1971 Ferrari 365 GTB/4

The Ferrari 365 GTB/4 acquired its Daytona tag after the model swept the 1967 race of the same name 1-2-3. Despite Ferrari never officially applying the name to the model, its use is now universal.

The Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona is the ultimate expression of the front-engine V-12 Ferrari and illustrates Enzo’s dictum that “the horse does not push the cart, it pulls”. The Daytona’s exaggerated bonnet practically places the driver between the back wheels and the design is considered by many to be one of Pininfarina’s greatest designs.

The 365 GTB/4 Daytona has a tube steel frame, and the Scaglietti-built body features a horizontal side crease below the level of the wheel wells. Early models had full-width plastic headlight covers, but US regulations forbade covered lights and the solution was the elegant pop-up lights which were fitted to all the cars from 1970 onwards. The chopped-off Kamm tail contains two taillights on each side and aluminium is used for the doors, hood and boot. Cromodora 5-spoke wheels, similar to those on F1 cars at the time, were standard.

The Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona’s mechanical specifications delivered on its claim to be the fastest production sports car in the world, with a top speed of 174 mph. The 4-cam Colombo V12 engine displaced 4.3-litres and generated 352 horsepower, breathing through six Weber carburettors, with independent suspension all round and a 5-speed transaxle placed at the rear for 50-50 weight balance. Road & Track’s Dean Batchelor photographed an indicated 180 mph at a flat-out 7,000 rpm and even when the speed was re-calculated, it still came out to 173 mph.

The Daytona was introduced at the Paris Salon in 1968. Not everyone liked the Perspex strip covered headlights and quibbled about heavy steering and pedals, lack of seat back adjustment, and “last-gasp” air-conditioner. But everyone agreed that it was great fun to drive – the more so the faster you went.

One of the first endorsements came from Le Mans winner for Ferrari and lifetime auto journalist Paul Frere. He reported 176 mph in Autostrada traffic in 1969, and observed drily that the radio was useless above 120 mph. Still, as he said “If you go faster, it’s the engine that makes the music, the finest music of all to the ears of the enthusiast and the music he can enjoy in a well-sprung car, fitted with such amenities as electric window lifters, air conditioning (that could be improved) and a really capacious luggage locker – a Grand Touring car par excellence”.

The Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona was a fitting end to an era. Fiat had bought 40 per cent of Ferrari and was rationalising production cycles to eliminate one-offs, and special projects, which the company had always pursued simultaneously. Fewer changes were made to the Daytona than to previous models as a result.

Competition 365 GTB/4 Daytonas won the Tour de France in 1972, their class at Le Mans in 1973 and 1974 and their class at Daytona in 1973 and 1975. The 1973 Le Mans class-winning Charles Pozzi entry, s/n 16363, driven by Vic Elford and Claude Ballot-Lena was driven back to Paris, following the race – proving the Daytona’s remarkable reliability.

The Ferrari Daytona was a remarkably successful model, with 1,279 Berlinettas built, 15 competition models and 121 Spiders. A number of Berlinettas were chopped into Spiders, which requires considerable structural reinforcement. Such cars should be approached warily and examined very carefully. Spiders today demand a premium over their coupe brethren.

Contemporary alternatives to the Ferrari Daytona include the Maserati Ghibli, the Jaguar E-Type V-12 FHC, the Porsche 911 2.7 RS and the Lamborghini Miura.