1973 Ferrari 365 GTS/4 Daytona Convertible Coupe

The Daytona was a paradigm shift in design for the Ferrari marque with more angular and aggressive lines along with equally groundbreaking performance. The all-new 4.4-liter dual overhead camshaft V-12 was given six Weber carburetors and produced 352 horsepower. Zero-to-sixty took just 5.4 seconds on its way to a top speed of 174 mph. It was three MPH faster than Lamborghini's Miura P400, making it the fastest production car the world had ever seen.

While popular opinions at the time championed the mid-engine placement for the sports car, Ferrari stuck with their classic formula of keeping their V-12 in the front. The car, nicknamed 'Daytona' after Ferrari's legendary 1-2-3 finish at the 1967 24 Hours of Daytona, was a replacement to the 275 GTB/4. The Daytona was replaced in 1973 by the mid-engined 365 GT4 BB.

In September of 1969, at the Frankfurt Motor Show, Ferrari introduced the Daytona Spider. The body contours were nearly identical to their coupe siblings, but the rear wings on the spider were squared-off on the top edges. Live the earliest European-specification coupes, the first Spider had Plexiglas-covered headlights. All production Daytona Spiders were given the later pop-up headlights.

A total of 1,406 examples of the Coupe and Spider were produced, with just 121 of those being true Daytona Spiders. A number of coupes were converted to spiders later in their life. Just 25 European-specification Daytona Spiders were original built, including this particular example.

This Spider was dispatched to Elie Ayache, the official Ferrari dealer in Beirut, Lebanon. It is the 48th of 121 Spiders built, and it left the factory finished in Giallo Fly (20-Y-191) over Nero (VM 8500) and equipped with factory air conditioning. It is believed that the original owner was a member of a royal family in the region. It was relocated to the United States in 1978, while in the ownership of Carl Corzan of South Lake Tahoe, Nevada. Mr. Corzan and a lady friend used the car frequently, and the two of them endured multiple accidents in the car. The last noted incident was in 1994; the car's fuel tank was ruptured, and the rear half of the body sustained fire damage. Repairs were made using proper factory nose and tail sections, and a NOS fuel tank and trunk lid. Most of the rear inner structure, as well as parts of the front of the car, were also replaced and repaired at the same time, and the suspension was properly realigned.

The car was sold to the United Kingdom in the mid-1990s. It eventually made its way back to the United States and into the ownership of its current caretaker. It is currently in its original color scheme, and has recently been cosmetically restored to concours conditions and retains its original numbers-matching engine.

By Daniel Vaughan | May 2016