Ferrari 365 GT/4 BB

The Ferrari 365 GT/4 BB was born, in the wake of success in Formula 1, to replace the 365 GTB/4 Daytona. The choice of an almost identical name tended to minimise the total difference in technical layout with the previous front-engined models. In reality, the number 365 expresses the unit displacement. With this car Enzo Ferrari had to renounce the historic saying ‘never put the cart before the horse’, in fact the Drake had (up to the BB) always been a supporter of the technical layout with the front engine, i.e. the ‘oxen’ (engine) in front of the ‘cart’ the chassis, even though some racing versions and the ‘Dino’ had already been designed with this mid-rear-engined layout for years. In spite of the name, the engine is not a true boxer, but a flat V-engine with the connecting rods arranged to form a 180° angle, since the connecting rods are mounted in pairs on the same support, a construction solution typical of V-engines, while boxers employ one support for each connecting rod, as in in-line engines. The difference in internal cranking is translated into operation because, while in a true boxer engine two opposing pistons have an antagonistic motion, moving cyclically closer together and further apart as in boxing, in this engine the reciprocal distance between two opposing pistons remains unchanged, because they move in alternating motion in the same direction. Named F102 AB 00, it is a completely new mid-mounted 12-cylinder. Lubrication is wet sump, the 5-speed manual gearbox is mounted under the engine (near the oil radiators) and is assisted in transmitting motion to the rear wheels by a self-locking differential, completing the picture of technical refinements. The chassis is typical of the sportiest Ferraris, with a central trellis and independent-wheel suspension with overlapping triangles, equipped with four hardened, self-ventilated steel disc brakes and rack-and-pinion steering. The line was mainly designed by Leonardo Fioravanti for Pininfarina. A modern sporty line but at the same time very elegant and streamlined. It was equipped at the front with twin pop-up headlights and a characteristic white plastic cover that hid the position lights and front indicators, keeping the nose clean and sleek. The bumpers were of the wraparound-integrated type in matt black, joined at the side by a two-tone side panel in which the lower part was matt black, to make the line look sleeker. The bodywork is almost all developed on the two wide bonnets that include the mudguards and support the bumpers. In fact, the car has a cell-cabin with the two doors, while everything else is made up of the two wide front and rear bonnets, equipped with the characteristic large outward opening. The 12-cylinder 4390.35 cm³ engine develops maximum power of 380 hp at 7700 rpm and has torque of 409 Nm at 3900 rpm, and is fed by four Weber 40 IF3C carburettors. The car reaches 302 km/h and accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in 5.4 seconds and from 100 km/h to 200 km/h in 12.8 seconds, making it one of the fastest production cars in the world at the time of its production. First unveiled in 1971 at the Turin Motor Show and in production a couple of years later, this model represented an entirely new design from Ferrari and represented a major technical challenge. The Ferrari 365 GT/4 BB is immediately recognisable at the rear thanks to its 6 light clusters and 6 exhaust tailpipes (the latter detail being a unique feature in all Ferrari production). Of the BB series, the 365 GT/4 is the first and by far the rarest, as only 387 examples were made.