The Ferrari 553 was a racing car produced by Ferrari which raced in (when the World Championship was run to F2 regulations) as a Formula Two car and in as a Formula One car.
The 1953 553 F2 car was raced in the 1953 World Drivers' Championship by Umberto Maglioli and Piero Carini. It was first raced at Monza in the 1953 Italian Grand Prix on September 13, 1953.[1] In 1954 the Ferrari 553 F1 car replaced it when the World Championship returned to F1 specifications.
The car competed in six World Championship Grands Prix over the two seasons, making ten individual entries. Its only points finishing position was a win for Mike Hawthorn at the 1954 Spanish Grand Prix.
The engine was a Lampredi inline-four, producing 2600NaN0 at 7200 rpm, from 2497.56 cc of total capacity. Because of the distinctive rounded bodywork and air-intake it was nicknamed Squalo, meaning Shark in Italian.[2]
In 1955, Ferrari updated their existing 553 F1 car. New helical springs were used for the front suspension, instead of the transverse leaf-springs. The rear saw the replacement of a lower leaf-spring to an upper one. It also received a five-speed gearbox instead of a four-speed. It used the same capacity as before and the power output also remained the same.
Because of the extended, rounded bodywork it was further nicknamed as a Supersqualo (Super shark). The car was first used at the Bordeaux GP on 24 April 1955. In 1956, Peter Collins was still using the 555 F1, whilst the rest of the Scuderia drove the Lancia-Ferrari D50.[3]
| ----- bgcolor="#DDDDDD" ! width="24%" | Technical data[4] ! width="38%" | 553 Squalo ! width="38%" | 555 Super Squalo | ----- bgcolor="#EEEEEE" | Engine: | ----- bgcolor="#EEEEEE" | displacement
| 2498 cm³ | ----- bgcolor="#EEEEEE" | Bore x stroke: | 100 x 79.5 mm | ----- bgcolor="#EEEEEE" | Compression
| 13.0:1 | 11.9:1 | ----- bgcolor="#EEEEEE" | Max power at rpm: | 260 hp at 7 200 rpm | ----- bgcolor="#EEEEEE" | Valve control: | Double Overhead Camshafts, 2 valves per cylinder | ----- bgcolor="#EEEEEE" | Carburetor
| 2 Weber 50 DCOA/3 | ----- bgcolor="#EEEEEE" | Gearbox
| ----- bgcolor="#EEEEEE" | suspension front: | Double cross links, transverse leaf spring | Double cross links, coil springs | ----- bgcolor="#EEEEEE" | suspension rear: | De Dion axle, double longitudinal links, transverse leaf spring | ----- bgcolor="#EEEEEE" | Brakes: | Hydraulic drum brakes | ----- bgcolor="#EEEEEE" | Chassis & body: | Fackverks frame with aluminum body | ----- bgcolor="#EEEEEE" | wheelbase
| 216 cm | ----- bgcolor="#EEEEEE" | Dry weight
| 590 kg | ----- bgcolor="#EEEEEE" | Top speed: | 280 km/h | ||||||||||||||||
See main article: Ferrari Grand Prix results. (key)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | Tyres | Driver | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scuderia Ferrari | 553 | Ferrari 553 2.0 L4 | ARG | 500 | NED | BEL | FRA | GBR | GER | SUI | ITA | |||||
| Umberto Maglioli | 8 | |||||||||||||||
| Piero Carini | Ret | |||||||||||||||
| Scuderia Ferrari | 553 | Ferrari 554 2.5 L4 | ARG | 500 | BEL | FRA | GBR | GER | SUI | ITA | ESP | |||||
| Giuseppe Farina | Ret | WD | ||||||||||||||
| José Froilán González | Ret | Ret | Ret | |||||||||||||
| Mike Hawthorn | Ret | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| Umberto Maglioli | 7 | |||||||||||||||
| Robert Manzon | DNS | |||||||||||||||
| Maurice Trintignant | Ret | |||||||||||||||
| Scuderia Ferrari | 555 | Ferrari 555 2.5 L4 | ARG | MON | 500 | BEL | NED | GBR | ITA | |||||||
| Harry Schell | Ret | |||||||||||||||
| Paul Frère | 8 | 4 | ||||||||||||||
| Piero Taruffi | 8 | DNS | ||||||||||||||
| Giuseppe Farina | 3 | |||||||||||||||
| Maurice Trintignant | 6 | Ret | 8 | |||||||||||||
| Eugenio Castellotti | 5 | 3 | ||||||||||||||
| Mike Hawthorn | 7 | Ret | ||||||||||||||
| Umberto Maglioli | 6 | |||||||||||||||
| Scuderia Ferrari | 555 | Ferrari 555 2.5 L4 Ferrari DS50 2.5 V8 | ARG | MON | 500 | BEL | FRA | GBR | GER | ITA | ||||||
| Peter Collins | Ret | |||||||||||||||
| Olivier Gendebien | 5 | |||||||||||||||