1969 Ferrari 365 GTB/4C Competition Coupe

Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona Competizione with chassis number 12467 is a N.A.R.T. competition car. It is eligible for the Ferrari Shell Challenge competition.

In 1971 it was entered into the 24 Hours of LeMans and driven by Bob Grossman and Coco Chinetti. It wore number 58, the same number it has today. It finished fifth overall.

In 1972 it was entered in the Daytona race where it was driven by Grossman and Reynolds. The number was changed to 18. It finished 15th overall and 6th in Class. It was later entered in the 12 Hours of Sebring race where it was piloted by Ingle and Reynolds. The car finished in 19th place overall and 5th in class.

At the 1972 Watkins Glen event, Di Lorenzo and Reynolds drove the car to an 11th place finish and 5th in its class.

In 1976 it was purchased by William Kontes of New Jersey. It was later purchased by Dave Gunn in 1977. It was offered for sale again in 1985 and sold for $165,000.

In 1989 William Kontes brought the car to the FCA Concours Lake event where it finished third in class.

In 1991 the car was purchased by Allen Taylor of College Park, Maryland. It was reposed by the bank a year later.

In 1993 it was purchased by Harley Cluxton III of Arizona. Later that year it was sold to Robson S. Walton. In February of 2005 it was sold to Len M. Rusiewicz of Pennsylvania.

It is seen here at the 2006 Le Belle Macchine d'Italia and the 2005 Concours d'Elegance of the Eastern United States. It is a brilliant car with excellent heritage.

By Daniel Vaughan | Jan 2007

This Ferrari 365 GTB/4 was the third example completed and its original destination was 'Chinetti, Sebring.' It is believed that the Daytona was equipped as a European-specification road car, finished in Rosso Chiaro, upholstered in black leather, and fitted with air-conditioning and a Voxson radio. Little history is known of the car between 1969 and 1971. It is believed that the car may have remained the property of Ferrari during this period, as it was not road registered or even issues a Manufacturer's Certificate of Origin until November 1971.

The car may have been destined by the factory for a special purpose as the chassis is dated as April 28, 1969, yet the engine was not installed until September 2, 1969 - well after that year's 24 Hours of Le Mans, in which Luigi Chinetti's NART team campaigned a specially prepared Daytona Competizione, chassis 12547.

In April 1971, the Daytona was serviced at the Ferrari Factory Assistenza Clienti and then sent to Autofficina Sport Auto in Modena, where it was prepared for competition use. The car was given a special electrical system, fire-suppression system, different carburetor jets, aerodynamic diffusers, and a leather-wrapped steering wheel.

On June 5th of 1971, Luigi Chinetti Motors Inc. paid Ferrari SEFAC $11,630 for the 365 GTB/4 Competizione, which was delivered to Le Mans the following week. At the time, the car had windows made of Plexiglas, standard steel bodywork with aluminum bonnet and boot, and the wings had been extended outwards to accommodate 8-inch wheels at the front and 10-inch wheels at the back. The bumpers were replaced with a transparent cowl and the headlights had grown in diameter. It had a 120-litre fuel tank, stiffer suspension setup, and a specially tuned engine that featured polished ports and its moving parts were lightened and balanced.

The car was driven during practice and qualifying and endured the typical teething problems, earning it a position near the back of the grid. During the race, it was driven by Luigi Chinetti Jr. and Bob Grossman to a 5th place overall finish in its competition debut. By this point in history, the Ferrari 365 GTB/4 had not yet been homologated for Group 4 competition and was instead classified as a Group 5 entry. Thus, the NART-entered Daytona was awarded the Index of Thermal Efficiency.

The Ferrari 365 had proven its potential as a GT-class winner. Three series of purpose-built Daytonas soon followed for endurance racing. Luigi Chinetti's North American Racing Team – which had commissioned the first two competition-prepared Daytonas (12547 and 12467) – campaigned approximately one-third of the factory-built and independently converted Comp Daytonas that raced between 1971 and 1980.

Chinetti Motors sold 12467 was sold to Grossman Motor Car Corporation of Nyack, New York, in November 1971. Just five days later, Grossman sold the car to Jima and Clive Baker of Atlanta, who repainted the Ferrari orange and prepared to race it under the Baker Motors Ring-Free Oil team banner.

Baker entered the car in the FIA-sanctioned 1972 6 Hours of Daytona, where it was driven by Bob Grossman and Charles Reynolds. During the race, two Scuderia Ferrari 312 PBs took a 1-2 victory. Chassis number 12467 was the only Comp Daytona to finish, with a 15th overall and 2nd in the 2.5-liter plus GT category.

In March, 12467 was one of four Comp Daytonas entered in the 12 Hours of Sebring along with two cars entered by NART and one by Kirk F. White. After twelve hours of racing, Harry Ingle and Charles Reynolds had driven 12467 to 19th overall and 5th in the 2.5-liter plus GT category. The final race for 12467 took place on July 22, 1972, at the 6 Hours of Watkins Glen in New York – Round 11 in the FIA World Championship for Makes. By this point in history, the car had been given larger rear wheel arches and finished in Castrol Oil-sponsored white, red, and green livery. The car finished the race 11th overall, finishing 3rd in the over 2.5-liter GT class.

Baker Motors sold the Daytona to Harley E. Cluxton III in January of 1973. Six months later, the car was sold to New York racer Herb Wetanson and retained it until April 1974, when it was sold to Daniel P. Kingsford of Princeton, New Jersey. In the summer of 1975, the car was acquired by Bill Kontes and it remained in his care for two years before being sold to David Gunn of Sufeld, Connecticut. Mr. Gunn intended to campaign the car in IMSA events, so he had it sent to Wide World of Cars in New York where it was upgraded to Series III specifications. Despite being upgraded to compete with the latest Comp Daytonas, 12467 never raced competitively again. The car was maintained in Mr. Gunn's care until August 1984, when it was sold back to Mr. Kontes.

For the next decade, Mr. Kontes showed the car on rare occasions at East Coast concours events. In 1993, it was acquired by an American collector. During his ownership, the Comp Daytona was raced in vintage events, during which time the engine block developed a crack. A new block was sourced and completely rebuilt to Series III speciation, offering approximately 430 horsepower. The new block used many components from the original unit. The original engine block, internal number B162, remains with the car.

Under the current owner's care, the car has been used at private track events at Pocono, Watkins Glen, and Summit Point.

The car is currently in its original 1971 NART Le Mans livery, though it retains the larger Series III fares, wheels, and aerodynamic aids that were added by Alberto Pedretti during David Gunn's ownership.

After the car's impressive finish at the 24 Hours of Lemans in 1971, the Ferrari factory subsequently built 15 Comp Daytonas between 1971 and 1973. The success of NART's two prototypes and the factory's Series I, II, and III cars inspired many other private teams to convert road-going Daytonas for competition use.

Comp Daytonas were run solely by private teams and received little, if any, factory support. They were very competitive in Group 4 GT racing throughout the 1970s. The records include an overall win at the Tour de France and class wins at important venues, such as The success of NART's two prototypes and the factory's Series I, II, and III cars inspired many other private teams to convert road-going Daytonas for competition use. At Bonneville, one example set a land-speed record which still stands after four decades.

By Daniel Vaughan | Nov 2014