Race Cars

In 1993/94 Michellotto, the favored Ferrari factory tuning company, prepared 11 348 GT Competizione cars. Michelotto fitted hot 360bhp engines with reconfigured fuel mapping and fitted F40 halfshafts, changes were made to the bodywork including a Lexan rear window and lightweight alloy panels for the front lid and engine cover. Carbon composite was used for the doors, bumpers and undertray, extra ducts fed cool air to the brakes. The brakes themselves were uprated 15-inch cross-drilled Brembo discs with wider Speedline five-spoke magnesium wheels being usually shod with slick Goodyear tyres. Michelotto also uprated the suspension with fully adjustable Koni dampers and anti dive geometry and strengthened the gussets installed around the engine bay. Cockpits were completely stripped out and fitted with an FIA-spec roll cage and OMP race seats, occasionally the electric windows were left but others had wind up windows or lexan sliding windows.

The modifications made can be found in this official Ferrari Competizione Manual:

These cars were eligible for several series including Le Mans, Daytona and Sebring etc. Although a few cars were seriously raced, most cars ended up in private collections.

Probably the most well known car is chassis number 95380 was the 1993 and ’94 Italian GT Championship winning car (Class 2) run by the Shell-backed Jolly Club and driven predominantly by Oscar Larrauri. Taking class wins in 16 of the 27 races it contested, 95380 also recorded four outright wins against much more powerful Class 1 machinery.

Also well known and featured in one or two magazine articles, chassis number 96064 which was raced in America by the Shelton brothers’ team.
348 GTC/LM

In addition to 11 GT Competizione’s, Michelotto built a pair of special 348’s for the Le Mans 24 Hours. They contested the GT2 class with its 1050kg minimum weight limit and maximum of 450bhp, but were also eligible for the high profile BPR Championship’s GT3 category. Announced in March 1994, the two Competizione LM’s were both prepared by the works-assisted Ferrari Club Italia based at the Fiorano test track. One would be run under the banner of the Ferrari Club Italia, the second, Ferrari Club Espana.

Using the Michelotto Competizione as a basis, chassis’s 97553 and 98997 were gradually enhanced with a number of special features between March and June of 1994. They featured wider and lighter Speedline wheels, sliding Lexan side windows and later for Le Mans, faired-in headlights. Most obvious though were new adjustable rear wings introduced at the Le Mans Trials in early May.

Michelotto developed three alternative versions of the Tipo 119 engine; Evoluzione I, II and III. The first two produced 380 and 405bhp respectively, however, both ran the BPR’s mandatory air restrictors, without which, 400 and 430bhp were possible. The full-house Evoluzione III powerplant was totally unrestricted and pumped out a mighty 460bhp but never saw competitive service.