The Ferrari 376 S

Table of Contents:

Ferrari 376 S – Key Details

The Ultimate Guide to the Ferrari 376 S

FERRARI 376 S – A SHORT 6-CYLINDER EXPERIMENT

Even though it is a rather obscure model now, the Ferrari 376 S was notable in its day, thanks to its engine. This was the first sports model to use an inline 6-cylinder, or I6, design. This came after Jaguar and Aston Martin had enjoyed some success with their own 6-cylinder designs. So, it only made sense for Ferrari to follow suit. Unfortunately, it would be a short experiment.

DESIGN

That 6-cylinder engine was a Lampredi design – tipo 118. For this reason, the car is also known as the 118 LM. In creating this engine, Lampredi simply used a modified version of its successful inline-4 engine. After tacking on two extra cylinders, the engine was made in both 4.4- and 3.7-litre varieties. The 376 S used the 3.5 litres design. And thanks to its 8:1 compression ratio and a dual overhead cam design, it put out impressive power: Reportedly, this engine was capable of making 280bhp (206 kW) at 7,000 rpm. The 376 S body was a very attractive Scaglietti design.

LIMITED RACE TIME

The first test for the Ferrari 376 S would be at the 1000 km Buenos Aires – just the second year that race had been run. And while Ferrari enjoyed massive success at this particular race, the 376 S wouldn’t be the steed to bring them victory in 1955. Due to a wrong turn into pit lane, the race’s sole 376 S wound up disqualified. The Ferrari 375 Pluswas the car that brought home first place – the same model that had won the previous year’s 1000 km Buenos Aires.

Next, Ferrari entered three of its new 6-cylinder race cars into the ill-fated 1955 Mille Miglia race in Italy – including one 376 S. With triple the chances of success, things ended slightly better this time. Out of the three cars, only one finished. And wouldn’t you know it, it was the less-powerful 376 that did it, taking home 3rd place. Unfortunately, the other two cars were forced to drop out, one due to bad tyres and the other because of an oil pump failure.

Ferrari decided against entering the new 6-cylinder race cars into any other races that year. And because of the limited success these models enjoyed, all were sold off at the end of the year in favour of the traditional 12-cylinder cars.

Ferrari 376 S – Photo Gallery

Ferrari 376 S – Technical Specifications

Ferrari 376 S – Registry & Videos

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