Ferrari invincible
Again, Ferrari was the dominant marque in the 1962 24 Hours of Le Mans, with 18 entries – the biggest representation from any marque at a Le Mans. The Scuderia Ferrari had bounced back from the turmoil at the end of 1961, when their chief designer Carlo Chiti led a walkout of key staff from the company.
His last design, the new 330 TRI/LM was finished by Mauro Forghieri. This last front-engined Ferrari sports car had a 4-litre V12 developing a mighty 390 bhp. It was given to Ferrari’s best endurance pair: American Phil Hill (picture above) and Belgian Olivier Gendebien.
Hill and Gendebien won the race and finished a comfortable 5 laps ahead of the Ferrari 250 GTO of Pierre Noblet and Jean Guichet, who improved from their third-place from the previous year, winning the GT division and finishing a clear 12 laps ahead of the Équipe Nationale Belge 250 GTO of “Beurlys”-“Eldé” (picture below).