Ferrari 512BB LM CH. Pozzi - JMS Racing Team sponsored by Iso Roulements - 24 Hours Le Mans 1979
Car scale model kit in 1/43 scale manufactured by Arena Modelli (ref. ARE1398)

By the late 1970s, Ferrari's Formula One program was well on track and could devote some of its resources to other pursuits. Following the disappointing performance of the Ferrari 512BB at the 1978 24 Hours of Le Mans, the customer racing department ("Reparto Assistenza Clienti") was commissioned to develop a competition version of the 512BB at the request of Luigi Chinetti and other Ferrari customers. The car was named the 512BB LM to make its intentions clear: it was a GT Ferrari for Le Mans.

Thus, the 512BB's 12-cylinder engine, which was originally fuelled by carburettors, was fitted with an electronic fuel injection system that increased power to 470 hp (470 hp), allowing the car to reach a top speed of 320 km/h (200 mph). This system was later adopted by the road-going 512 BB, giving rise to the BBi version. The 12-cylinder boxer engine was conceived and designed to lower the centre of gravity, but to reduce the wheelbase, it had to be mounted above the transmission, limiting the advantage of a lower engine and negatively affecting handling. In fact, drivers complained that they found the car quite unpredictable. The transmission, which had been identified as a weak point, was redesigned with straight gears, and both the internal components and the casing were strengthened. This improved reliability, although it proved to remain one of the car's weak points.

The bodywork was designed by Pininfarina, for which extensive testing was carried out in the Grugliasco wind tunnel. The result was a car 41 centimetres longer than the road version and with a completely different appearance. The pop-up headlights were replaced with fixed units, and the rear end was stretched to the maximum length allowed by IMSA regulations.

In 1979, Ferrari produced an initial run of nine cars for the season, and between 1980 and 1982, a further 16 cars were built, all revised in some respects. Of these 25, six went directly to private collectors and never competed. The remaining 19 raced in Europe and the United States. The debut of the new GT race car at the 24 Hours of Daytona in February 1979 was not a great success, and all cars were retired. Fourteen of the 512BB LMs started at some stage of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The best result achieved by the 512BB LM at Le Mans was fifth place in the 1981 race, also winning the IMSA class, in the Pozzi team entry driven by Jean-Claude Andruet and Claude Ballot-Léna. In 1982, the last year that the 512BB LMs participated in Le Mans, the Prancing Horse Farm team unit driven by Carson Baird, Pierre Dieudonné and Jean-Paul Libert finished in a more than respectable sixth place.