//:: From Phil Hill to the sharknose of the 156

Another F1 great has gone. Phil Hill died on Thursday in California’s Salinas-Monterey Hospital of complications from Parkinson’s disease. Phil Hill will be remembered as the first and only American Formula 1 World Champion. He took the World Title in 1961 racing one of the most iconic and one of the most distinctive of all Ferraris. The Ferrari 156!

The Ferrari 156 for me is one of the most beautiful Ferrari ever made. With it's distinctive and unique front air intakes which was affectionately dubbed "sharknose". This particular Ferrai was built to compete with the new F1 regulations that lowered engine displacement from 2.5 to 1.5 litres in the 1961 World Championship. Whilst Phil Hill Won his only World Title with the 156. Ferrari on the other hand won their first Formula 1 Contructor's Championship.

What's sad about this particular model is, that you will never see an original version again. Ferrari factory policy inevitably saw all the remaining sharknose 156s scrapped by the end of the 1963 season. So the one displayed at the Ferrari Galleria could be a replica of the original car. But 40 years later, Ferrari has once again re-incarnated the "sharknose" air intake design into one of it's latest GT road cars, The Ferrari F430...

Yes, there are lots of Ferraris now a days. But, will I ever see a classic Ferrari? Particularly the 156 from 1961. I hope and wish that some text' here on the web are all wrong. That Ferrari has destroyed all of the 156 from 1961. I just wish they're all wrong.....

"Will I ever see a real Ferrari 156 from 1961?...."

"Another F1 Great has gone, Phil Hill 1927-2008... But has this 156 gone too? I hope not..."