Ferrari 312 T3 With Gilles Villeneuve At The Wheel - Limited Edition Giclee Print with COA

'V12 And Beauty'

Gilles Villeneuve scored his first Formula 1 Grand Prix victory in the Ferrari 312 T3 (chassis 034) at his home 1978 Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal.⁠

The 312 T3 was Mauro Forghieri’s evolution of the successful 312 T2 series, introduced mid-season in 1978. It featured a revised chassis and suspension tailored for Michelin radial tires (a switch from Goodyears), a ~510 hp 3.0-liter flat-12 engine (Tipo 015), a transverse gearbox, and a minimum weight around 580 kg. It was competitive but generally outclassed by the revolutionary ground-effect Lotus 79 for most of the year. Ferrari finished second in the Constructors’ Championship; teammate Carlos Reutemann took multiple wins, while Villeneuve (in his first full season with the team, car number 12) had a tougher learning curve with early DNFs and reliability/tire issues.⁠

At the season-ending Canadian GP (the first held on the new Île Notre-Dame circuit in Montreal, later renamed Circuit Gilles Villeneuve), Villeneuve qualified third. Jean-Pierre Jarier (standing in for the late Ronnie Peterson in the Lotus 79) took pole and led for 49 laps before brake problems forced him out. Villeneuve, who had already worked his way into contention and passed Jody Scheckter, inherited the lead and held it for the remaining 21 laps. He won by about 13.4 seconds over Scheckter (Wolf), with Reutemann third in the other Ferrari. It was a hugely emotional home victory in front of a massive local crowd (including Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau), and Villeneuve later described the final laps as “torture” as he carefully nursed the car home, shifting early and listening for any sign of trouble.⁠

Earlier that season he had led for long stretches at Long Beach (starting second and leading for 39 of the first 38+ laps before contact with a backmarker) and scored his first championship points with a fourth at Zolder, plus a strong wet-weather third in Austria. The T3 (especially chassis 034) laid the foundation for his later success, including three wins in the 1979 312 T4. The car has a rich post-racing history and has appeared at historic events.⁠

Villeneuve’s flamboyant, committed style in the powerful, high-revving flat-12 Ferrari made him a fan favorite from the start, and the Montreal win confirmed the talent that Enzo Ferrari and the Tifosi had already begun to admire.