Back when the demands of commerce had yet to mar the beauty of Grand Prix racing, it was a tradition that team cars must appear in their national colours. Thus the Ferraris would be red, which we've come to permanently associate with the Italian marque. It was this that inspired Canadian artist Paul Chenard, in a new painting for a Colorado collector, to portray the Ferrari team as it appeared prior to the 1956 Italian Grand Prix at Monza.
Interestingly, these cars were not "pure" Ferraris, for the Lancia racing team, lacking the finance to continue, had been absorbed by its Italian competitor at the end of the 1955 season. Its promising D50 then became the basis for the 1956 Ferrari, initially rebadged as the Lancia-Ferrari D50, and then simply the Ferrari D50. Several of designer Vittorio Jano’s innovations were removed, but not the lightweight four-overhead-cam V-8 engine, which was shorter than the straight six or eight engines used by Maserati and Mercedes-Benz.
The twin panniers located between the front and rear wheels were another distinctive feature. They contained the fuel and oil tanks. Normally located in a large tank at the rear, the fuel load could affect a car's handling as it decreased, whereas the central location helped maintain balance through the corners. The panniers also had aerodynamic benefits.
The 1956 Monza GP was a race of good luck, generosity, and plenty of drama. The great Juan Manuel Fangio, driving a Ferrari and with an eight-point lead in the world championship, was forced to pit with a broken steering arm. When team-mate Luigi Musso refused to turn over his car to Fangio (they did that in those days) Peter Collins relinquished his Ferrari seat, giving up his own chances of becoming champion. Meanwhile a young Stirling Moss, in a Maserati, ran out of fuel while in the lead with just five laps to go.
Stirling recalls “I spotted (Luigi) Piotti, the Italian Maserati privateer, coming up behind and gestured frantically for him to use his car to push me to the pits”. Luckily for Stirling he understood and the Maserati’s proceeded to the pits nose to tail, with Stirling’s 250F receiving what would be in modern terms, a splash and dash. Moss won the race and Fangio, in his red Ferrari, won the championship.
Artwork © Paul Chenard
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