A Scale Model of a Ferrari 312PB Built By Pierre Scerri

Back in 1978, a Frenchman named Pierre Scerri wanted a Ferrari. He was a racing fan and loved the look and sound of the Ferrari race cars he saw at the circuit. He knew he couldn’t afford one, so he decided to build one himself, a Ferrari 312PB… but one that would fit in his living room. So he took pictures of the 312 PB, the real one, and sketched out all details.

It took him 3 years to complete every schematic and drawing. Then it took him another 12 years and 20,000 hours after that to build it, in its entirety. By entirety, I mean, he built everything: the body, interior, seat belts, switches, spark plugs, engine, gearbox, electrical system, lights… everything is there, perfectly. And it works.
Check out the pictures and info after the jump:

It has exact scale operating Ferrari gauges which precisely indicate RPMs, oil pressure, water temperature and oil temperature. Scerri had to learn how to make glass so he could make the exact pattern lens for the headlights. He learned to make rubber so he could mold his own tires. He built a perfect 1/3 scale pressurized fuel injection system and the electrics and the hydraulically controlled brakes from the brake pedal, which have actual quick-change brake pads just like the real car.

The best part, though, is the sound. The flat 12 cylinder, fuel injected, dry sump engine starts up and runs, with the same beautiful Ferrari sound as the original. It apparently took Pierre six months of running the engine on his own dynamometer to tune the header pipes so they would give off the same sound value as he had recorded from the engine of the real car.

You can visit Pierre Scerri’s website here