Ferrari 312T Haynes Manual review

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Eight years have passed since Ferrari last won a championship title, and having fallen to third behind Red Bull last weekend they are very unlikely they will end that streak this year.

The team were in a similar position in the mid-seventies until the Mauro Forghieri-designed 312T chassis series brought about one of the team’s periodic revivals. Four constructors’ titles in five years followed while Niki Lauda and Jody Scheckter grabbed a trio of drivers’ crowns.

What the team would give for such a piece of engineering as the 312T today. It makes a great subject for the Haynes’ newest “Owners’ Workshop Manual”.

Haynes clearly know they’re on to a winner with their Formula One versions of their road car reference series. I’ve already got half-a-dozen of these on my shelf, but this is the first to feature a car from F1’s most famous team.

Although various different authors have contributed the text for these books the contents of the latest instalment are instantly familiar. Alongside the technical background and history of this series of cars there’s ample context on the championships it competed in.

Only the over-long section on 1976 feels like padding, even despite a significant omission. Lauda’s near-fatal fiery crash at the Nurburgring Nordschleife, the 40th anniversary of which passed recently, was claimed by some at the time to have been caused by a failure on his 312T2. The innuendo even prompted Enzo Ferrari not to send his cars to the next round of the championship but the whole debate is disappointingly overlooked here.

And while almost every page features at least one picture of a 312T in action or in pieces, the fabled six-wheeled prototype T6 is not depicted despite being mentioned on the cover.

These oversights comes as a surprise in a book which has clearly benefited from a huge amount of research. It even features a guide to every 312T chassis built and = yes – tips on how to buy one.

Interviews with Forghieri himself as well as former sporting director Daniele Audetto further enhance what is on the whole another fine addition to the Haynes’ series, one which should enjoyed by more than just technically-minded F1 fans.

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Ferrari 312T: Owners’ Workshop Manual

Author: Nick Garton
Publisher: Haynes
Published: July 2016
Pages: 164
Price: £22.99
ISBN: 9780857338112

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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5 comments on “Ferrari 312T Haynes Manual review”

  1. We always look at Ferrari not winning a drivers title since 2007, but McLaren haven’t won since 2008 either. Williams haven’t won since 1997. The last time those three won a constructors title was 1998 for McLaren, 2008 for Ferrari and 1997 for Williams. In the past 7 seasons only teams that came into existance after 2005 have won both titles. It has also been since 2008 the team to win the drivers did not win the constructors.

    Ferrari and McLaren are effectively in their dip, let’s us all hope both rise quickly.

    1. Weren’t Mercedes BAR/Honda/Brawn and Red Bull Stewart/Jag before? Both were around in the 90’s.

      1. @darryn, yes, the team known as Red Bull Racing started out as Stewart Grand Prix in 1997, which was then bought out by Ford (Stewart having negotiated a works deal with Ford for their engines) at the end of the 1999 season and turned into Jaguar, before Red Bull finally bought the team out in 2005.

        As for Mercedes, you’ve missed out an earlier stage – that team started out as Tyrrell back in 1968, then became BAR in 1999, was bought out by Honda in 2006 (although Honda had been partners and major stakeholders in the team since 2000), Brawn for 2009 and then Mercedes.

        In the case of Tyrrell, they only ever won one WCC title (back in 1971) in their original incarnation, and although they were generally reasonably competitive until about 1976, the team went into a long term decline for over two decades before their eventual buyout. Meanwhile, Stewart and Jaguar were only ever moderately competitive – it was no surprise for Stewart, since that was a relatively small independent team that was still improving at the time it was bought, but Jaguar was, despite all of Ford’s money, badly run and technically inept.

  2. Okay, this one I will be buying!

  3. I think some of the current management should probably read this book

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