Tag Archives: Nikki Lauda

Winning Horse

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Modern Formula 1 cars last just one season. But back in the 1970s Scuderia Ferrari created a car that lasted for six. And it won four of them, making it the most successful design in Formula 1 history.

First competing in 1975, the Ferrari 312T featured a tubular steel spaceframe, a transverse 3 litre flat-12 making around 500bhp, and excellent reliability. The version we have here today is the T4 variant, featuring aerodynamic modifications to take the Constructor’s World Championship back from Lotus, whose ‘ground effect’ design ended the 312T’s winning streak in 1978.

It worked too, returning the Constructor’s title to Ferrari and giving Jody Scheckter the Driver’s Championship. This fabulous recreation of the 312 T4 comes from Andre Pinto of Flickr, and captures Scheckter‘s title-winning car in spectacular detail.

Custom chromed pieces, authentic replica decals, and stunning internals make Andre’s Ferrari 312T one of the finest vintage Formula 1 cars we’ve published yet, and you can find all the images at his ‘Ferrari 312 T4’ album via the link above.

You Can’t Leave Your Hat On

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Lego Ferrari 312T RoscoPC

This is Ferrari’s 1975 312T Formula 1 car, recreated in spectacular detail by TLCB favourite and Master MOCer Luca Rusconi aka RoscoPC. Rosco continues to upload his huge back-catalogue of stunning historic racing cars to Flickr, and his latest is one of the most successful single designs ever to race in F1.

Launched in 1975 the Ferrari 312T was the first Formula 1 car to feature a transversely mounted gearbox, with the ‘T’ donating that layout rather than the turbocharger you might expect, the engine being Ferrari’s long-standing naturally aspirated flat-12.

The clever gearbox position gave the 312T superb handling, something that its 312B predecessor wasn’t blessed with, and it delivered immediate results, winning Ferrari’s first F1 title in eleven years. During its long racing life from 1975 to 1980 the 312T won three Drivers and four Constructors World Championships, evolving over this time to take into account the changing regulations. Even losing its characteristic high air-box in 1976 due to an FIA ban on the design didn’t stop it winning.

The 312T was finally replaced in 1981 by the new 126C, Ferrari’s first turbo-charged Formula 1 car, leaving the 312T to be remembered as one of Ferrari’s greatest ever Formula 1 designs, and the car that made World Champions of Nikki Lauda and Jody Scheckter.

There’s much more to see of Luca’s incredible Lego replica of the Ferrari 312T at his Flickr album, and you can read our interview with the builder as part of Season 2 of the Master MOCers series by clicking here.

Lego Ferrari 312T RoscoPC