Enzo Ferrari: that victory with a car that never raced

When you’re a leader, you have to be able to act like a leader. It’s no surprise, then, that the name of the oldest race in the world, the Indianapolis 500, periodically appears in Ferrari’s history. The first time was in 1952. The rules of Formula One had changed, and Enzo Ferrari had the magnificent 4,500cc V12 from the 375 F1s that had given him his first world title at Silverstone. What should he to do with it? Well since it could be fairly easily be reduced to 4,400cc, the maximum displacement allowed back then at the Indiana oval, why not try their luck at Indianapolis? Readers should know that in those years, the Indianapolis 500 was part of the series of races to qualify for the World Championships, even if it was governed by different regulations, and for Ferrari, which was discovering America as its primary market, this would have been an opportunity to build a strong presence there.

Ascari and Farina, before the start of the 1952 Valentino GP, in the two 375 single-seaters built for the Indianapolis 500. Only Ascari’s car made it to America because Farina had a violent accident that destroyed the car

For this reason Enzo decided to make two cars specifically for this race, with the structure of the 375 F1 but modified for the American circuit, with a wheelbase increased to 2.54 metres in comparison with the 2.32 metres of the Formula 1 single-seater. Trials of the car were entrusted to Nino Farina, the newly-crowned world champion with Alfa Romeo, who took it racing at the Valentino Circuit, in Turin on 6th April 1952. This turned out to be a disaster as the car was involved in an accident so violent in was impossible to repair it in time for the American race on 30th May. As a result, Ascari went alone and qualified 19th out of 33 starters but was thwarted by the failure of a wheel hub on lap 40. During the race, the Italian had gained numerous positions, but the stresses of the American oval stopped in his tracks him.