“And now, my friend, the first rule of Italian driving. What’s behind me is not important.”

Perhaps the most memorable moment from the film The Gumball Rally was that phrase, which held quite a bit of truth in 1976. When driving a Daytona Spider at that time, there was little that could keep up with Ferrari’s fastest drop-top and few cars that would look as good as the Daytona did at speed. When the film first hit the silver screen, the Daytona had been out of production for nearly three years, but there were still few automobiles that could deliver the requisite amount of performance, as well as visual and aural theater, that a Daytona Spider could. For representing the Italians in The Gumball Rally, there was truly no better car.

CHASSIS NUMBER 16223: AN AMERICAN SPIDER

This car, the 66th of 121 Daytona Spiders constructed by the factory, was ordered new by James Lewis Meador, of Roanoke, Virginia, through Algar Enterprises, the famous official Ferrari distributor based in Rosemont, Pennsylvania, on September 7, 1972. According to the car’s order form from Algar, Meador specified factory delivery and that it was to be outfitted with a Blaupunkt radio and air conditioning and trimmed in a unique color combination of Rosso Chiaro (20-R-190) over a Bianca leather with Blu inserts and carpeting, which was a fitting and patriotic color combination for a U.S.-delivery Daytona Spider. The order form specified that the car was to be delivered on or around December 1972. However, shipping records and documentation from Algar and Ferrari, which are supplied with the car, support the fact that the car was not delivered to Meador until mid-1973 and that it was instead fitted with a Becker Mexico radio.

The Daytona Spider had made its way to Florida in 1975, in the ownership of Richard Katz of Coconut Grove, Florida, who had purchased the car from Joe Marchetti. Katz owned the car for just a year before selling it to Alan R. Patterson, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. At the same time, Patterson also owned a 250 LM, chassis number 6025, the one-off Pininfarina-bodied LM that was shown by Pininfarina at the 1965 Geneva Motor Show.

After Patterson’s ownership, chassis number 16223 was purchased by Jean Banchet, the owner of Le Français, a highly acclaimed restaurant in Chicago, Illinois, and perhaps this Daytona Spider’s most well-known owner. Banchet retained the car until 1988, and it was eventually sold to Stuart Hayim, of Los Angeles, California. Upon receiving the car, Hayim decided to have his new Daytona restored. The body was stripped and repainted Red by Mike McCluskey. The famed Tony Nancy was commissioned to complete work on the interior, which was refinished in black leather, and the car was fully detailed by Bill Lazelere. At the same time, the engine was removed and serviced by Bruno Borri, of Modena Sports Cars.

Following its $75,000 restoration (a substantial figure in 1988), chassis number 16223 was purchased by Dennis Farey in January 1992. Farey displayed the car at the 30th annual Ferrari Club of America International Concours d’Elegance at Monterey, where it won a Gold award. The car was also shown in his ownership at the Palo Alto Concours d’Elegance, and it would later be featured in articles in Forza and Millionaire magazines in 1998.

Bill Kling, of Malibu, California, would be the next owner, purchasing this car, with 27,375 miles on its odometer, in July 2000. He entrusted the Daytona Spider to GT Motors of Glendale, California, for a complete mechanical overhaul, which included rebuilding the half-shafts, the drive box, and the steering box, as well as rebuilding the transmission with new synchros. The engine received new gaskets and a valve job, and the suspension was restored, with parts being replaced and refinished where necessary.

After the work was completed, Kling decided to show his Daytona Spider at concours events, memorably choosing to drive, rather than trailer, the car wherever it went. It was driven from Los Angeles to Monterey in August 2001 for Concorso Italiano and was specially selected to celebrate 50 years of collaboration between Pininfarina and Ferrari. The car also garnered two Platinum awards in FCA judging at the FCA Nationals in Los Angeles in 2002 and once again in 2004.

Chassis 16223 was acquired by its current custodian in 2011 and it has been properly maintained ever since. The car was last serviced by Ferrari of Central Florida in December 2014; at that time, the engine and gearbox oil and coolant were replaced and the brakes were bled, after which the car was released with a clean bill of health. At the time of cataloguing, the car’s odometer showed just over 33,500 miles, showing the frequency of which Kling drove and enjoyed his Daytona Spider over his 10+ years of ownership. The car is accompanied by a complete tool kit, a full set of manuals, and a substantial file of documentation from throughout its life. It has completed the necessary tests required for its Ferrari Classiche application. Please speak with an RM representative for further details.

If ever there was a car that encapsulated the image and character of its entire marque, this Daytona Spider is it. The classic red finish, swathed over a 4.4-liter V-12 and finished with Borrani wire wheels—all of which the car wore when new—is, in and of itself, nothing short of iconic. That said, it is also unbelievably difficult to acquire. With only 121 examples built, not all Daytona Spiders are superbly presented as this example, while only a handful define so perfectly what it means to be a “Ferrari,” and fewer yet are available to the discerning enthusiast.