Ferrari 312 B3 Spazzaneve: Radical and Never-Raced

Ferrari 312 B3, nicknamed ‘Spazzaneve’, one of the most fascinating ‘what if’ stories in F1.

Designed by Mauro Forghieri in late 1972, the car earned its frosty moniker because its radical, wide, and a flat front wing that resembled a snowplow pushing through ice.

Unlike other Ferrari cars that fans used to see, this car was built strictly as an experimental; a rolling laboratory meant to test bold ideas.

Ferrari 312 B3 1972 car

After disappointing season in 1972, the response was the Ferrari 312 B3.

They used the Tipo 015 3.0-liter flat-12 engine, which produced around 490 horsepower and 12,500 RPM; 5-speed manual gearbox fed power to the rear wheels, and the car was very light around 540 to 580 kg, depending on fluids.

The chassis of the car was an aluminium monocoque with a very short wheelbase.

However, every design choice screamed experimentation, so the car’s full-width square nose and wide bodywork were aimed at increasing downforce, an early exploration into the full ground-effect aerodynamics that would later at the end of 70s would dominate the sport.

Even the placement of radiators was unconventional, moved to the sides behind the front wheels to improve weight distribution and reduce drag, so in many ways, the Spazzaneve was a bridge between traditional design and groundbreaking 312T series that would dominate the mid-1970s.

Why the Ferrari 312 B3 Spazzaneve Never Hit the Track

The team decided to take for the Italian GP in 1972, but it never raced.

The main reason Ferrari never raced the 312 B3 was that the team’s mechanics found engine changes extremely difficult. Additionally, the car was experimental by design, intended as a testbed rather than a competitive race car.

But 312 B3 was tested by Jacky Ickx and Arturo Merzario, both reported that the car’s extremely short wheelbase made it difficult to handle on track, and it was very unpredictable on fast corners.

However, shortly after its development, Forghieri was temproraly reassigned to an experimental department, and Sandro Colombo, preferred a more conventional design for the 1973 season, so the project of Ferrari 312 B3 was left behind.

Note: Some reports suggest that according to mechanics at the time it was very difficult to maintain the car, they warned that it could take up to eight hours to change the engine, that was the main reason why Ferrari kept the 312 B3 off the official grid.

Important: Although Ferrari did race cars designated as 312 B3 in 1973, it is important to clarify that the Spazzaneve was the original 1972 prototype. This radical experimental car served as a testbed for new aerodynamic and mechanical concepts. Lessons learned from the Spazzaneve were then applied when the design was heavily reworked into the B3-73 and B3-74, the versions that actually competed in Formula 1 in the following seasons.

If you want to read more Ferrari tech stories like the Ferrari double wing of 1982, the Ferrari double floor, or just discover more cool F1 tech from the past, you can check out F1 Tech for plenty of historic stories.

Ferrari 312 B3 beyond the track

It never raced in F1, but the 312 B3’s impact on Ferrari’s future was profound.

The lessons learned from its radical aerodynamics and compact design informed the development of the 312 B3-74, and the iconic 312T series, which went on to win multiple titles with Niki Lauda and Jody Scheckter.

So we think that it was a quiet revolutionary, teaching Ferrari valuable lessons, and later that helped shape one of the most successful erras in the team’s history.

So what about the car today? The original Ferrari 312 B3 is cherished by collectors and motorsport enthusiasts, and it frequently appears at historic events, and you have plenty of videos on youtube to hear the sound and see the Ferrari 312 B3 Spazzaneve, including the Monaco Historic GP and the Goodwood Festival of Speed,

The Ferrari 312 B3 was not the only car designed as an experimental project; there were several others that never raced, including the Ferrari 312 T6 (six-wheeled) and the Ferrari 637, an IndyCar prototype from 1986 that Enzo Ferrari intended to compete in the American series. Despite their development, these cars never made it to the track.

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Photo by Rahil Rupawala, Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0) via FLICKR