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Berlinetta Boxer
First unveiled in 1971 at the
Turin Motor Show (although not
put into production until 1973),
the 365 GT4 BB explored new
territories: it was one of the first
Ferrari top performance vehicles
to feature a mid-positioned engine.
Designed by Leonardo Fioravanti
at Pininfarina, the 365 GT4 BB had
two distinctive new features that set
it aside from its direct competitors:
the 12-cylinder engine derived from
the Formula 1 car and the newly
explored position of the engine that
had not been seen before in a road
car. The majority of its predecessors
had featured the front-positioned
engine, while the all-new 365
boasted a mid-position; it had taken
the designers some time to convince
Enzo Ferrari to adopt the idea.
Closely matched in many ways to
the Daytona, the 365 had a slightly
higher horsepower of 360 bhp and
a longitudinally mounted engine
at 180˚, as in their 1970 Formula 1
car. The 4.3L V12 and slender, yet
aggressive, body shape meant that
the 365 could reach a top speed of
186 mph and 0-60 in 5.4 seconds.
The contoured body design of the
365 featured a reshaped front end
that was based on the Pininfarina P6
concept car, originally unveiled at
the 1968 Turin Motor Show.
Pininfarina designed the car
with a recess under the front lid in
which a spare “space-saving” tire
was concealed; this was the first of
the Ferrari road cars to feature this
design. With an indent line running
around the entire mid-section of the
365, the finish of the performance
vehicle was also of a unique
quality, with its upper half being
the standard paint finish whilst
the lower was finished in black
satin paint; this eventually became
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