2006 FERRARI F430 GTC

It was 20 years ago: Ferrari, which had developed the 333SP in the mid-1990s, winning several races in the United States, decided to return to the track with a serious commitment, but this time in GT. After the F50 GT1 project was abandoned and following the lack of support for the F40s a little earlier, Jean Todt created a new impetus. He gave the go-ahead to a programme of Ferrari V8s designed for the GT2 category, which later became GTE/GT3. While the first expression of this new ambition was the 360 Modena GTC, it was the F430 GTC that delivered the first truly prestigious successes, in particular the victories at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Ascott Collection is now offering for sale one of the F430 GTCs that raced at the time, now prepared for historic competitions (Endurance Racing Legends, Master Historic Racing, etc.).

 

The F430, a racing car in the making

The Ferrari F430 (presented at the 2004 Paris Motor Show) was the successor to the 360 Modena. The new V8 coupé of the range! It shared its aluminum chassis with the 360 that preceded it, but its design by Pininfarina (and more precisely by Frank Stephenson) opened up a new path. Almost everything was new. The F430 was inspired by other house creations, both modern and old, borrowing, for example, the rear lights from the Enzo. The side mirrors were similar to those of the Testarossa, with ducts integrated into its sides. The twin air intake system was retained, but the wider air intakes were reminiscent of the legendary shark nose of the 156 F1 from the 1960s. Although the overall shape was similar to the 360, the style of the F430 was much more aggressive!

The F430 inaugurated Ferrari's new 32-valve V8 engine with double overhead camshaft (F136 E). The rear of the car housed the engine block developed jointly with Maserati, with its own 180-degree flat crankshaft. Maximum power of the road version was officially 490 hp, all delivered to the rear wheels, with either a six-speed manual, or the optional six-speed F1, gearbox. It was thus an excellent basis, with a new look and a new technical base.

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The development of the F430 GTC

It was the Michelotto Automobili company that developed the F430 GTC with a view to making it eligible for all the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) series. Chassis were entered in the American Le Mans Series (ALMS), the Le Mans Series (LMS) and the FIA GT championship, and, of course, in the 24 Hours of Le Mans! Michelotto worked directly with Ferrari Corse Clienti. From the start, the F430 was thus guided by an official ambition to race in the GT class. This was not the case with the 360 Modena that was initially developed by the Jean-Michel Bourresche (JMB) team before receiving a boost from Maranello.

Work on the F430 base began in late 2004, with the car being wheeled out for the first time in October 2005! While development was thus highly accelerated, nothing was left to chance.

The original F430 aluminum chassis was reinforced with an aluminum tubular lattice cage in the cockpit. On the mechanical side, the engine capacity was reduced to 3,996 cc to qualify the car for the GT2 category (which allowed engines from 3.8 to 4.0 litres capacity). The berlinetta had two mufflers on the exhaust manifolds to limit noise. In the process, the F430 put on a little weight - around 50 kg - tipping the scales at 1130 kg.

The power, controlled by flanges on the intake ducts in accordance with the regulations, varied from 430 to 470 hp, depending on the championships, with revving from 6600 to 7500 rpm. 

Aerodynamically, the car’s underbody was totally flat. To generate downforce, in addition to the F430’s excellent base there was of course a rear wing with many adjustment possibilities. The racing versions of the F430s were fitted with lightweight 18-inch centre-lock rims with Michelin slick tyres, which replaced the 19-inch rims with Pirelli tyres of the road car version. While the road-going F430's adjustable shocks could be adjusted with a thumbwheel on the steering wheel, the F430 GTC's suspension was not adjustable on the fly. 

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The first Ferrari V8 queen of GT2/GTE

The F430 GTCs had an excellent start to their career with the FIA GT2 constructors championship and drivers' title in 2006 and 2007, the ALMS constructors’ title in GT2 in 2007, and a class victory in GT2 at Le Mans in 2008. The F430 GTC paved the way for the 458 GT2s and 488 GTEs.

The F430 GTCs won a total of 11 FIA GT2 titles (4 constructors’, 4 team, and 3 drivers’ titles), 4 LMS titles (2 team and 2 drivers’ titles), 4 ALMS (1 constructors’, 2 team, and 1 drivers’ titles), 2 Asian Le Mans Series titles (1 team, and 1 drivers’ title), 1 ILMC title (1 constructors’ title), 12 GT Open titles (4 overall, 3 team and 5 drivers’ titles). They also won many other titles in national championships in Italy and Spain.

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The history of chassis 2434 being offered for sale

Chassis 2434 distinguished itself in the Campeonato de España GT. Entered for the season in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 by the Portuguese team ASM Team, it enabled Lourenço Beirão da Veiga and Ricardo Bravo to win the overall title in 2009. That year, they won four races at Valencia, Estoril and Jerez. In 2012, the F430 chassis 2434 raced in England with Paul Bailey and Andy Schulz in the Britcar Endurance Championship, under the banner of SB Race Engineering.

After being acquired by the current owner in 2018, it was restored by Progressive Motorsport in 2019 and then Scott Sport took charge of the car. The engine was entrusted to XtecEngineering and the installation of a MOTEC and its wiring harness was carried out by Lap Engineering. The complete file of the restoration work, including photos and invoices, is available.

It was thus a fully restored F430 GTC which was then successfully entered in the Masters Endurance Legends races and the Endurance Racing Legends by Peter Auto. In its last race at Le Mans Classic 2022, it was quite simply victorious in the GT2 class. This Ferrari F430 GTC is certainly one of the best GT2s for competing in historic races, offering a perfect balance between performance and ease of driving thanks to its very robust and efficient chassis and after all … it's a Ferrari!
Photo: Jesse Evison Photography