Remembering the 365 GTB4 Daytona

It was launched almost exactly 55 years ago at the October Paris Motor Show - the location of choice for the unveiling of many a spectacular Ferrari - and remains the classic front-engined V12 Prancing Horse.

The unofficial nickname of the 365 GTB4 celebrated Ferrari’s historic 1-2-3 victory at the 1967 Daytona 24-hour race. The same famous name is worn by the new mid-rear engined V12 Ferrari Daytona SP3, the second car of Ferrari’s limited-edition Icona series. 

The style of the 365 GTB4 was iconic. Its vast bonnet emphasised the V12 power beneath. This was a mighty beast, more muscular warhorse than rampant pony. The Colombo V2 had grown to 4.4 litres, from the 3.3 of the previous 275 GTB4. The soft poetry of the 275 GTB4’s lines had been sharpened into a muscular wedge. The short, sharp tail further emphasised the length of the nose. It was a car dominated by that front-mounted engine and its promise of power.

Which it duly delivered. Maximum power was 352 hp, and top speed was 280 km/h – by some margin, the fastest road Ferrari up to that time. And while it bucked the emerging trend to supercars that placed their engines behind their drivers, the Daytona was generally thought superior to mid-rear engined rivals in handling and predictability. Its excellent weight distribution – helped by the rear transaxle and a V12 sited largely aft of the front axle – clearly helped. 

For proof, it would go on to be a highly successful sports racer. Competition versions would win their class in the Le Mans 24-hour race in 1972, 1973 and 1974. As late as 1979 – six years after it ceased production – a Daytona would finish second outright in the Daytona 24-hour race.

It would be the last new 12-cylinder sports car announced by Ferrari before Fiat took a 40 percent stake (in 1969). It was a car aimed, to a significant degree, at the booming North American market: bigger, more muscular and more imposing than previous berlinettas, and as good on a Californian boulevard as an Alpine pass (although it was well suited to the latter). 

The style was unusual. An angular wedge, rather than a shapely sculpture, it even featured a bold full-width Plexiglass strip behind which were the four headlamps (Replaced by a new nose design with pop-up headlamps in 1971). The design was by Pininfarina, never mind that it was unlike anything Pininfarina had done before. Chief designer was the legendary Leonardo Fioravanti, also responsible for the Dino 206 and 246, and the car that would replace the Daytona in 1973, the mid-rear engined 365 GT4 BB ‘Boxer’. His distinguished rollcall of great Ferraris also included the 308 GTB, 328 GTB and the  GTO. He says his favourite is the Daytona.

A subsequent spider version, the 365 GTS4, was clearly aimed at the US West Coast, where there were enough wealthy buyers to justify the price and enough sunshine to justify the folding roof. 

The Daytona was not the first Ferrari to use an American name, of course. The 340 America debuted in 1950, the first Superamerica was the 410 of 1955, and the Ferrari California badge goes back to 1957. 

The Daytona name may have been unofficial on the 365 GTB4. The new Ferrari Daytona SP3, on the other hand, demonstrably and very officially pays homage to the mid-rear engined V12 sports racers that, back in 1967, powered Ferrari to one of its greatest sports car victories.