After the 512S had mostly been beaten by the Porsche 917 during 1970, Ferrari had modified the S to the 917K-like 512M late in the season, but then abandoned further development of the M, leaving all 512 to customer teams like Penske Racing, NART and privateers.

This design was similar to the flat-12 Porsche 917 engine layout with its low center of gravity, but Ferrari used water-cooling and 4-valve heads.

The car first appeared at the 1971 1000 km of Buenos Aires in Argentina at the hands of Italians Ignazio Giunti and Arturo Merzario.

Its history started off tragically when Giunti was killed in this race after he hit Jean-Pierre Beltoise's Matra head-on while the Frenchman was pushing the stricken car back to the pits.

Ferrari skipped Le Mans, though, as the F1-based engine had not lasted 24 hours in testing and would surely spoil their otherwise perfect record.

As Matra won several races, Ferrari needed to enter in the 1973 24 Hours of Le Mans, with an improved yet still doubtful engine.