Vehicle Overview
1972 FERRARI 365GTB/4-A “DAYTONA” #14793
Conceived by Enzo Ferrari and "penned" within just seven days by Pininfarina's Leonardo Fioravanti (also responsible for both the Dino and subsequent 308GTB), the 365 GTB/4 Berlinetta was Ferrari SPA's replacement for the outgoing 275GTB/4. Viewed by many as the embodiment of all that is Ferrari - style, power and reliability - the Scaglietti bodied coupe and spyder designs were the recipients of an all new three hundred and fifty-two brake horsepower, 4.4 litre V12 engine (designated the "tipo 251"), mated to a transaxle with an integral five-speed manual gearbox.
On its debut at the 1968 Paris Auto Salon, the 365GTB/4 was dubbed the “Daytona” by the world’s press, celebrating Ferrari’s 1-2-3 success at the 1967 running of the Floridian endurance race, the Daytona 24hrs. Maranello’s acknowledgement of the nickname wasn’t forthcoming …but the name stuck.
Early production 365GTB/4's featured fixed headlights behind an acrylic glass cover (plexiglass), which were replaced in 1971 on safety grounds (more especially for the US market) by retractable, pop-up, twin headlights. Between 1967 and 1973, records detail approximately twelve hundred and eighty-four coupes, and one hundred and twenty-two spyders were delivered to global markets. The first RHD coupe delivered, in 1970, to the UK was chassis #12853.
The car we offer, chassis #14793 (one of the rare A-suffix chassis numbered cars) was completed in Maranello, Italy on December 3rd 1971; records suggest this is the six hundred and ninety-ninth Daytona built and the eighty-fifth completed in right hand drive (of just one hundred and fifty-eight) and was delivered new to Maranello Concessionaires Limited in January 1972, on order no 540 - specified with an Argento Auteuil 106-E-1 Salchi (silver) exterior, complemented by a light blue (Blu VM3015) interior, with blue over-carpets and fitted with optional air-conditioning and registered JPK640K.
Run initially as their demonstrator, the car was sold on February 15th 1972 to its first owner, N.J. Streeter Esq of Godalming Surrey, who re-registered the Daytona with the cherished number MPH455 in the middle of that year. #14793 travelled more than nine thousand miles in his first twelve months of ownership, during which time routine maintenance was carried out by Coombs of Guildford, including a customer order for the fitment of a newly available heated rear screen. Subsequent invoices from Rardley Motors detail more extensive maintenance over the ensuing years, and are a clear indication the car was used extensively during Mr. Streeter’s nine plus years of ownership.
On June 1st 1981, #14793 was sold to noted Ferrari collector Martin Hilton Esq of Haywards Heath, Sussex, maintaining the previous registration plate, and at the time of its annual MOT on October 4th 1983 the mileage was fifty-two thousand, four hundred and sixty miles.
Records show the Daytona was sold to London based collectors car dealer Michael Fisher Limited on March 29th 1984, before selling through dealer Bramleys of Guildford to its third owner, Paul Jarmyn Esq of Hornchurch, Essex in January 1985, still registered MPH455. Marque specialist service invoices from Terry Hoyle Limited and Rardley Motors confirm that in February 1985, the speedometer was replaced (due to a “flickering” needle), and at the time of its annual MOT in March 1985, the mileage was sixty-nine miles. The following MOT’s detail the car’s mileage over the next seventeen years –
| June 1986 |
1,317 miles |
| February 1988 |
1,878 miles |
| June 1989 |
2,428 miles |
| October 1990 |
2,668 miles |
| April 1995 |
3,924 miles |
| June 1996 |
4,575 miles |
| July 1999 |
5,123 miles |
| December 2002 |
5,765 miles |
Throughout his ownership, the car was marque specialist maintained by Rardley Motors and Tim Samways Sporting and Historic Car Engineers.
Following a comprehensive, documented, vehicle inspection by Maranello Concessionaries Limited, the car was purchased on November 18th 2004, by its current keeper, joining a private collection of immaculately maintained Ferraris. The car was complete with a fresh MOT, dated November 22nd 2004, when the mileage was six thousand and eighty five miles and the previous registration was de-assigned and replaced with the period correct number BRJ990K, on February 10th 2005.
A complete restoration was commenced by an independent, marque specialist restorer some two weeks later, which was comprehensively documented and photographed, over the ensuing four years. During this time, the car’s owner purchased the requisite replacement parts from multiple sources, all of which are documented in the car’s comprehensive history file. Although the car’s remedial metalwork had been completed, the interior re-upholstered and the engine reinstalled, with almost obsessive precision - without any finish date in prospect, the owner withdrew the car from the restorer and arranged for its repainting, finishing and pre- concours preparation to be completed by Moto Technique Limited and Griffin Sportscars Limited (all invoices and photographs on file for work completed). After taking almost four and half years to complete the restoration, the Daytona was finished in July 2009 and entered into Class E of the Ferrari Owners Club National Concours…. which it duly won, securing the owner the “Targa 365 Trophy”, before appearing on the FOCGB stand at the 2009 NEC Classic Car Show.
In April 2010, the Daytona completed the rigorous Ferrari Classiche certification, and in September 2012, the car was invited by Ferrari Northern Europe to be displayed in the “Wing” complex, of the Silverstone International race circuit, on the “Ferrari Classiche” stand, at the “Silverstone Ferrari Days”. #14793 is MOT’d until September 2013, having completed just three hundred and fifty-nine miles post restoration, is exempt from the road fund licence and included in the sale, are an original tool roll, attache case, scissor jack and workshop service manual.
The 365 GTB/4 or Daytona tipo, in both GTB and GTS variants, has seen considerable appreciation over the last three years as an ever increasing number of new enthusiasts seek to acquire a finite production, hand-crafted, seventies-built, Ferrari V12. With RHD 365 GTB project cars in extremely limited supply, and very much in demand, combined with the associated parts availability and costs and the likely elapsed time for completion to prepare a comparable, concours standard restoration, this represents an outstanding opportunity to own a concours award winning, Classiche certificated, just four owners from new, completely documented and fastidiously maintained RHD Ferrari 365 GTB/4, combined with the additional investment potential. SOLD
Additional insight -
www.ferrarilife.com/download/445
www.daytonaregistry.com |
