last update: July 3, currently 15 models and 1 watch in this collection
Jacques Swaters was a racing driver when he started Ecurie Francorchamps. Later it was joined by Equipe Belge Nationale. Both raced in yellow, the national Belgium color. Swaters is distributor for Ferrari in Belgium, so he only races these Italian cars. I ‘m aware that many more models from Ecurie Francorchamps cars exist, but these are part of my collection.
Ferrari GTO & GTB/C
1964 Tour de France, Ferrari 250 GTO. Everybody knows the Tour de France as a cycling event, but in the previous century it was also a famous and grueling road race for GT’s. The teams crossed France in a few days time and had to compete in rally stages and races on famous tracks such as Rouen, Pau, Reims, Clermont-Ferrand and Le Mans. The event can be compared to the Giro d’Italia (also the name of a cycling event). The Ferrari of the Belgian distributor Jaques Swaters won the event with Lucien Bianchi (great-uncle of the late Jules Bianchi) and Georges Berger.
- #172 Lucien Bianchi (B) / Georges Berger (B) – 1st | BRUMM EF07/15, limited #353/500, produced by BANG
- Watch | OMOLOGATO Ecurie 172 #044/100
1965 Le Mans 24h, Ferrari 275 GTB Competizione. All attention went to the battle between the Ferrari 250 LM’s and the Ford GT 40’s. Behind that, this Ecurie Francorchamps Ferrari 275 GTB/C finished 3rd overall and won the GT class!
- #24 Willy Mairesse (
B) / “Beurlys” (
B) – 3rd overall / 1st GT | VROOM handmade resin model
Ferrari 250 LM
1965 Le Mans 24h, Ferrari 250 LM. Ford tried hard to win Le Mans after Enzo wouldn’t sell his factory to the Americans. The 250 LM with its mid-mounted V12 engine was the last Ferrari to win Le Mans overall (until 2023!). The #25 one from the Belgian Ecurie Francorchamps failed to finish, while the private entered #26 Pierre Dumay car finished 2nd behind a similar car entered by NART.
- #25 Gerard Langlois van Ophem (
B) / “Elde” (
B) – DNF / clutch | BEST 9250
- #26 Pierre Dumay (
B) / Gustave Gosselin (
B) – 2nd | BEST 9606 diorama
1966 Le Mans 24h, Ferrari 250 LM. The little 250 LM was the last Ferrari to win Le Mans overall. In 1966 it was completely outdated, the new 330 P3 was much much quicker. But that one was also defeated by the mighty Ford GT40 MkII’s that won Le Mans. Equipe Nationale Belge entered this 250 LM. It was the same car that raced as #25 under the Ecurie Francorchamps flag in 1965.
- #28 Gustave Gosselin (B
) / Eric de Keyn (
B) – DNF / engine | BEST 9094
Ferrari 412P & 330 P3
1967 Daytona 24h & Spa-Francorchamps 1000km, Ferrari 412P. The factory Ferrari 330 P4 of 1967 was equipped with multi-valve cylinder heads and fuel injection. The privateer teams had to settle with a carburetor version, the 412P. This Ecurie Francorchamps entered 412P could not join in the great Ferrari victory at Daytona 1967, because it retired with a broken gearbox. The Belgian Equipe wasn’t very lucky at their home track Spa-Francorchamps either, crashing their Ferrari.
- Daytona #33 Willy Mairesse (B) / Jean “Beurlys” (B) – DNF / Gearbox | BANG 7175
- Spa-Francorchamps #11 Willy Mairesse (B) / Jean “Beurlys” (B) – DNF / crash | BRUMM REP04
1967 Le Mans 24h, Ferrari 330 P4. The Ferrari 330 was no match for the Ford in terms of speed, reliability wasn’t that good either. Only two Ferraris managed to end the race; one finished second and this car became third. It was a works spec 330 P4 that Ecurie Francorchamps used to replace their 412P that crashed at Spa, few weeks earlier.
- Le Mans #24 Willy Mairesse (B) / Jean “Beurlys” (B) – 3rd | BRUMM S030
Ferrari 512S & 512M
1970 1000 km Spa-Francorchamps, Ferrari 512S. Local hero Hughes de Fierlant finished a credible 8th in the Ferrari from Ecurie Francorchamps. He was joined by Derek Bell.
1970 Le Mans 24h, Ferrari 512S ‘coda lunga’. This Ecurie Francorchamps car was one of only seven cars that managed to finish the race and was fifth overall. It was a beautiful Coda Lunga (longtail) version of the 512S with chassisnumber 1030.
- #23 Hughes de Fierlant (B) / Derek Bell (GB) – 8th | BRUMM R203
- #12 Hughes de Fierlant (
B) / Alistair Walker (GB) –
5th | FABBRI Ferrari Collection #23
1971 Buenos Aires 1000 km, Ferrari 512 S. The main competition in 1970 for the Porsche 917 was the Ferrari 512S. The Ecurie Francorchamps entry was the best privateer in the beginning of the 1971 season, the “Temporada”, where it finished 5th behind two 917’s and two 3-liter Alfa Romeo’s.
1971 Daytona 24h, Ferrari 512S. The main competition in 1970 for the Porsche 917 was the Ferrari 512S. It got replaced by the faster 512M in 1971, but a few teams still used the 512S at the beginning of the season. This entry from Ecurie Francorchamps was one of them. It failed to finish the 24 hour race at Daytona.
1971 Le Mans 24h, Ferrari 512 M. Ecurie Francorchamps had an upgrade of their 512S to 1971 512M ‘Modificazione’ specs. The car was quite fast, qualifying 10th but had to retire with a broken gearbox.
- #18 Hughes de Fierlant (
B) / Gustave Gosselin (B) – 5th | BRUMM R201
- #26 Hughes de Fierlant (
B) / Gustave Gosselin (B) – DNF / engine | BRUMM R203s
- #9 Hughes de Fierlant (
B) / Alain de Cadenet (GB) – DNF / gearbox | BRUMM S044
More Ferrari GT
1972 Le Mans 24h, Ferrari 365 GTB/4. Cars from the team of French Ferrari distributor Pozzi won its class in Le Mans in 1972 and 1973. This one, entered by the Belgian distributor finished 4th in its class.
Le Mans 1979, Ferrari 512 BB LM. The Ferrari 512BB was to heavy and lacked power compared to the Porsche 935. This car was entered by Jean “Beurlys”. The team was a combined effort from British EmKa and Belgian Ecurie Francorchamps.
- #36 Teddy Pilette (B
) / Derek Bell (
GB) / Richard Bond (
GB) – 8th overall / 4th GT | RIO R11
- #61 Nick Faure (
GB) / Steve O’Rourke (
GB) / Bernard de Dryver (
B) / “Beurlys” (
B) – 12th overall / 5th GTX | BRUMM EF11/15
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