Ferrari 246T/66 history

The Ferrari 246T/66 was originally built from one of the 1964 F1 158s for the 1966 Tasman series, but was unused as a result of John Surtees' terrible accident at Mosport Park in September 1965. The car was used as a stop-gap in F1 in 1966 before being returned to its 158 origins.

The Ferrari 158 had been the V8-engined F1 Ferrari that had taken John Surtees to the 1964 World Championship. Just two were built, 0005 and 0006, and the latter was the chassis in which Surtees won the 1964 Italian GP, one of the most important victories of his career. Like many drivers of this era, Surtees did not drive only in Formula 1, and had raced Ferrari's gorgeous 330 P2 at Le Mans in 1965. He also ran his own team in sports car racing, and John took his new Lola T70 Mk 2 to victory in the high-profile Guards Trophy race at Brands Hatch at the end of August 1965. In September 1965, just a week after the Italian GP, he took the red T70 to North America and won the Can-Am race at Mont Tremblant. There was another weekend free before the F1 US Grand Prix, so Surtees entered the Lola in the sports car Canadian Grand Prix at Mosport, but crashed heavily in practice and was hospitalised with serious injuries. In his absence, 158 chassis 0006 was raced by Bob Bondurant at Watkins Glen, its last F1 appearance. The 158 was then rebuilt with a 2.4-litre V6 Dino engine for Surtees to use in the 1966 Tasman series. However, his stay in hospital was longer than expected, and the new Tasman 246T/66 did not leave Italy.

Surtees was fit in time for the start of the new 3-litre F1 season at Siracusa in May 1966, where he won in the brand new 312/66, and teammate Lorenzo Bandini finished second in the 246T/66. The 246T/66 handled very well, and Bandini finished second at Monaco in the car before his new 312/66 was ready. The 246T/66 made several more appearances including as a third Ferrari entry at the Nürburgring for Ludovico Scarfiotto, and as a fourth Ferrari entry at Monza for Giancarlo Baghetti.

After the 1966 season, the 246T/66 was redundant and it was rebuilt to its original 158 specification and sold to one of the well-known Ferrari collectors.  

Please contact Allen Brown (allen@oldracingcars.com) if you can add anything to our understanding of these cars.

These histories last updated on 28 Dec 2017.