This ’60s Ferrari Formula 1 Car Is High-Speed History
The Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum is home to more than 1800 vintage vehicles. The majority of them—and also the main attraction—are motorcycles, but hidden in between and below are some of the greatest pieces of four-wheel racing history, too. One such example is the Ferrari 158, and just like everything else in the museum, it is ready to run.
George Barber is best known for the motorcycle collection he and his team have curated over the last 30 years, but his first love was cars. More specifically, racing cars. His own driving career happened at a time when many of the greats were rising, and that meant when Barber went looking for a crown jewel for the collection he knew exactly what he wanted: The John Surtees championship-winning Ferrari 158. Not only is it gorgeous, the history makes it the perfect fit for the museum.
John Surtees was a man of many talents, but at the age of 18, he forged a path into grand prix motorcycle racing. This was a natural path for the son of a motorcycle dealer in 1952. He quickly rose to a factory ride and won the 500cc World Championship in 1956 aboard an MV Agusta, though it came with a small asterisk due to the governing Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM) banning Geoff Duke, the defending champ, for promoting a riders’ strike over the money paid to racers. Surtees continued a dominant run, even as the manufacturers he rode for slowly bowed out of racing.
By 1960, Surtees had established he was not a fluke, and decided to try his hand at other motorsports. Where to start? Formula 1, as one does. He raced for several teams throughout the 1960s, but it was Scuderia Ferrari who came calling for 1963. It proved a fruitful collaboration, and a year later he drove the Ferrari 158 to a world championship.
It is a stunning car from a time when the cars were small and the risk big. The 1.5-liter V-8 sits just behind the driver, and while it would be tempting to pickle such a car for posterity, that’s not how Barber thinks. Instead, the car is kept in running condition, as even with 1800 vehicles to take care of the museum is still well aware of how just sitting can rot machinery. The Ferrari gets out for occasional exercise on the Barber track, though at a much more pedestrian pace than Surtees would have driven it. Just seeing it running is a treat for most of us, though, and so we thank the Barber Museum for letting us hear that V-8 and for keeping it out in the public. Its next appearance, in fact, is this coming weekend at the Goodwood Revival as part of a tribute to the late John Surtees.
Nice to see it cared for. It did look like some smoke was coming out. I hope they can take care of that or the engine was still cold.
I can’t imagine racing in these cars from the 60’s. You really wore the car.
Ditto to Hyperv6
this year a Rolex reunion I have have privilage of working the pre-grid as part of SCCA SF region. Sat mid day demo run included ( 2 ) most iconic racers from my youth. Richie Ginther’s 1965 Honda Mexico GP winning F1 car, and Dan Gurney’s number 96 Aciero Brothers Lotus 19. Amazin how tiny the Honda was, then firing it up and the sound of that tiny V12, breathtaking.
Driving in a bathtub of fuel! This dangerous era is what makes the Grand Prix movie so special. These guys were gladiators.
The car looks and sounds good. It’s cool that John has been able to be a part of this cars continuing history.
I have always thought that this era of race car design was the most beautiful and elegant of all machines made. So pure in design and purpose. Thanks for the video!
Contrary to the title of the article, it’s a ’60’s vehicle.
Indeed, thank you for pointing out this error. We appreciate it.
What’s with the title of this article? You must know this car is from the mid ’60’s…not the ’50’s.
Fixed it! Thank you for bringing it to our attention.
Wow…it looks like they have a second one…either a 158 or a 1512 NART entry.
Old, hard valve stem seals?
This one makes my heart beat a little faster: just pretending in my mind that I was climbing in and behind the wheel back when I was a kid.
It’s just plain beautiful.
…(nowadays, at almost 70, i drive a school bus for my driving thrills. and have been since 1972)….
Inasmuch as my crystal ball was broke in shipment and your journalist failed to adhere to one of basic the basic tenets of reporting (what, where, when etc) could you tell me where the Barber museum is so that I might gaze upon this magnificent piece of machinery?
Make your plans to visit Birmingham, AL to see the museum: https://www.barbermuseum.org/plan-a-visit/museum-hours/
Beautiful cars to look at but ” Please Do Not Touch “. From that era when drivers were playing russian roulette, though thinking ‘it won’t be me’ and teams were hose clamping auxiliary tanks inside the cockpit when FIRE! wasn’t uncommon. Stewart called the Nurbergring “the green hell ‘ while others called it simply ” the graveyard “. It took the lives of 70 drivers. Ceverts crash at the Glenn in 73 put something of an end to that era to some degree although it would still take quite awhile. To me these cars are the definitive femmes fatales. So where do I sign?