The Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona was a benchmark of sports car engineering and design, holding a singular cachet amongst the marque’s vintage front-engined V-12 berlinettas. Ferrari announced the model in 1968, paving the way for the Maranello’s first 4.3-liter dual-overhead-cam engine in a road car. That the model was nicknamed “Daytona” in honor of the company’s dominating 1-2-3 podium sweep at the 1967 24 Hours of Daytona has become a point of legend, even if the name was not officially sanctioned by Enzo Ferrari.

Clothed in Leonardo Fioravanti’s revolutionary shark-nose coachwork, the 365 GTB/4 was actually a stopgap effort that surprised everyone with its sheer success while a forthcoming rear-engine flat-12 model remained in development. It would be the last of Ferrari’s great front-engine grand touring machines for over 20 years, an exclamatory statement of power and style that capped a now-legendary tradition.

With a staggering output of 352 horsepower, the 365 GTB/4 dethroned the Lamborghini Miura as the world’s fastest production car. Utilizing dry-sump lubrication that enabled a lower placement of the engine, a five-speed transaxle that provided ideal 50/50 weight distribution, and all-wheel independent suspension, the Daytona offered crisp handling characteristics at speed. Wide wheels with superior tire contact and four-wheel disc brakes rounded out a superb all-around package that eventually proved worthy of competition applications. As the final front-engine Ferrari to feature a derivation of Gioacchino Colombo’s classic short-block V-12, the Daytona was the ultimate evolution of 20 years of development, constituting the triumphant conclusion of a generation of vintage Ferraris.

Continuing to display highly preserved condition through a short chain of just two private owners, this Daytona is one of the most original examples of Maranello’s celebrated late 1960s berlinetta to be offered in recent memory. According to the combined information of period SEFAC order forms and invoices, and the research of marque expert Marcel Massini, chassis number 14207 completed assembly in March 1971, specified for the United States market with instruments in miles. Factory-equipped with air conditioning, power windows, and Borrani wire wheels, the Ferrari was finished in Rosso Chiaro paint with a silver/grey noseband and appointed with an interior trimmed in Nero Vaumol Connolly leather, a livery it continues to faithfully wear today.

In May 1971 the Daytona was distributed to Modern Classic Motors in Reno, Nevada, the famed western US distributorship owned by the titan collector William Harrah. Later that year the 365 GTB/4 was sold to its first owner, Theodore Day, a commercial real estate developer in Reno who went on to retain possession of the car for a remarkable period of 46 years. His name is featured on the factory SEFAC forms, copies of which are on file. The Società per Azioni Esercizio Fabbriche Automobili e Corse (SEFAC) was the corporate organizational name for Ferrari’s business activities through the 1960s and early 1970s, and factory documents so titled during this period represent a relatively rare piece of factory documentation.

Mr. Day fastidiously maintained the striking berlinetta while accruing only modest mileage over the years, as attested by an odometer reading of 29,090 miles in July 2017 (demonstrating an average of just 632 miles per year). Offered during The Quail, a Motorsports Gathering in August 2017, the Ferrari was sold to just its second owner. In preparation for this, the car received a thorough servicing by the Intrepid Motorcar Company of Sparks, Nevada, that included a rebuild of the carburetors and installation of a new battery.

Today this Daytona presents as a largely original example while benefitting from a repaint in the stunning factory color of Rosso Chiaro. For the current offering the 365 GTB/4 has been mounted with Cromodora alloy wheels. A set of Borrani wire wheels are also included with the sale. This Ferrari retains stampings that confirm the continued presence of the matching-numbers chassis, engine, and transaxle, and the odometer displays a modest figure of just 29,146 miles at the time of cataloguing. Items accompanying the Daytona include a tool roll and owner’s manuals, SEFAC paperwork, registrations dating from 1971 to 1989, service invoices, and the Massini history.

Chassis number 14207 presents a rare opportunity to acquire a low-mile Daytona, one that would make a superb addition to any sporting collection, eminently suitable for the discerning tifoso.