1972 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona Berlinetta

1972 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona Berlinetta
Sold for $781,000 Including Commission
RM Auction, Amelia Island, Florida 2014
Chassis no. 15569
Body no. 933/B
352 bhp, 4,390 cc dual overhead-camshaft V-12 engine with six Weber 40DCN20 carburetors, five-speed manual rear-mounted transaxle, four-wheel upper- and lower-wishbone coil-spring independent suspension, and four-wheel hydraulic disc brakes. Wheelbase: 94.5 in.

•Highly original, matching numbers, and optimally preserved
•Multiple FCA and Cavallino Classic Platinum Award winner
•Kept by the original owner for 30 years
•Approximately 28,800 actual miles
•Factory-original books and tools


Ferrari’s 365 GTB/4 acquired its unofficial “Daytona” nickname after Maranello swept the top three places in the 1967 endurance race of the same name. Enzo Ferrari was reportedly quite annoyed when the Daytona nomenclature subsequently leaked to the press during testing, and it was never officially applied to the model.

The first Daytona was introduced at the 1968 Paris Salon with full-width plastic headlight covers, but U.S. regulations eventually compelled the manufacturer to fit elegant pop-up lights on all examples after 1970. While much of the Daytona’s body was steel, typically low weight was maintained with the use of aluminum for the doors, hood, and trunk lid, and Cromodora five-spoke wheels that were similar to those used on the Scuderia F1 cars were standard equipment. The 365 GTB/4 is Ferrari’s fastest road car to date, as it delivered a top speed of 174 mph, with the four-cam, 4.4-liter Colombo V-12 developing an impressive and unprecedented 352 horsepower.

One of the model’s first endorsements came from onetime Ferrari Le Mans winner and well-known auto journalist Paul Frere, who reported achieving 176 mph in autostrada traffic in 1969. He also observed that the radio was useless above 120 mph. Still, as he said, “If you go faster, it’s the engine that makes the music, the finest music of all to the ears of the enthusiast, and the music he can enjoy in a well-sprung car, fitted with such amenities as electric window lifters, air conditioning…and a really capacious luggage locker—a Grand Touring car par excellence.”

This desirable late U.S.-specification Daytona boasts impressive originality and minimal use, resulting in numerous recent FCA Platinum Awards. After its assembly was complete, on September 25, 1972, chassis number 15569 was factory-equipped with air conditioning, and it was finished in Rosso Ferrari paint over Beige leather, which are specifications that the car continues to bear today. The seatbacks were desirably upholstered with black lateral inserts, in the popular design that came to be known as the Daytona seat.

According to an original sales invoice, chassis number 15569 was sold by Luigi Chinetti Motors in July 1973, to H. Verby, of the Verby Equipment Company in Hewlett Harbor, New York, who traded in his 1969 365 GT 2+2. Ensuing maintenance invoices from Chinetti Motors demonstrate that Mr. Verby continued to service his Ferrari at the famous Greenwich importer, with records extending to 1976, at which time the odometer displayed 15,315 miles.

As of October 2002, the Daytona was still registered in Mr. Verby’s name, indicating that the original owner retained possession for close to 30 years. The beautiful car was sparingly used over the interim, as it still displayed just 27,000 miles when it was acquired by a New Jersey-based dealer of fine Ferraris the following month. It was purchased in March 2003 by a Rhode Island collector, trading hands at least once more before being acquired in mid-2007 by Lawrence Simon, of Shawnee, Pennsylvania.

Recognizing that the fabulously preserved Daytona had essentially never been presented among the growing Ferrari collectors niche, Mr. Simon submitted the car for judging at the Ferrari Club of America’s International Meet at Corning, New York, in August 2007, where it won a Platinum Award. Further 2007 events included the La Belle Macchine d’Italia (where the car received Second Place), the FCA Nationals at Watkins Glen (another Platinum Award), and the Newport Concours d’Elegance (Third Place).

The following year, 15569 was presented at the 2008 Cavallino Classic, where it garnered a third Platinum Award, as well as honorable mention in the Preservation Class. During this period of care, Mr. Simon drove the car sparingly and tended to its minimal needs, which included adding new synchros and refurbishing the lovely Borrani wire wheels.
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Robert Myrick Photography