Ferrari P

The Ferrari P was a series of rear mid-engined two seat sports prototype racing car models produced by Ferrari during the 1960s and early 1970s to be raced mainly by the factory Scuderia Ferrari racing team. When a double digit number of identical cars was planned for homologation and sale to customers, the codes LM (Le Mans) or S (Sportscar) were used instead. Although Enzo Ferrari witnessed the rear mid-engined Auto Union racing cars of the 1930s, and with Cooper dominating F1 with back-to-back World Championship wins, 1959 and 1960, he resisted to move the engine behind the driver. This even after Scuderia Ferrari put the Dino V6 engine in the rear of a single-seater, resulting in the Ferrari 246 P and the Ferrari 156 F1 "shark nose" that won the 1961 Formula One season. The Dino V6 with 2.0 or 2.4 litres was also used in the first rear mid-engined Ferrari sport prototypes of the Ferrari SP series of 1961–1962. The 3 litres-plus V12 sports car racers followed in 1963, starting the P series. Although these cars shared their numerical designations (based on engine displacement) with road models, they were almost entirely different. The production racers Ferrari 250 LM of 1964 and Ferrari Dino 206S of 1966 were intended for homologation in Groups 3 or 4 and could be made road legal, to be run with Prova plates, or as 'Stradale' for sale to customers in various countries. The first Ferrari mid-engine in a proper road car did not arrive until the 1967 Dino 206 GT, and it was 1971 when a road-going Ferrari 12-cylinder engine was placed behind the driver in the 365 GT4 BB, with V12 front engine GT 2+2 models never been discontinued.