Photo by Lothar Spurzem, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Germany (CC BY-SA 2.0 DE). - Credit links at the end of the content
Ferrari wasn’t the first team to experiment with six wheels, but what they built was something no one else truly attempted. The Ferrari 312T6 used an unusual layout with two tires mounted side by side on each side of the rear axle, creating four wheels at the back working together as a single unit.
Other teams did explore similar ideas later, like Williams FW08D in 1983, which also featured four rear wheels. However, their configuration was completely different, with the wheels arranged in line rather than paired side by side.
That is what made Ferrari’s concept so unique. While six-wheel thinking was not entirely new, placing four rear tires directly next to each other, effectively doubling the contact patch in that way, was something no other team seriously pursued at the time.
Ferrari 312T6: Six-wheeled F1 car
By the mid-1970s, F1 teams were fighting the same invisible enemy; drag!
These massive rear tires provided grip, yes, but they also punched a huge hole in the air.
Let’s not forget the Tyrrell P34. Before getting deeper into this, it is worth remembering that six-wheel ideas were not just wild experiments at the time. Tyrrell actually raced in Formula 1 with four small wheels at the front, and they made it work, even winning a race. That alone says a lot. By the mid-70s, this was not some crazy concept teams were just playing with, it was already proven on track, which is exactly why others, like Ferrari, started to believe there was something real in it.
However, Ferrari’s solution was almost counterintuitive, instead of two large rear tires, they would use four small ones; mounted side by side on a single axle.
The idea behind it was to reduce drag, maintain traction, and unlock better efficiency down the straight.
Underneath it still carried the DNA of a champion; the same flat-12 engine that was dominant, producing around 500 horsepower.
So if you look at it, on paper, it sounded like evolution, but on track, it felt like something else entirely.
When Champions Could Not Tame It
Ferrari didn’t hand this machine to just anyone; it was tested by two of the sharpest drivers of that era.
Both Niki Lauda and Carlos Reuteman, at Fiorano, but what they found wasn’t promising.
During the test, the car vibrated violently; grip was inconsistent, the rear felt unpredictable, almost like it was moving independently from the rest of the chassis.
Lauda, never one of exaggeration; reportedly described the experience in brutally simple terms, it was a nightmare to drive.
Fast… But Not Fast Enough
There is a temptation to assume the car failed because it was slow; but that wasn’t entirely true.
Reports suggest that during testing, the 312T6 managed to hit around 302 KM/h, for an experimental car, it was respectable.
But here is the problem; Ferrari already had a car that could do better at the time.
The conventional 312T2 was much quicker; and the team believed there is no much room for improvement; so being interesting is never enough, you have to be better in F1, so the six-wheeled Ferrari simply wasn’t!
The Day It All Went Wrong
If the handling issues were not enough; the project took a darker turn during testing, Reutemann pushed the car harder, lap after lap, trying to understand it.
But during one session; things unraveled, the car lost control, and he crashed.
According to reports, it wasn’t the first incident, but it was the one that mattered.
Mechanical failures had already raised concerns, components struggled to cope with the unusual load distribution; and now, safety had entered the conversation in a serious way.
The crash didn’t just damage the car, it damaged the project’s future!
The Hidden Problems No One Could Solve
Beyond the driving and reliability issues; there were deeper obstacles quietly giving up to the project.
The car was too wide to meet F1 regulations; fixin that would require a complete rethink of the concept!
Then there were the tires; four rear wheels meant four specialized tires, and Ferrari depended on suppliers to make it work.
Convicing a tire manufacturer to commit resources to such a niche; uncertain design proved difficult, and without proper tire development, the concept could never reach its potential, and without potential; there was no reason to continue!
ANECDOTE: Before we continue with the content below, it is worth reminding that we previously shared the story of Mauro Forghieri, the man behind the Ferrari 312T6 and several other futuristic projects in Formula 1. He was known for pushing boundaries, often exploring radical ideas that few others in the sport were willing to attempt.
The Experiment That Stayed in the Shadows
In the end; Ferrari made the only decision that made sense; the 312T6 project was scrapped before it ever reached a race weekend.
It joined a long list of ‘what could have been’ ideas in F1; brilliant in imagination, flawed in execution.
Yet there is something fascinating about it; because for a brief moment, Ferrari challenged the norms of the sport in a way few teams dared to, they didn’t just tweak or refine, they questioned the fundamentals.
And even though it failed; it left behind a reminder of what F1 used to be, a place where engineers could take risks that looked almost absurd, sometimes, those risks change the sport forever, other times, like the six-wheeled Ferrari, they burn out before they ever get the chance!
FEATURED IMAGE CREDITS: Photo by Lothar Spurzem, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Germany (CC BY-SA 2.0 DE) via Wikimedia Commons
Related Contents:
- March 2-4-0: F1’s Lost Six-Wheel Experiment
- Colin Chapman’s Greatest “What-If”: The Story of the Banned Lotus 88
