Ferrari's First Mid-Engined Road Car: The 365 GT4 BB
The 365 GT4 BB is a groundbreaking Ferrari model that marks the beginning of the mid-engine road car era. This sleek and powerful vehicle has garnered attention among car enthusiasts, with its striking design and exceptional performance capabilities.
The Story Behind the 365 GT4 BB
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Enzo Ferrari, the legendary founder of Ferrari, was notorious for his mistrust of mid-engine cars. However, when the Mura was introduced, it marked a significant shift in Ferrari's approach to engineering. The 365 GT4 BB is a response to the Mura, which was showcased at the Turin Motor Show in 1971. The design of the BB was heavily influenced by the P6 concept car, which had been displayed three years earlier.
The Shape and Influence
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The 365 GT4 BB boasts beautifully delicate lines, which are reminiscent of its predecessor's design. However, unlike the more dramatic CES, the BB looks like a shy retiring option in the new Supercar firmament. The shape of the car has had a lasting impact on later Ferraris, such as the 308, 328, and iconic 2088 GTO.
Specifications and Performance
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The 365 GT4 BB boasts impressive specifications, with a dry weight of just 1,235 kilos, maximum outputs of 380 brake horsepower, and 300 torque from its 4.4 L Flat 12 engine. The car can accelerate from 0 to 62 mph in 5.4 seconds, with a top speed of 180 mph. These remarkable performance figures make the BB an exceptional driving experience.
Interior and Features
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The interior of the 365 GT4 BB features a monochromatic palette, with flashes of orange on the dashboard dials and bright yellow accents on the steering wheel. The overall feeling is airy and light, making it easy to maneuver. The pedal position is well-placed, and the open-gated gearbox provides better engagement than later models. However, some may find the heavy clutch initially daunting.
Engine and Transmission
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The engine of the 365 GT4 BB is a Flat 12, which technically is not a boxer engine but a 180° V configuration. This unique design decision was made to place the 5-speed dog-leg gearbox underneath the engine, resulting in a truncated look at the rear end. Despite this, the car's sound is exceptional, thanks to its four triple choke carburetors.
Auction and Rarity
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The 365 GT4 BB is an extremely rare model, with only 387 units produced. Its rarity, combined with its impressive performance and stylish design, makes it a highly desirable collector's item. This particular car has done less than 9,000 km from new and was originally sold by Ferrari in Giofly, which was later exported to the United States.
History and Nomenclature
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Chassis number 18001 had an assembly sequence number of 172 and was originally painted bright yellow. It was later exported to the United States in 1981, where it was painted black and spent nearly 30 years in California. Interestingly, the 365 BB was not originally offered for sale in America due to Enzo Ferrari's concerns about customers' understanding of mid-engine cars.
Auction Details
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The 365 GT4 BB will be auctioned off by RM Sotheby's on May 14th, where enthusiasts can watch live and bid on this exceptional piece of automotive history.
"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enthis is Ferrari's first mid-engined road car which makes it really quite exciting couple of pumps got to love carobs so this is a 365 GT4 BB it's basically Ferrari's first mid-engine car yes there was Dino beforehand but this is the first one to actually wear a Ferrari badge Enzo Ferrari was notoriously mistrustful of mid-engine cars he eventually decided to go racing with him he just he couldn't lag behind the others but when the mura came out his response was well the daytoner before this another front engine car but this was then the response to the mura in 1971 when it was shown in the Turin motor show the only trouble was 1971 also saw the birth of another car the countes designed by Leonardo fanti at pinen finina the shape of the BB was drawn from the P6 concept car which had been shown 3 years earlier it has beautifully delicate lines and you can clearly see its influence on later Ferraris such as the 308 328 and the iconic 2088 GTO however in comparison to the startlingly dramatic CES it must have looked like the shy retiring option in the new Supercar firmament this 365 GT4 BB which is soon to go up for auction with RM saes has done less than 9,000 km from new Ferrari's claims when it left Marinello in 1974 were a dry weight of just 1,235 kilos maximum outputs of 380 brake horsepower and 300t of torque from the 4.4 L Flat 12 a top speed of 180 mph and not 62 mph in 5.4 seconds so what's it liking here we've got this essentially sort of monochromatic palette but then you've got these flashes of orange on the vagia dials and obviously the bright yellow of the badge on the steering wheel which really sort of shine out from this this pallet in here you'll notice I've match my shoes to match the dials today as well the overall feeling really is something you can actually sort of you can translate it to Modern Ferraris as well you've got this relatively low Scuttle and it feels always sort of very airy in here the pedal position is much better than I thought it might be it's actually very easy to heal and turn although you've got a heavy clutch once you geted used to it it's actually pretty easy to deal with the open gated box is much better than some of the later open open gated boxes that I've actually driven things like the um 348 can be really stubborn but this has been lovely all day long the engine is a flat 12 now BB stands for Berlinetta boxer but it's not actually a boxer engine it's a 180° V and because it's flat they decided to put the 5-speed dog leg gearbox underneath the engine which um well sadly it sort of negated the point of having that sort of low center of gravity in the engine and it's given the car a very sort of almost truncated look at the back there a bit of bit of Stratos in there somehow and it's a slightly sort of mismatch in terms of the overhangs youve got this wonderful gal sound from the Flat 12 it's running four triple choke neor carettas the 512 had carbs as well and then went to fuel injection for the later model the carbs is where it's at of course as a result of the carbs and it's cold it can be a little little bit Fluffy from sort of low revs but higher up it's really smooth the steering is actually lovely around the straight ahead but then obviously weights up as you get more lock on those high side wall tires look like donuts don't they but I love that feeling you get leaning on those High sidewalls it gives you such a lovely feeling of floating through corners obviously not going to do any big skids today but even so you can just feel it moving around you get on the throttle working through corners through his long cor onto the back straight just feed it in feed the throttle in people tend to know the name 512bb rather better than the 365 365 obviously was in the daytoner as well the front engine car that preceded this and nobody quite knows why they switched the sort of the nomenclature as this point because 365 refers to the sweat volume of each individual cylinder in the car was how Ferrari always labeled his cars before that whereas 512 means 5 L and 12 cylinders one of those things there probably isn't any reason at all just whim this particular car chassis number 18001 had assembly sequence number 172 and was originally sold from the fact in Gio fly which is of course bright yellow it was subsequently exported to the United States in 1981 where it was painted black and spent nearly 30 years in California strangely the 365 BB wasn't originally offered for sale in America this was partly because Enzo simply didn't think the customers would get the whole concept of a mid-engine road car but it was also partly because he didn't think it was worth adjusting the car to comply with America's extra safety and environmental regulations you probably noticed the single mirror here the cars actually left the factory with no Wing mirrors at all which gave it a lovely beautifully pure look along the body workor but wasn't exactly practical so uh yeah One Wing mirror a later Edition got discs all around and the braking surprisingly good actually there a sense of that engine being right in the cabin with you that I think makes this car really special what a lovely thing whoever buys this at auction on the 14th of May is going to have a very lovely thing just 387 of these original 365's were produced so it's much rarer as well as being lighter and more powerful than the later 512s which I think it makes it extremely desirable indeed I love it to see Richard Meen driving a count Ash that RM soube has had up for auction recently just click on the left and to see our video on the Ferrari 250 short wheelbase click on the right and of course go to the Evo YouTube channel or the website on May the 14th to watch the auction live where NM cies will be selling this and several other very lovely things indeed\n"
