Ferrari logo

Cars

Le Mans Hero Comes Home

Ferrari’s 1965 Le Mans winner returns to Fiorano to meet the 499Ps that won in 2023 and ’24
Words: Ben Barry

When the Ferrari 499P took the first of two back-to-back wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2023, it marked Ferrari’s return to victory at la Sarthe for the first time since the 250 LM won in 1965. That car was fielded by the factory-supported North American Racing Team (NART) and spent almost its entire life in the USA, but recently the two eras were united on the Fiorano track, with both Le Mans-winning 499Ps joining their 250 LM predecessor for celebratory demonstration laps.
Driven to Ferrari’s fifth-consecutive Le Mans victory by Masten Gregory and Jochen Rindt, chassis number 05893 was on a flying visit to Fiorano ahead of its auction by RM Sotheby’s on the 5th of February at Retromobile, Paris.

The 1965 Le Mans-winning 250 LM enjoys a hero's return at Fiorano, greeted by the men and machines that repeated the feat in 2023 and 2024

It is one of only 32 examples ever built, with the mid-engined 250 LM (for Le Mans) first presented at the Paris Motor Show in 1963. All models featured a V12 engine and tubular chassis carried over with only minor modifications from the closely related 250 P prototype. Enclosed berlinetta bodywork by coachbuilder Scaglietti was new, however, and fine-tuned in the wind tunnel. It also incorporated flying buttress rear pillars first introduced for the 330 P sports-prototype.

While originally conceived to race in the road-based GT category of the World Sports Car Championship, the FIA ruled the 250 LM could contest only the prototype class – the domain of purpose-built racecars. This meant outright victory was unlikely for the new 320 cv two-seater.

Chassis 05893 was completed in late 1964, recorded as the sixth 250 LM ever built and first delivered to Luigi Chinetti Motors in Connecticut. Though initially sold to private owners as a road-legal car, it soon returned to Chinetti who prepared it for competition with his Ferrari-supported North American Racing Team. Notable upgrades included a longer, more aerodynamically efficient nose by coachbuilder Piero Drogo.

Chassis 05893 is period-correct right down to its matching-numbers V12 engine and gearbox

Despite going up against faster prototypes from the likes of Ford and Ferrari, the number 21 250 LM pulled off an unexpected victory on its Le Mans debut, having led comfortably from the 21st hour. A further two Ferraris rounded out the podium, underlining Ferrari’s domination that year. But as Gregory and Rindt celebrated victory, no-one could know it would be the last Ferrari Le Mans win for 58 years.

The illustrious 250 LM competed twice more at Le Mans and three times at the 24 Hours of Daytona before being purchased by the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum in 1970. It had remained in the museum’s care ever since – complete with matching-numbers Tipo 211 3.3-litre engine and type-564-940 gearbox – before being warmly welcomed back to lap Fiorano with the two highly successful Ferrari 499Ps.

The 250 LM remains a road-legal racecar and explored the Emilia-Romagna countryside during its visit to Maranello

All the Ferrari Le Mans-winning works drivers eagerly turned out to see the 250 LM in action – Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado and Antonio Giovinazzi who won Le Mans in car number 51 in 2023, and Nicklas Nielsen, Miguel Molina and Antonio Fuoco, winners of the most recent edition in car number 50.

‘To think they drove cars like this at Le Mans, well, it takes courage,’ commented Alessandro Pier Guidi from behind the wheel of the 250 LM. ‘To think what they achieved with such monsters – the drivers were real heroes!’

Chassis number 05893 is sure to attract interest from serious collectors worldwide at the RM Sotheby’s Retromobile auction on February 5th. With some proceeds set to be donated to international educational causes nominated by Ferrari, it’s a worthy way for this very special 250 LM to mark 60 years since its landmark success at Le Mans.