Race Recap

    4 Hours of Daytona (1967) – Recap & Photo Gallery

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    Bitter from multiple sports car racing defeats at the hands of the potent Ford GT40 in 1966, Ferrari was determined to change course in 1967.

    Ferrari had high hopes their upgraded P series prototypes would be the winning ticket for the first round of the 1967 World Sportscar Championship, the 24 Hours of Daytona.

    The Ferraris were indeed the right configuration, as the Ferrari P series prototypes, led by Lorenzo Bandini and Chris Amon in a Ferrari P4, took home the top three spots, culminating with a triumphant side-by-side-by-side parade finish.

    Ferrari must have thought that they again had the upper hand in sports car racing after their strong Daytona performance. But as they would soon find out, the victory at Daytona was the highlight of the racing season, as the new GT40 Mk IV put Ford back in the winner’s circle.

    To celebrate the 1967 24 Hours of Daytona triumph, the press expected Ferrari to name its upcoming V12-powered road car “Daytona”, although they opted for the traditional number sequence. Nevertheless, today the Ferrari 365 GTB/4 is now better known as the Daytona.

    1967 24 Hours of Daytona Photo Gallery

    The #23 factory Ferrari 330 P3/4 was driven to victory by Lorenzo Bandini (pictured in blue) and Chris Amon (not pictured). It is parked on the pre-grid with several Ferraris, including the #28 N.A.R.T. Ferrari 365 P2/3.
    The #26 N.A.R.T. Ferrari 412 P was driven to a 3rd place overall finish by Pedro Rodriguez and Jean Guichet. The #24 factory Ferrari 330 P4 was driven to an overall 2nd place overall finish by Mike Parkes and Lodovico Scarfiotti.
    Dan Gurney gets out of the #3 Ford GT40 Mk II to let A.J. Foyt take over. Despite starting on the pole, Gurney and Foyt did not finish the race.
    The #4 Holman-Moody Ford GT40 Mk II, driven by Mark Donohue and Peter Revson, brakes for turn one. They did not finish.
    The #33 Ecurie Francorchamps Ferrari 412 P, driven by Willy Mairesse and Jean Beurlys, left the race with gearbox problems.
    The #11 John Wyer Automotive Ford GT40 Mk II, driven by Dick Thompson and Jacky Ickx, finished 6th overall.
    The #52 factory Porsche 910, driven by Hans Hermann and Jo Siffert, finished 4th overall and 1st in class.
    Dan Gurney and A.J. Foyt discuss their favorite Pinot noir next to their Ford GT40 Mk II.
    The #31 Ferrari 365 P2/3, driven by David Piper and Richard Atwood, left the race with gearbox problems.

    [Source: photo credit: Al Wolford]

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    59 Comments

      1. I would love to see some stories on the lower classes in the sixties. The Ford Cortina GT, Lotus Cortina, MGB and C, Triumph Spitfires and of course Alfa Romeo GTV. Daytona and Sebring saw many of these great cars as well as others show their stuff.

        1. John, I’m glad you’re interested in the smaller classes.
          You might enjoy this story, about “the World’s Fastest Volvo”.
          I had the pleasure, with co-driver John Tremblay, of driving a fantastic P1800 in the 1967 Daytona 24 Hours. We finished 13th OA and 1st in Class, using just 2 sets of brake pads and 1 (that’s one!) set of Michelin X tires. The car, owned by Dr. Peter Marinelli of Orlando, FL, was beautifully prepared and ran like a clock. It was lightened by about 400 lbs., the motor was tweaked perfectly, and we were clocked through the back-straight traps at 139 mph. The car number was #73, and you can see a photo on the great “Racing Sports Cars” website.
          If you’re interested further, drop me a line and I’ll fill you in on other rides, including Ferrari GTO (larger) and Porsche Super 90 (smaller).
          Sincerely,
          Larry Perkins

          1. Hello Larry,

            That’s nice to heard from you…!I I have very good remembering of you in 1975 !!
            You drove the Ralt RT1 F3 for Ron, and I drove the March 753 BMW Bang and Olufsen..

            Hoping you are still racing as I am now in GrC Historic…

            Please let us know when you come in GB.

            Best regards,

            Hervé

          2. I also enjoy seeing “the peoples” cars, it’s the difference between the hobby of racing cars and the business: Factory cars, Professional paid drivers, sponsored racers etc,

    2. The gentleman pictured behind Lorenzo Bandini in the first photo (the one with the red Ferraris in line) is absolutely no (NOT) in my humble opinion Chris Amon. Other than this error a very nice article that I really enjoyed ! LM

      1. In my humble opinion, the gentleman behind Lorenzo (Bandini that is) is none other than Ludovico Scarfiotti, who was driving the #24 330 P4 at the end of the race — placing 2nd. I can remember the finish line celebration well with both of them enjoying a great deal of champagne — both internally and externally. There was very little chatter about Bandini, Scarfiotti, or even Ferrari until the last few laps of the race because there was so much shock and disbelief about the absence of the dominating Phil Hill Chaparral 2F which had to retire after hitting something on the back straight. causing suspension failure. It would be sour grapes on my part, were it not for the utterly fantastic performance of that Chaparral 2F. In addition, there was also disbelief because of the disappearance of the ENTIRE Ford Mk IV fleet. The reports seem to differ, but they were all in the pits with broken transmission shafts — at least that’s what the news of the day was. I had a pit pass and I saw them there, and saw some of the broken parts. They had more spare parts than a Ford dealership, but not the transmission shafts that they needed I guess that’s what endurance races are all about… I almost collided head on with Dan Gurney while walking by their pit area — He wasn’t enjoying himself at all.

          1. Thanks Jim, I got confused between the GT40/MkII/MkIV designations. At the time of the race they referred to the latest version, the one that Ford had entered a dozen brand new cars, shipped in new semi trailers, with extra semi trailer’s full of spares, lounge chairs and you name it, as the Ford Mk??, without including the GT or GT40 designations That confused me. After looking up the late Ken Miles on Wikipedia (interesting article), who was one of my childhood heroes, here in California sports car racing (remember #50?), it became clear. The J-car, which looped at Riverside Raceway killing Ken, was the precursor to the Mk IV, which may have came along a bit late for the 1967 Daytona Continental — as you say. The very first sports car race that I ever saw was held at March AFB, quite near the Riverside Raceway. In those days the cars were divided at the 1500cc limit — over and under. Porsches definitely ruled the under 1500cc class, but not that day as Ken Miles was there with his famous MG roadster #50, and he could leave any of his competition hopelessly in the dust. The over 1500cc class that day was ruled by the cars of none other than Briggs S. Cunningham — I believe there were 3 of them. Briggs himself didn’t win, but he did drive one of the cars very well — I believe that he came in second, consistently breaking 150 mph on the long straightaway. The winner, though I can’t remember the driver’s name, was another Cunningham car. Not to be wise, but I noticed that the MK IV did win all of its races as you say, but there were “only two” of them. Amazingly to me these two races, were the 1967 12 Hours of Sebring and the 1967 24 Hours of Le Mans. In the SAME year and racing season as their disaster at Daytona. Having witnessed these events firsthand — seeing this unbelieveably expensive effort on Ford’s part, with BRAND NEW CARS, with an extended snout differing from that of the older GT40s, in my opinion — it’s nearly impossible to explain fielding all of these new cars, and hiring all of these big name drivers, when the MkIV was already available! Adding to that the unexplained shortage of photographs of the cars. Well, I just looked at a Mk IV photograph and you win — it definately isn’t the car that was raced at Daytona in 1967. Adding to the irony in all of this, Ken Miles actually won the 1966 24 Hr. Daytona Continental in a Ford GT40 MkII. He covered over 4100Km., setting a record that stood until Pedro Rodriguez arrived 4 years later in a Porsche 917K. Next he won at Sebring (’66), driving a prototype called a Ford GT-X1, that looks like something in between the Mk II and the Mk IV with a different engine. Next he and Denis Hulme managed second at Le Mans — or was it a first? — in a Mk II. After Ford’s political maneuvering cost him the race, and the honor of winning Daytona, Sebring and Le Mans in the same year — only to lose his life 2 months later. No conclusions, but interesting history. Regards…

            Probably Ford wasn’t quire sure of the Mk IV, as yet since Ken’s unfortunate accident in August, 1966.

            1. The car Ken was killed in was a J Car which is different from a MK-IV. (Different diameter wheels, auto gearbox, different body work) Sad Day. The Sebring MK-IV (J4) was different in minor ways from the Le Mans MK-IV’s. (J5/J6/J7/J8) Rounded sill vs squared sills, tail hinged at the front vs tails hinged at the rear.

              Those were the Days.

              Cheers

            2. Thanks for the info. Those were indeed the days– as the song continues ‘we thought they’d never end.’

            4. Revisiting the “who’s that guy behind Lorenzo Bandini” discussion, I stumbled on an interesting video on youtube. It’s titled “1967 24 Hours of Daytona – A Ferrari Sweep.” It’s a minute and a half long, and it’s very interesting showing some footage of all of our favorite cars. The second scene at just a few seconds into the video covers a pit area conversation between Bandini, Scarfiotti and a young lady with an attractive bow in her hair. The fellers are clowning around for her benefit, and give considerable opportunity to recall their 1967 lady chasing tendencies, and better remember what each of them looked like also. They definitely wore light colored driving suits, and although Ludovico does resemble the fellow in the questioned picture, who is in dark pants, he looks quite a bit younger, etc. I was there and do I remember that that Bandini and Scarfiotti seemed to be very close friends, seemed to only speak Italian, and stuck quite closely together. Youtube has quite a few videos from this era — some very good ones of the ’66 and ’67 Le Mans races also. Some good footage of the Chaparral 2F gobbling up Fords also. As to more pictures of this classic race, I remember Chris Economaki the automotive journalist/comentator was there and constantly snapping pictures. I had a borrowed camera with automatic exposure which left me with useless results. Regards to all.

        3. I was at the 1967 race and was thrilled to see the 2F blow off hte rest of the field. It was clearly the class of the field. he car was withdrawan after it smacked the wall exiting the infield.

    3. Jeff – We are hard pressed to disagree, as we certainly cannot think of a better looking sports racer. We enjoyed seeing it in green and yellow as well.

      Lorenzo – Thanks for your correction on Amon. Any ideas?

    5. I have no idea who that gentleman behind Lorenzo Bandini is. Not Mike Parkes, and not Nino Vaccarella (the man looks too chubby !). I believe it is just someone that managed to have a pit-pass (and therfore a spectator). May be some American driver ?

    7. BTW: Note that you choose to spell Ludovico Scarfiotti. His name was Lodovico (with an o instead of a u) Scarfiotti. Yes, indeed his name is many, many, times misspelled as Ludovico by many experts on the racing matter.

    8. I think we just posted the same thing (at the same time) !
      I’d tend to agree with your conclusion, Lorenzo. ;o)
      I’ll have a look through some more photos – see if I can try to correctly identify the mystery ‘spectator’.

    11. I thought you might chime in with that one, Jim. ;o)

      I’m not 100% sure, but I think the person leaning over #0846’s windshield MAY be team manager Franco Lini.

    12. I spotted another little error in that particular caption:
      ‘including the #28 N.A.R.T. Ferrari Dino 206 S.’
      The #28 (N.A.R.T.) car is actually a 365/P2/3 (s/n #0838) – known for obvious reasons as ‘The White Elephant’.

    13. The “#28 N.A.R.T. Ferrari Dino 206 S.” is not a Dino 206S. It is the rebodied NART P2/3 commonly known as “The Whiote Elephant”

    16. Paul – looks like the wrong information probably came from “Time and Two Seats” which states #28 incorrectly as a 206S Dino. Nathan

    17. “The gentleman behind Bandini appears to be wearing a driver’s suit, prompting the Amon connection.”
      Sorry to disagree. Lorenzo Bandini IS wearing a navy blousson jacket over his driver’s race suit, but the person stood behind him is wearing a light colored blousson jacket over dark colored trousers.
      Nathan and I will endeavour to identify the ‘mystery spectator’, nonetheless.

      1. I’m enjoying this website. I concluded in favor of Scarfiotti based on my recollection of his skin tone at the race and a picture that I got by googling hiss name — definitely not certain.

    18. Hmm…you may be right.

      We see it as a light colored jacket over a dark colored driving suit, as there seems to be dark fabric between his neck and jacket.

      The mystery continues!

    19. I’m not sure what that may be, but I don’t think race-car drivers wore dark (black) driving suits in the mid-late 60’s. Light blue (Dunlop) or white / creamy off-white with red piping on the sleeves (Firestone / Goodyear) was much more the norm, back in those days.

    20. P4Replica is absolutely correct. No dark racing suits with European drivers in the early, mid and late Sixties. I doubt whether the guy that is doing something on Bandini’s Ferrari windscreen is Franco Lini. In my recollections the profile does not match (met Franco over and over again when he had reinvented himself as an excellent photographer in the Seventies (working mainly for Autosprint, the Italian magazine). I am sure (100%) that it is not Forghieri either (just in case somebody may bring that up). But who is the guy under the dashboard ! ….. May be Giulio Borsari ? I am sure we will never know ! Anyway, I really like your site and the quality of the subjects as well as the pictures. The quality of your website comes very close to that of http://www.velocetoday.com !

    21. That photo of David Piper’s car may well have been taken during the race. Most of the other pitlane shots were taken pre-start – hence the relatively pristine appearance of the works’ Ferrari P4s, for example. Have you not seen any post race photos of the winning Ferrari P3/4 #23 and second-placed #24 330/P4 ? They look like they have been shot-blasted. The third-placed #26 N.A.R.T. 412P looked even more battered – with a dented in front wing and missing headlight cover.

    23. Lorenzo –

      Thanks for the note and comments. We are good pals and big fans of VeloceToday, so your comments are much appreciated.

      The gentleman under the dashboard is a good catch and an equally good guess. Again, we will never fully know unless he tells us himself. Oh well, it’s fun guessing.

    24. Peter Gregg is listed as one of the drivers of the NART #28. Does anyone know if it lasted long enough and he actually got to drive it in the race

    27. I love the bloke on Piper’s team that is wearing no shirt.

      And what is that behind Piper’s 365? Is that a Ferrari 275 GTB?

    29. Those who enjoyed these photos should also view:

      flickr.com/photos/smuckatelli/3273908495
      and
      flickr.com/photos/smuckatelli/3274675822/in/photostream
      and similar

    30. What a treat to find this. Makes me want to go dig out all the old faded photos I took at Daytona that weekend. My father took me to my first automobile race, 1966 Indy 500 and this, the 1967 24 Hours of Daytona was my second race. My mom must have been out of her ever loving mind to allow three unchaperoned 17 year old boys to drive from Kentucky to Daytona in her V-8, ’63 Comet wagon that winter. While they were running, Jim Hall’s Chapparels were far and away the stickiest and fastest cars on the track that weekend. They were sucked to the ground. I rooted for Ferrari and still do. The 330 P4 has always been one of my favorates and the sound was the most memorable automotive sound to me of all time. It’s scream was beyond painful coming around the banking at full throttle. Joel Finns ’37/39 W-157 Silver Arrow was close however, it shook the pine forests of Road Atlanta, now almost 3 decades ago.

    31. Jim,

      Are you still in KY? I am in Louisville. Those photos need to see the light of day and be shared. This kind of history is so valuable.

      Gil

      1. Gil,

        Sorry for the long delay in responding. I haven’t followed this thread and just now stumbled back on it. Yes I do still live in Lexington. If you will go to the Keeneland Concours d’Elegance website http://www.keenelandconcours.com and look under entry nomination s you will find all my contact info.

        Jim

      1. As I told Gil, sorry for the long delay in responding. I have hundreds upon hundreds (maybe thousands)of auto & auto racing photos I have taken over the years. Unfortunatly they are boxed up with the thousands of other photos I have. The photos of this race were nothing more than snap shots taken with a box camera. If I can ever dig them out you are welcome to publish them.

        Jim

    33. How come there are no pictures of the Chaparral 2F? This was the 1st race where the high-winged Chaparral would take part. It turned in some fast times before retiring with teething problems.

      2. In the months since my first posts on this fine blog, I’ve discovered quite a few additional sources of pictures of the event. In revisiting the ongoing forum today I thought I would look again for some additional views of the event, so I started with Google and entered “1967 daytona 24 hours photos”, and WOW! I wasn’t disappointed at all! Quite an interesting collection of pictures and videos. The first and most mind blowing to me was the photo at http://www.flickr.com/photos/smuckatelli/4160555527/
        which is clearer than being there — a front view of the entire field coming off the bank to make the first pass in front of the grandstand at the start of the race. You can almost see Phil Hill and Dan Gurney smiling from behind the wheel on the front row, With the Ferraris of Bandini and Scarfiotti right behind. It is clear from some of the other photos, by the way, that both Bandini and Scarfiotti were wearing cream colored driving suits for this race, and of course may not have been driving at the start. I do remember that Phil Hill was, however.

        Within the various web addresses uncovered by the Google search recommended above, there are several pictures of the of the Chaparral 2F in action, in this race. After looking up the Chaparral on the Chaparral website, I had come to believe that the problem at Daytona was the 3 speed Powerglide vs. the 427 engine, rather than any problem with rubbish on the back straight. I can say that in the early morning hours, before sunrise, the car was locked in a pit garage with closed glass doors — sort of posed there under soft white lights — and I could see no evidence of any collision damage. No one seemed to know what had happened to it. Anyway they got it together for Brands Hatch, and I haven’t heard any convincing alibis :)…

        It’s not so much Ford vs. Chevy vs. Ferrari, as I see it, although that was interesting of course — rather it was individuals vs. big corporations. Where would Ford have been without the likes of Colin Chapman, and Holman-Moody? Where would Chevrolet (aka GM) have been without Zora Arkus Duntov, and Jim Hall? AND where would automobile racing racing be without Enzo Ferrari welding motorcycle engines together to make racing car engines? What if Ferdinand Porsche had continued designing Tiger tanks instead of automobiles. What an era!

        Oh, if you double click on the photo you can download a higher res version (700×485). It’s a fabulous picture!

        Best Regards to all…

    35. Dear Sir, Thank you for these archive shots. Where would we be without them!!!!
      Keep up the good work.
      Best regards.

    36. Remember the days when the racing cars looked good? I want to watch the current Daytona prototypes but they are so awful I cannot bear it. They would be embarrassing on the street. Too bad, otherwise good racing. (Would anyone actually pay to sit in the stands?)

    38. I worked as crew for the Ring Free Oil team which had most of the famous women drivers from across the world . My pal “Smokey Drolet”, Anita Taylor, Donna Mae Mims, Janet Guthrie,Susie Dietrich, Lianne Engemann,and as I am now 77 years old, my memory is thin on the others. In that front row,Kneeling are Ray Cuomo,,Paul Richards are notable drivers that come to memory. I am the {then} young man in the middle of the front row with my arm around Jim McGhee, a very great chief mechanic. Jim Jones and I had the Shelby GT 350 as our task to finih prep on the car at the track during the week prior to the race. The Shelby was basically prepared up north by Jocko Maggiocom,and then driven down to Daytona on the highway. As we had “Smokey,and Janet in the same car,Jim Jones and I had to devise some pedal extensions that could be added during pit stop because Jnet Guthrie was about 8 inche taller than “Smokey”. The cahllenge was fun to solve. The Shelby was driven back up north on the road after the race. There is always more to tell,but this is a good start. I was 24 years old then. I drove MGB # 79 in 1970. Best spectator seat in the house.

    39. Definitely (one of… or) the most aesthetic race car of all times. I could not help to paint it in real size on a triptych canvas. Please see a pic of it in my website or pay a visit to my studio and gallery in Le Mans during the next race week in June 2021 ( or 2022 ?).

    40. On the third picture featuring Dan Gurney exiting his Mk II, the roll cage is clearly visible.
      A very unusual feature in period, it had been retrofitted after Walt Hansgen’s and Ken Miles’ lethal accidents. Americans were concerned about passive safety features – fiberglass jet-helmets, safety harnesses, roll bars – long before the Europeans.
      Another innovation was the computer onboard the Mk IV during Le Mans’ April pre-practice.
      Ford let Ferrari make the show with Lorenzo Bandini setting a new lap record, while Shelby’s men were patiently saving precious data.
      I followed Le Mans 67 on TV, and radio almost all night long. Great times, cruel times!

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