Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona

The last Daytona

With the Miura, Lamborghini had presented a modern mid-engine sports car, thereby pissing off Ferrari. But the Commendatore did not react with a similar concept, but brought the front-engined Ferrari 365 GTB/4 “Daytona” onto the market in 1968. The sales figures proved him right.

The designations at Ferrari were once quite logical: the engine capacity was divided by the number of cylinders. Of course, there were always exceptions, and today everything is different anyway, but at the end of the 60s everything was still good and clear and made sense. But even then, the journalists found this somehow too boring, too dry, and because the Ferraris were then all officially called 250 GT or 365, they were given nicknames.

Daytona

The 365 GTB/4 was shown for the first time at the Paris Salon 1968, twice, once at Ferrari, once at Pininfarina (a nice tradition, by the way, those who were nimble could sometimes have a look at the new Ferrari at the designer’s first).

Five prototypes were built (who is interested: Chassis numbers 10287, 11001, 11795, 11929 and 12037 – which at least nicely shows that production was in full swing at Ferrari). The design: eternal love. Although the 365 stood on the same steel frame as the 275 and also had the same wheelbase (2.4 metres), the track was much wider. The ever-long bonnet, the car crouched to jump, somehow cool and somehow like the image of Claudia Cardinale, Sophia Loren and Monica Bellucci – each of the ladies in her own time, of course – in the same bed.

GTB stands for “Gran Turismo Berlinetta”. And the 4 behind the slash stands for four overhead camshafts, two per cylinder bank. With a compression ratio of 9.3:1, the classic V12 had an output of 353 hp at 7500 rpm, and maximum torque of 432 Nm at 5000 rpm. Six Weber twin carburettors, dry sump lubrication (16 litres of oil!), transaxle, the 5-speed gearbox was mounted in front of the rear axle. “Autocar” managed the sprint from 0 to 100 km/h in 5.4 seconds, the top speed reached by the Englishmen was 274 km/h;

This 1975 Ferrari Daytona 365 GT/B with chassis number #17597 is probably the last Daytona produced. Actually, production ended in 1973 with chassis number #17615, but this Ferrari was delivered to the Ferrari dealer Crepaldi in Milan on 11.08.1975.  Actually, the successor Ferrari Berlinetta Boxer was already produced at this time.

A letter from Ferrari in 1983 confirms this.

It was bought by Sergio Verzolla from Monza on 12/09/1975, who drove it 10,700 km until it was sold by Hüni Automobile to Dr. Heer in Zurich on 8 December 1977 for 57,500 Swiss francs. As a trade-in vehicle there was a Mercedes 300 SL from 1958 for 30,000 Schweitzer Francs with the chassis number 198042 – 8500245.

In April 1980 Dr. Heer sold #17597 to another gentleman.

On 19.02.1982 he accepted the offer from the present owner and the car changed hands for the fourth and last time for 95,000 Swiss francs. Over the last 30 years the car has been driven up to a mileage of 49.874 km. Over this period the owner has kept all letters, invoices and articles. The Daytona is very well documented.
A letter from Ferrari in 1983 confirms this.

A few years ago it was repainted in its original colour. The interior remained untouched and is still in its original condition. The engine starts immediately and sounds very healthy. A Daytona that wants to be driven and has been.

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