Once owned by personalities such as Elton John or turned into flamboyant one-offs, the vintage series from the Prancing Horse stable has a U.S.-flavored unofficial name because the company delivered a stunning 1-2-3 finish back in 1967 at the 24 Hours of Daytona. Coming just a year later, in 1968, the 365 GTB/4 gladly adopted the moniker and probably never looked back.
As far as this 1972 Rosso Corsa example is concerned, we’re dealing with just one of the 1,284 Berlinetta coupes produced by the Prancing Horse; more precisely, it’s chassis number 15285, completed on June 23, 1972. Afterwards, according to the consigner’s detail sheet, it was sold new by Chinetti-Garthwaite Imports, Inc. of Paoli, Pennsylvania.
As it happens so many times with desirable cars, this particular Daytona turned into a globetrotter when it was exported to Europe before 1990, then even rested for a while in Japan before being turned into a Euro-spec car during a refurbishment completed at the turn of the century, back in 2000.
It’s been with a Japanese collector since 2006 until last year, when it was sold again last year and brought home to America this past December. The clean Montana title, history of the car, recent service records, and California availability should make it extremely interesting during the coming days of the auction, so we could easily be in for a bidding war during the final hours.
Initially painted in Argento Metallizzato, the Daytona was dressed up in a more appropriate Rosso Corsa during the previous ownership. It rides on 15-inch Cromodora alloy wheels, and it comes with a fully independent suspension and four-corner ventilated disc brakes.
By the way, the pop-up headlights appeared in 1971 because of the U.S. safety standards, and more highlights come along nicely once we move inside. Personally, I love the combination between the black over red bucket seats, not to mention the sporty leather-wrapped aluminum Momo steering wheel and dogleg gated shifter.
Naturally, the 365 GTB/4 should still be a hoot to drive since it only covered around 40,000 km (25k miles) on its odometer (granted, the total actual mileage is unknown). That means the 4.4-liter Tipo 251 Colombo V12 could still have most of its 352 horsepower supplied from the factory when new.
The way we see it, there’s just one minor issue with this Daytona. Just take a look at the current bid and prepare to be shocked.
Aurel has aimed high all his life (literally, at 16 he was flying gliders all by himself) so in 2006 he switched careers and got hired as a writer at his favorite magazine. Since then, his work has been published both by print and online outlets, most recently right here, on autoevolution. Full profile
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