• Year of manufacture 
    1970
  • Chassis number 
    13333
  • Lot number 
    338
  • Drive 
    LHD
  • Condition 
    Used
  • Number of seats 
    2
  • Location
    United Kingdom
  • Exterior colour 
    Other
  • Drivetrain 
    2wd
  • Fuel type 
    Petrol

Description

1970 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 'Daytona' Berlinetta
Coachwork by Pininfarina
Registration no. EHN 326H
Chassis no. 13333

'It's a hard muscled thoroughbred, the Daytona - easily the most awesome and yet disciplined road-going Ferrari in that firm's brilliant quarter century of existence. The Daytona isn't fast – it's blinding. It will eat up a quarter-mile of asphalt in 13.2 seconds at 110mph and scream out to 175mph - or it will slug through traffic at 1,500rpm with the Sunday manners of a FIAT. It is the perfect extension of its driver. You can cut and weave through shuffling traffic with the agility of a halfback, or lope down the freeway with the piece of mind that comes from knowing you can contend with anyone's incompetence. To say, after you've driven it, that the Daytona is desirable doesn't begin to sum up your feelings - you would sell your soul for it.' - Car & Driver, January 1970.

Every Ferrari is, to a greater or lesser extent, a 'landmark' car, but few of Maranello's road models have captured the imagination of Ferraristi like the 365 GTB/4. The ultimate expression of Ferrari's fabulous line of V12 front-engined sports cars, the 365 GTB/4 debuted at the Paris Salon in 1968, soon gaining the unofficial name 'Daytona' in honour of the sweeping 1, 2, 3 finish by the Ferrari 330P4 at that circuit in 1967. Pininfarina's Leonardo Fioravanti, later the famed Carrozzeria's director of research and development, was responsible for the influential shark-nosed styling, creating a package that restated the traditional 'long bonnet, small cabin, short tail' look in a manner suggesting muscular horsepower while retaining all the elegance associated with the Italian coachbuilder's work for Maranello. One of Pininfarina's countless masterpieces, the influential shark-nosed body style featured an unusual full-width transparent Plexiglas panel covering the headlamps, though this was replaced by electrically-operated pop-up lights to meet US requirements soon after the start of production in the second half of 1969. Fioravanti later revealed that the Daytona was his favourite among the many Ferraris he designed.

Although the prototype had been styled and built by Pininfarina in Turin, manufacture of the production version was entrusted to Ferrari's subsidiary Scaglietti in Modena. The Daytona's all-alloy, four-cam, V12 engine displaced 4,390cc and produced its maximum output of 352bhp at 7,500rpm, with 318lb/ft of torque available at 5,500 revs. Dry-sump lubrication enabled it to be installed low in the oval-tube chassis, while shifting the gearbox to the rear in the form of a five-speed transaxle meant 50/50 weight distribution could be achieved. The all-independent wishbone and coil-spring suspension was a recent development, having originated in the preceding 275GTB. Unlike the contemporary 365GTC/4, the Daytona was not available with power steering, a feature then deemed inappropriate for a 'real' sports car. There was, however, servo assistance for the four-wheel ventilated disc brakes. Air conditioning was optional, but elsewhere the Daytona remained uncompromisingly focussed on delivering nothing less than superlative high performance.

At the time of its introduction in 1968 the Daytona was the most expensive production Ferrari ever and, with a top speed in excess of 170mph, was also the world's fastest production car. Deliveries commenced in the second half of 1969 and the Daytona would be manufactured for just four years; not until the arrival of the 456 GT in 1992 would Ferrari build anything like it again. Only 1,300 Berlinetta models and 121 Spyder convertibles had been made when production ceased in 1973. Of these, only some 400 were of the original Plexiglas type, and these early examples have become the most sought after.
One of only 149 Daytonas manufactured in right-hand drive configuration, this is a wonderful example of the most sought after 'Plexiglas' variant of the 365 GTB/4. Chassis number '13333' is a well-known car, being one of only 42 right-hand Plexiglas models made, and the only one of that type finished in the most attractive colour combination of Argento Auteil Metallizato (silver) with Rosso (red) leather interior from new. It was built in April 1970 and supplied new by Maranello Concessionaires to the famous Ferrari collector, Sir Eric Miller, in May of that year.

The Daytona was kept by Sir Eric Miller for a few years before being offered for sale by David Clark Cars in Finchley with 24,000 miles recorded. It enjoyed two further owners in the early 1980s - a Mr R Penfold and a Mr C Emson - and was offered for sale in 1984 by Michael Fisher with 29,000 miles on the odometer. The Ferrari then remained in long-term ownership in the UK before being bought by Hexagon Classics in mid-2007. It then spent a few years in Australia before returning to the UK in 2015.

An older restoration, still in immaculate condition, the Daytona displays a believed genuine 45,380 miles on the odometer; it features fully restored and correct Cromodora alloy wheels, has the correct wood-rim steering wheel, and no headrests. The car retains matching numbers and correct factory colours, and has been assessed and Classiche certified by the Ferrari factory. It also comes with history reports from Marcel Massini and Ed Callow.

There are never that many Plexiglas Daytonas for sale, and few of those will be UK right-drive examples like this car, as only 42 were made. Representing the iconic Daytona in its earliest and purest Plexiglas form, '13333' comes complete with tool kit, owner's book pack, current MoT, V5C document, and the all important Ferrari Classiche certification.


Bonhams 1793
101 New Bond Street
London
W1S 1SR
United Kingdom
Contact Person Kontaktperson
First name 
Bonhams Collectors’ Car department

Phone 
+44-2074685801
Fax 
+44-2074477401