Ferrari 365 GTC/4 Coupé

The Ferrari 365 GTC/4 Coupé: The 330GT 2+2 and 365GT 2+2 were evolutions of the 250GTE, with generous rear seats and classic European GT proportions. The 365GT 2+2 grew quite large and featured power steering, air conditioning, and a supple ride from the long wheelbase chassis and self-leveling hydropneumatic rear suspension. There was so much luxury it was almost as if Ferrari had attempted to build a Cadillac! It proved popular with buyers, with more than 800 examples finding homes through 1971. For its replacement Ferrari made a rather dramatic about-face. The new car debuted at the Geneva Auto Show in early 1971 wearing radically different coachwork by Pininfarina that displayed a very close family resemblance to the mighty Daytona. The Ferrari 365 GTC/4 moniker wasn’t terribly exciting, but one look at the spec sheet and the new sheetmetal would get the heart racing. The chassis was in large part based on the Daytona, stretched by 100mm to accommodate the (somewhat vestigial) rear seats and a more commodious boot. The four-cam, 4.4 liter V12 differed from the Daytona in that it wore a sextet of side-draught Weber 38 DCOE carburetors, employed to keep the bonnet line low. It produced a healthy 320hp, pushing the sleek new 2+2 to 152 miles per hour. ZF power steering was added, as were power brakes and the Koni self-leveling suspension carried over from the outgoing model. The overall effect was that of a more sophisticated, softer-edged alternative to brutish Daytona. Just 500 examples were built over a remarkably short production run of 18 months, making it rarer than both the Daytona and the 365 GT 2+2. Michelotti produced a small series of a Shooting Break and a Beach car based on the  365 GTC/4.Photo courtesy of Hyman Ltd.