STORY OF THE DAY: An Accident and Heat End Ferrari’s Number Seven

Mike Parkes and Lorenzo Bandini retired works Ferrari 330 LM/GTO number 7 from the 1962 24 Hours of Le Mans after 56 laps. Race records attribute the withdrawal to overheating following an accident, ending the large-engined coupé’s challenge while other Ferraris filled the podium.

The car represented an ambitious attempt to combine grand-touring form with prototype-scale power. At Le Mans, however, damage and rising temperatures quickly turned outright performance into a struggle for survival. Once reliable cooling could no longer be maintained, continuation ceased to be realistic.

The 330 LM/GTO adapted the front-engined 250 GTO concept to a four-litre Colombo-family V12. Its tubular chassis and aerodynamic closed body promised exceptional straight-line speed, but the added power and thermal load placed greater demands on cooling, brakes and durability than the three-litre GTO faced.

Briton Mike Parkes combined engineering ability with considerable speed and became an important Ferrari tester and works driver. Italian Lorenzo Bandini was emerging as a versatile member of Ferrari’s Formula One and sports-car teams. Their pairing joined technical sensitivity to youthful competitive intensity.