the Charles Pozzi Ferrari #47 (chassis 31589)

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Ferrari 512 BBLM (1980) at the Spa Classic 2015

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Ferrari 512 BBLM (1979) at the Jarama Classic 2016

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Ferrari 512 BBLM (1980) at the Spa Classic 2015 in the CER group (Classic Endurance Racing)

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Ferrari 512 BBLM (1981) - Le Mans Classic 2014 - Plateau 6

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Ferrari 512 BBLM (1979) - Plateau 6 (on the left a Porsche 936) - Le Mans Classic 2014

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Ferrari 512 BB LM (1979) - Le Mans Classic 2014

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Ferrari 512 BBLM (1979) - Le Mans Classic 2014 - Plateau 6

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Ferrari 512 BBLM (1979) - Le Mans Classic 2014 - Plateau 6 - driven by Bob Houghton/Mark Hales

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Ferrari 512 BBLM - 72nd Goodwood Member Meeting 2014

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Ferrari 512 BB/LM (1978) - Spa Classic 2012

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Ferrari 512 BBLM (1981) - in Plateau 6 (1972-1979) at the Le Mans Classic 2012

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The powerful rear of the Porsche 911 RSR Turbo (1973) next to a Ferrari 512 BBLM - Le Mans Classic 2014 - Plateau 6

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Ferrari 512 BB LM (Chassis 29511, John Gelles and Anthony Wang) auctioned at Pebble Beach Auction by Gooding 2011

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Ferrari 512 BB LM Bellancauto Le Mans (1981) chassis 35529 - at the Bonhams Quail Lodge auction on August 14/15, 2014 as lot 008

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Ferrari 512 BB LM Chassis 35527 auctioned at the Bonhams auction "Les Grandes Marques à Monaco" on May 20, 2011

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Ferrari 512 BB LM (chassis 30559) at Le Mans 1982 - sold at a special Ferrari auction by Bonhams on December 19, 2003

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Summary

Despite no success in motorsport, the Ferrari 512 BB LM became a racing icon. Our racing car article examines the history of this powerful car in detail, looks at all the chassis ever built and analyzes the market from today's perspective. The photo gallery shows a diverse mix of historical and current photos.

This article contains the following chapters

It began with a prototype in Turin...
512 BB - the road version
Racing version of the 512 BB for customer sport
Unsuccessful premiere of the 512 BB at Le Mans 1978
512 BB LM - Specially for Le Mans
Technical problems of the BBLM
Entries of the 512 BBLM at Le Mans from 1979 onwards
25 examples of the Ferrari 512 BB LM
Chassis overview
Sales prices at auctions
Where are the 512 BB LM today?
Technical data

Estimated reading time: 12min

Preview (beginning of the article)

The 1970s were an eventful Formula 1 era for Ferrari, which began with Jacky Ickx's comeback and ended with Jody Scheckter's world championship title in 1979. In 1974, Ferrari therefore decided to withdraw from the sports car scene in order to concentrate fully on Formula 1. From then on, the use of Ferrari cars in endurance races such as Le Mans was in the hands of dedicated private teams. However, the entries of various Ferrari 356 GTB/4-Daytona or 365 GT/4 BB cars at Le Mans were not crowned with success. In 1978, four private racing versions of the Ferrari 512 BB, which had been introduced two years earlier, were then released. Although none of the privateer racing cars reached the finish line, the good driving figures encouraged the factory departments for customer sport to develop an aerodynamically optimized version with a GRP body in cooperation with Pininfarina, which was given the additional designation "Le Mans" (LM) from 1979. However, the 512 BB LM wrote the darkest chapter in the long history of successful twelve-cylinder cars at Ferrari.

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