Page 1 of 1 American collector James Glickenhaus helped revive the long lost art of custom coach-building with the Ferrari P4/5 by Pininfarina. Using a Ferrari Enzo as the basis, Pininfarina's special projects department created a thoroughly modern and very functional design that harked back at the Ferrari prototype racers of the late 1960s, of which Glickenhaus owned two at the time. While inspired by competition cars, the original P4/5 was strictly a road car. In a second inspired move, Glickenhaus decided to find just how well the design would fare on the track and established Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus, named after his son, to develop and race a race-bred version of the P4/5.
For practical reasons, the design team, once again led by Pininfarina's Paolo Garella, decided to base the new competition car on the more readily available and affordable Ferrari F430 Scuderia. The donor car was completely stripped down and fitted with a race-bred version of the F430's V8, developed specifically for use in GT2 racing cars. The car was clothed in a scaled down version of the P4/5 bodywork, completely crafted in carbon-fibre. A more aggressive bodykit with dive-planes on the front and a tall rear wing was also fitted. While Ferrari had condoned the use of their name and logos on the original P4/5, they refused to sanction the new competition car. It was badged the SCG P4/5 Competizione instead.
Completed early in 2011, the P4/5 Competizione was ready in time for the start of the German VLN series, which has the annual Nürburgring 24 Hours as the blue ribband event. As it was strictly a one-off, the Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus fielded and N.Technology prepared car was entered in the experimental class. Tasked to drive the new machine were seasoned hands Mika Salo, Luca Cappellari, Nicola Larini and Fabrizio Giovanardi. They went on to finish 39th overall and second in class. Meanwhile, the P4/5 Competizione had already been shown at Villa d'Este and following the 24 Hours, it was displayed for a month at the National Automobile Museum in Turin.
Ahead of the 2012 season, development work continued and a F1-inspired KERS hybrid system was installed, which added around 50 bhp. A new exterior feature was a big fin on the engine cover, which was designed to prevent the car from flipping over in case of a spin. Driven by Larina, Giovanardi and Manuel Lauck, the revised P4/5 Competizione was once again entered in the experimental class. It proved to be a difficult race but despite a KERS failure and a fire in the pitlane, the Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus team crossed the line in 12th overall and first in class. Having proven his point, Glickenhaus decided to retire the P4/5 Competizione from contemporary racing.
Instead of allowing the racing car to enjoy its retirement in relative peace, Glickenhaus had it rebuilt to full road legal configuration, so he could regularly drive the car just like the other machines in his collection. What made the transition a lot easier was the fact that the P4/5 Competizione was already based on the fully road legal Ferrari F430 Scuderia, which had already been registered in Glickenhaus' home state of New York. As it turned out, the P4/5 Competizione was not the end but actually the second chapter in a burgeoning story as Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus has developed a brand new machine that, like its predecessor, will be road legal and track-bound. Page 1 of 1
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American collector James Glickenhaus helped revive the long lost art of custom coach-building with the Ferrari P4/5 by Pininfarina. Using a Ferrari Enzo as the basis, Pininfarina's special projects department created a thoroughly modern and very functional design that harked back at the Ferrari prototype racers of the late 1960s, of which Glickenhaus owned two at the time. While inspired by competition cars, the original P4/5 was strictly a road car. In a second inspired move, Glickenhaus decided to find just how well the design would fare on the track and established Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus, named after his son, to develop and race a race-bred version of the P4/5.