Project Car DP215
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Project Car DP215

Project Car DP215

(1963)

Like the DP214 cars, DP215 was designed by Ted Cutting and developed for the 1963 Le Mans race. The factory produced Project 215 was an even lighter car with a 4 litre engine running in the GT prototype category. Driven by Phil Hill and Lucien Bianchi, and like the DP214's it too retired early but with gearbox problems. The DP215 only had one more race at Rheims with Jo Schlesser at the wheel, where it again retired. A crash on the M1 motorway in 1965 caused extensive damage although it was rebuilt with a spare body and DB6 engine. The original engine was reunited with the car in the '80's and after a long restoration, the car appeared again in original condition.

Project Car DP215

I first photographed the car at Coys Festival 1995, then again in 1998 at Coys where it was to race. Unfortunately it crashed heavily in practice – don’t ask to see the pictures!

DP215 eventually ran in it’s first race since Reims in 1963 when it competed in the pre-64 GT race at the final Coys Festival at Silverstone during the Summer 2000 and achieved 13th place.

The swept Kamm tail of the DP cars was found to be essential after wind tunnel tests showed massive lift at 175mph. The 4 litre, six cylinder engine of DP215 developed a huge 326 bhp at 5800 rpm – sufficient to achieve 198.5 mph down the Mulsanne straight during practice.