By 1954, Ferrari had already used four-cylinder engines for three years, but decided to enlarge the design to 3-liters for the 750 Monza. It typcially raced alongside the smaller 2-liter 500 Mondial and the V12-powered Ferraris which ran for overall victory.
It's hard to believe Ferrari would ever replace the V12, but after the 1950 season in F1, a four cylinder was on the drawing board. Motivation came from HWMs driven by Stirling Moss that were powered by four-cylinder ALTA engines. The performance of this car and the upcoming 2-liter limit on engine capacity was influenced both Enzo Ferrari and designer Aurelio Lampredi to make their own four-banger.
For the 1951 season, Lampredi was given a the task to design a 2.0 and 2.5 four cylinder engines that used the same interchangeable parts. He was convinced that the low rpm torque curve would offer an advantage on twisty circuits. After 100 days, the first prototype engine was complete and ready. It had a DOHC, chain-driven valvetrain, 2 Weber 45 DOE carburettors, a light alloy casting and a displacement of 1985cc that could produce 170 bhp. This combination fit so well within the new Formula 2 rules that Ferrari and Alberto Ascari became world champions.
The first 750 Monzas arrived in 1954 with with Ferrari's conventional steel tube chassis, using fully independent double wishbones up front and a De Dion axle with radius rods and transverse leaf springs at the rear. Braking was provided by oversize drums. They debuted at the 'Gran Premio Supercortemaggiore' at Monza where Gonzales/Trintignant took an overall victory. Afterwards the 3.0-liter became known as the Monza.
By 1956, Ferrari had reached the potential of the 4-cylinder by enlarging it even more for the 860 Monza. This helped the car achieve a 1-2 victory at the Sebring 12-Hours.
Forgetting the Panamera, Cayenne and Macan, Porsche offer a pretty well-rounded sports car range. Starting with the Boxster and Cayman, and moving up the multitude of variations of the Porsche 911, all the way up to the 918 Spyder supercar. But there is a HUGE price gap between the top of the range 911 Turbo ($250,000 will all the options ticked), to the 918 Spyder ($800,000). Somewhere in that range Porsche could surely offer something to compete with the likes of Ferrari and Lamborghini. Something like the 913 possibly? Conceived by the fertile mind of Rene Garcia, a professional 3D modeller who has created conceptual vehicles and highly detailed models for some of the biggest movies of the past decade, including the Matrix Trilogy, Transformers, the latest Star Trekthrillers and The Avengers, the Porsche 913 is an exquisitely rendered design in every detail. It has a bit of the 918 Spyder about it, but there’s also a lot of originality to the design. It looks like a Porsche, but a