24h Le Mans
Classic car dealers Fiskens are currently listing a Ferrari 512M, which raced in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1970 and 1971. The car was being photographed in a quiet mews near Kensington Park when it caught the local traffic wardens' attention. A misfortune that featured widely in the British press!
A classic car deserves a classy setting, which is why Fiskens thought that the calm Kensington mews near its headquarters would make the ideal spot to photograph the Ferrari 512M. Unfortunately, the passing traffic wardens slapped a £120 parking fine on its windscreen!
The car, Chassis 1002, is on sale at Fiskens for a cool £10 million, a price tag that reflects its illustrious racing pedigree. It was acquired in 1970 by Escuderia Montjuich, an outfit founded a few years earlier by four Spanish gentlemen drivers: Enrique Coma-Cros, Félix Muñoz, Juan Fernández and José Juncadella. The car made its Le Mans debut in 1970, with Fernández and Juncadella at the wheel. Juncadella raced it in the French 24-hour marathon again the next year, this time partnered by Nino Vaccarella. Unfortunately, Chassis 1002 had to retire early on both occasions. It was more successful in the 1971 Tour de France, where it finished runner-up in the hands of Juncadella and Jean-Pierre Jabouille.
Classic car collector and gentleman driver Robert Horne subsequently acquired the 512M in 1974. In 1977, he entrusted it to Derek Bell, five-time Le Mans winner, who drove it to an incredible 192 mph, beating the British land speed record.
Horne kept hold of Chassis 1002 until 2009. More recently, the current owner’s son has driven the prestigious racer at Le Mans Classic.
Today, the car still sports the same bright yellow Escuderia Montjuich livery with the number 15 that adorned it in the 1971 Le Mans 24 Hours.
Cécile Bonardel/ACO – Translated from French by Clair Pickworth
PHOTO: LE MANS (SARTHE, FRANCE), CIRCUIT DES 24 HEURES, 24 HOURS OF LE MANS, 12 & 13 JUNE 1971. The Ferrari #15 is now up for sale.
