Story and History

1971 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Spyder Conversion
Matching numbers
UK RHD example

This exceptional 'Daytona' was originally ordered by Maranello Concessionaires from the Ferrari factory under order number 485 and was first registered in June 1971, originally registered with FPK 30J

The first owner was Mr A Moore - we have a copy of the order and the original purchase invoice as well as some service invoices from this period - who was based in central London and part exchanged two of his Ferrari's against this new purchase

We also know other owners such as Aiden Little (owner of the Garage on the Green in Fulham) as well as Stuart Passey and Bill Clouston - all of whom were London based

There is also a photo of her in about 1980 when she had been repainted in Blue Chiaro by Mr Clouston - (many thanks for the picture and some of the information from Paul Baber by the way) originally she was Rosso Chiaro with Black hides

Another Ferrari dealer Bernard Fosker ran her for a while and is an acknowledged Daytona expert

It was he, we feel, that organised the conversion to Spyder specification - his son confirms that he actually converted two by Autokraft

Autokraft were best known here for their conversions and this one, which we have here offered for sale, looks like it could have been done by them - so close to the original version it's difficult to tell the difference

Alongside Scaglietti who converted the handful of original Spyder's, Autokraft were acknowledged as the experts in accurate Spyder conversions and even officiandos like Richard Bond, ( a great chum of ours ) a Director of Modena Engineering had a Coupe converted by Autokraft

The Spyder version sits very well on the Borrani wire wheels and happily 14269 has just these wheels fitted, and exceptionally the rear rims are the most desirable 9" versions too

As only 7 Daytona Spyder's were completed in RHD for the UK, one of which was exported to a Head of State who loves his cars and therefore is unlikely to ever be for sale again, it makes buying an original most unlikely, if not impossible

Moreover the cost of an original would be a heady £ 2.5 + millions pounds

Hence versions such as ours make good sense - even ex Formula 1 drivers have enjoyed such versions, for they do everything which it says on the tin

Huge performance is delivered by the 4.4 litre V12 engine (it's the original engine, matching numbers as they say), stacked with 6 twin choke Weber carburettors and as we've all read before by motoring journalists, lucky enough to drive such vehicles and then to write about them, the noise created by this cacophony of mechanical extremes is mind boggling

In recent times the gearbox has been rebuilt so happily there is no crunching into second ( a Daytona bugbear, as users sometimes don't warm up the gearbox and just bang the gear lever into second when cold, which eventually leads to non existent synchromesh on second gear)

Anyhow, as mentioned this version has none of that and the power generated even in 3rd gear, at mid-range revs, produces jaw dropping acceleration and if you don't check the rev counter quickly you'll be into the red section in a trance, so swiftly does the engine spin up

As you can see from the pictures she looks as good as she goes - beautiful bodywork, relatively fresh trim (completed 17 years ago when the last owner purchased her, but only about 2,000 miles of use in that time) boot also in mint condition and the engine bay is a pleasure to behold

All servicing works in the last 17 years have been carried out by Foskers Motors, another well known name in the annals of Ferrari specialists

She has been owned by a good chum of our MD's, known for 35 years, and has garaged at his estate in Sussex, alongside a double decker London bus and a Eurocopter AS 350 B3 - probably why she has travelled so few miles in the last 17 years, as he prefers to fly, as it is so much quicker, even than a Daytona !!!