I remember reading long ago that certain Ferrari race cars in the 1950s had middle gas pedals!! Left = clutch Middle = gas Right = brake !!!!! Phil Hill and others would jump from one car to the next and not know where the gas and brake were !!!! CAN ANYONE GIVE ME MORE INFO ABOUT THIS?? Which cars/years. Which races/results? Which drivers? Did other marques do this? TIA, Fred
Welcome to F-Chat - I do believe that was correct not just for some race cars but some earlier road cars as well. I'm sure there'll be lots of experts to chime in with a confirmation. Again, welcome aboard! Great place - enjoy your stay and think about subscribing to access to LOTS of places you can't see until you do. Jedi
Typical of pre and early post war sports and race cars. As I understand it that pedal position made heel and toeing easier, facilitating shifting the non-synchro gear boxes of that time.
This setup was around untill the mid 50's at least. 412MI had it. Common on Italian comp cars, not often used on street cars.
Some drivers could adapt, like Fangio, and some could not, like Stirling Moss, who refused to drive center throttle cars. Examples are the Lancia-Ferrari D50s, which when donated to Ferrari by Lancia when they quit racing, had center throttles, soon converted to right hand throttles by Ferrari. Google and find some more. Taz Terry Phillips
Googled "Center Throttle" race cars (note quotes around "center throttle") to find many including: First image - "where it started" circa 1890 Benz "patent motorwagon." Second -The Uhlenhaut 300SLR coupes were fearsome street cars based on the Mille Miglia winning 300SLR roadsters. Constructed for racing manager Uhlenhaut's personal use and never sold to private owners, the straight eight coupe's value could rival that of Ferrari's $25m 250GTOs. With center throttle and deafening noise, the SLR coupe would be quite a driving experience. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
