Sold new via Luigi Chinetti
Rosso Chiaro with Nero and Rosso interior

The Classic Motor Hub is proud to offer for sale this beautifully original Ferrari Daytona. Completed on 17 December 1970 to US specification with air-conditioning, and finished in Rosso Chiaro with a Nero and Rosso interior, chassis number 14019 was shipped across the Atlantic in January 1971 to New York-based importer Luigi Chinetti.

Chinetti’s links with Maranello went back a long way. A fine driver in his own right, he won the 1949 Le Mans 24 Hours almost single-handed aboard a 166 MM, and went on to become the Ferrari importer for the all-important North American market. He also ran the famous North American Racing Team (NART).

Chinetti sold the Daytona when it arrived in New York to a Mr Green, but it’s thought that Green didn’t actually take delivery of the car because it was back with Chinetti by March 1971. This is when the Borrani wire wheels that are still on the Ferrari were fitted – it originally wore Cromodora alloys – and it was soon sold to its first owner, who was based locally in New York.

They ended up keeping the Ferrari until 1994, when it was sold to a new Japanese owner. In 1996, the Daytona was shown at the TI Circuit at Aida – briefly home to the Pacific Grand Prix – as part of a display by the Takao Sagagawa Museum Collection.

In 2000, it was sold to a new owner in California, and in 2014 it received a transmission rebuild complete with new synchros and bearings, while the dashboard was re-trimmed in the correct mouse-hair fabric.

The Ferrari received further cosmetic attention before it was sold to its next owner in the UK in 2018, with the result that it is now in superb condition. Inspecting the car on the ramp shows the underside to be exceptionally clean and solid, the interior has acquired a pleasing patina, and the original engine (B794) is still fitted.

It drives just as impressively as you’d expect from a Ferrari Daytona, which in its day was the world’s fastest production car, and the strong performance is accompanied by a strident bellow from the big V12. This is an exceptional example of one of the world’s great GT cars.

MODEL HISTORY

The Ferrari Daytona was the last in a legendary line of front-engined models from Maranello. Throughout the late 1950s and early 1960s, the 250 GT Berlinettas had defined a new category of Grand Tourer that could be used on road and track alike, culminating in the revered Short Wheelbase and GTO.

The next evolutionary step came in 1964 with the introduction of the 275 GTB, which gained a transaxle and independent rear suspension, as well as a 3.3-litre single-camshaft version of Gioacchino Colombo’s enduring V12 engine.

That was followed in 1966 by the four-cam 275 GTB/4, which was replaced two years later by the 365 GTB/4 – universally referred to as the Daytona in honour of the Scuderia’s one-two-three result at the 1967 Daytona 24 Hours. Launched at the 1968 Paris Motor Show, it featured the 4390cc Tipo 251 development of the Colombo V12. With a 9:1 compression ratio – 8.8:1 on US-spec cars – plus dry-sump lubrication and six Weber carburettors, it was good for 352bhp at 7500rpm.

The Pininfarina-designed, Scaglietti-built body was sharper and cleaner than the 275 GTB, and beneath it lay the latest Tipo 605 chassis. The 2400mm wheelbase was the same as before, but the front and rear track measurements were wider, and suspension was by wishbones and telescopic dampers front and rear.

A tiny batch of Group 4 competition cars was produced for privateers to race, and resulted in Charles Pozzi-entered Daytonas winning their class in 1972 (driven by Claude Ballot-Lena and Jean-Claude Andruet), 1973 (Ballot-Lena and Vic Elford) and 1974 (Cyril Grandet and Dominique Bardini).

First and foremost, however, the Ferrari Daytona was built for fast road use, and to be the sort of car in which long distances could be dispatched at immense speed. It reached 60mph from a standstill in 5.5 seconds and went on to a maximum of 174mph – faster even than the contemporary Lamborghini Miura.