The Ferrari ‘Daytona’, officially designated the Ferrari 365 GTB/4 was the replacement for the 275 GTB/4 model, and as with many Ferrari models of the period, made its debut at the Paris Salon in 1968. It quickly became known as the ‘Daytona’, a name given by the media in recognition of the Ferrari 1-2-3 victory in the 1967 Daytona 24-Hours.

The evolution of the 275 GTB4 was a milestone in the history of extreme high-performance front-engined sports cars. Sleek and modern Pininfarina lines were matched by a development of the 4.4-litre V12 engine fed by six Weber twin-choke 40 mm carburettors, and the excellent weight distribution provided by the rear gearbox transaxle produced a car of rare balance which guaranteed a unique driving experience.

Additional to the road cars, Ferrari built three series of five client competition examples, built at the factory’s “Assistenza Clienti” department in Modena. Each of the three-series featured slightly different modification to the others, wider arches, aluminium bonnet and boot lids etc. These competition examples proved to be hugely successful in the GT category, not only due to their power, but also reliability in endurance events. At the 1972 Le Mans 24-Hour race, these cars filled the top five positions in their class, repeating the class wins there in 1973 and 1974! The car was so successful that even in 1979, six years after production ceased, a 365 GTB/4 Daytona Competizione finished second overall in the Daytona 24-Hours!

This Daytona:

The Daytona we are offering here, chassis 14321, was sold new to Mr Phil Scragg via Maranello Concessionaires in July 1971. It was finished in Rosso Chiaro 20.R.190 with a Nero leather interior with Mr Scragg trading in his aluminium RHD Ferrari 275 GTB/4. The cars original UK license plate was GPH 492K and it total cost £9,219.65. Within the car history file are copies of Mr Scragg’s correspondence with Maranello Concessionaires along with copies of the original sales invoice.

In February 1977, the car passed its UK MOT with the mileage noted as 19,058, clearly this was a car being driven and enjoyed. The history file contains several service invoices from the late 1970’s, with the car regularly being maintained by Maranello Concessionaires Limited, Graypaul Motors Ltd and DK Engineering. The history file continues to document the UK MOT’s showing the mileage steadily increasing to 30,000 in the early 1980’s.

In the mid 1990’s this car was owned by Mr Richard Chester who chose to upgrade the car to competition specification which involved fitting a roll bar, front grill ducting and Perspex covers over the headlights, period correct brake calipers and transmission, ‘fast road’ cams fitted to the engine, competition suspension springs. Then in 1995 the car entered the Spa Historic Meeting at Spa Francorchamps where it won the V12 class.

Chester continued to compete with this car throughout 1998, including events such as Ferrari Days Spa and the Nurburgring Old Timer before winning the Ferrari Owners Club Concours Connoisseurs Class in June 2000. In 2002 the car was then offered for sale at the Coys Le Mans auction before entering the 2004 Angouleme Circuit de Ramparts event with race number 44.

In 2005 the car changed hands to its most recent owner, based in Switzerland. He quickly sent the car to Carrozzeria Auto Sport in Italy to have a full Group IV conversion completed. This work included adding the rivets to the bonnet, ‘fences’ to the front nose, external fuel filler car, widened rear arches to accommodate the competition specification wheels, stripping the interior, fitment of an FIA approved fuel cell and painting the car with the hugely iconic white and blue stripe, reminiscent of the colours used by Luigi Chinetti’s North American Racing Team (NART) on their competition cars including the 365 GTB/4 Daytona Competizione Conversion which entered Le Mans.

Throughout the last 10 years, this car has been regularly campaigned at competition events across Europe. It has been a consistent competitor at the Vernasca Silver Flag Hillclimb, and the Bergamo Grand Prix, visiting each event four times.

The Ferrari Daytona is a hugely iconic car, its huge V12 engine out front continues the design philosophy that Enzo believed in. The Group IV cars competition success only adds to its appeal, and this widely eligible example is the ideal example to compete with at a variety of modern historic rallies and events.

Price: POA