GMP 1:6 Ferrari 250 GT SWB V-12 Engine Amazing engines get Bill Bennett all fired up! Review by Bill Bennett

Overview

Since Ferrari Automobili Spa. started business in 1945, they have designed and built many engines that have won recognition and respect on the highway and on the race track. Probably the most famous and memorable is the Colombo-designed 3 litre V12 that is best-known for powering the first generation Testarossa, the mid-sixties 250 GTO and the 250 GT SWB Berlinetta. GMP has added the engines that powered these fantastic cars to their already-substantial offering of 1:6 scale iconic powerplants.

Ferrari introduced the 250 GT SWB Berlinetta at the 1959 Paris Auto Show and filled customer orders for it between 1959 and 1962. The SWB stands for “Short Wheelbase” and comes from Ferrari shortening the car’s chassis by 200 mm from its 250 GT Berlinetta (coupe) predecessor for more responsive handling. The car was developed by the team of Giotto Bizzarrini, Carlo Chiti, and Mauro Forghieri. This is the same team that later developed the 250 GTO. Pinin Farina (later to become Pininfarina) was the primary coachwork supplier and the SWB could be configured as a road version (Lusso) with a steel body or a stripped-down racer with lightweight components and an aluminum body.

The SWB’s were considered the most formidable GT racers of their era and captured the 1961 GT Class Constructor’s Championship.

The engines that powered these cars were the 60 degree V12’s originally designed by Gioacchino Colombo in the late ‘40’s. This engine had an aluminum block with screw-in cast-iron sleeves and single-overhead-cam aluminum heads. The engine was also equipped with a pair of Magneti Marelli distributors (magnetos were also available) and three Weber downdraft, twin-choke carburetors. Power was rated at 280 hp @ 7000 rpm and was channeled through a four-speed all-synchro transmission.

After giving us the engines out of the 250 GTO and the Testarossa, it was a natural for GMP to include the racing SWB’s engine. The 250 GTO and the Testarossa both had 6 twin-choke Weber carburetors with the Testarossa engine being most identifiable by its red wrinkle-finish cam covers. The SWB engine has three twin-choke Weber carburetors with the racing car’s engine being identified by inclusion of Ferrari’s take on the “turkey pan” that incorporated a foam rubber gasket to seal against the underside of the bonnet and keep the engine bay’s hot air from entering the carburetors.

The Ferrari Colombo V12 engine is a beauty and GMP has exquisitely captured that in the SWB’s engine. The aluminum castings of the real engine were all about precision, strength and heat dissipation and you can see that in this beautiful model. All of the major engine components….. heads, cam covers, block, sump pan, bellhousing and transmission case are castings and have integral cooling fins/ribs that not only created a heat sink, but also provided heightened structural rigidity.

All of the little details are there to make this engine look so real. Things like the little identification plates on the Weber carburetors and the Magneti Marelli distributors tell us the manufacturers and the model numbers. Each carburetor sits on a phenolic insulator and its own four-cylinder manifold. A small plate mounted on top of the water pump gives the firing order for the cylinders. The throttle linkage is all there and quite convincing. The velocity stacks sticking up into the turkey pan are stainless steel and allow the viewer to look down into the throats of the carbs. The accuracy of this model engine and the reproduction of the engine’s feel is just magnificent. To the eyes of the world, this may just be a functional piece that powers a motor car, but to car-lovers this is the highest level of Italian art!

Unlike previous engines from GMP, this engine includes the bellhousing, transmission and an added surprise: You can start it up! (Well sorta’) On this engine, a sound chip in the base works with the shift mechanism to allow you to take it “through the gears” and get the aural sensation of what those magnificent 12 cylinders, at song, would sound like. A “Start” button on the base cranks the engine up and then a simple shift into first gets the action going. With each shift, the rpm build until you shift it again. There is also a volume button that allows you to enjoy this feature yourself or share it with the family.

The engine comes mounted on a textured black plastic base that sits into a dark walnut stained (picture frame) base. A photoetched plate is included that identifies the engine as the 250 GT Berlinetta paso corto (SWB) engine and has a rectangular Ferrari badge with the “Caballo Rampante”. A Plexiglas cover is included to keep the dust and fingerprints off of this little beauty.

The model comes packaged in an illustrated case containing a two-piece foam cocoon with the wooden part of the base disassembled. Assembly of the whole display takes about ten minutes and requires no tools other than a small screwdriver to open and close the battery door.

This is a beautiful model that represents one of the really significant automotive engines of all-time. For those with a love for Ferrari or a love of the history of the automobile, this model or one of its brother Ferrari V12's is a "must have".

Legacy Motors carries the full line up of GMP's 1:6 engine replicas, including the Ferrari 250 Berlinetta SWB Engine .