Only four Ferrari 365 GTB4s have cracked seven figures at auction, and the only one to do so this decade is this exhaustively restored example, which RM Sotheby’s sold for $1,061,000 in May 2024 (RM Sotheby’s)
In 2021, Ferrari unveiled the Daytona SP3, the latest creation in the Icona Series of ultra-exclusive cars offered only to the proudest and most prolific collectors of Prancing Horses. Rightfully so, as only true Ferraristi could appreciate the import of “Daytona” usage in an official nameplate.
The Ferrari Daytona SP3 is the latest in the Icona Series of ultra-exclusive cars offered only to the proudest and most prolific collectors of Prancing Horses (Martyn Lucy/Getty Images)
To them, the words “Ferrari Daytona” conjure images of the 365 BTB4, a trend-bucking grand tourer that debuted at the 1968 Paris Auto Salon just after the Maranello marque notched a historic 1-2-3 finish at the 1967 24 Hours of Daytona. Though the endurance race winners were non-homologated (i.e. not street legal) and largely unrelated prototypes, the temporal proximity to this triumph is what spurred the media to endow the 365 BTB4 with its better-known, albeit unofficial, moniker: Ferrari Daytona.
The nickname would turn out to be a sort of harbinger of the 365 BTB4’s endurance racing successes. Not only did competition versions of the car take homologated GT class wins in the even more prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1972, 1973 and 1974, but six years after production ceased, one even got a second-place outright finish at the 1979 24 Hours of Daytona.
The Ferrari 365 Daytona could accelerate to a top speed of 174 mph, making it the world’s fastest car in its day (Patrick Ernzen/Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s)
The victories definitely had to do with the excellent Colombo V12, which had swelled from 3.3 liters in the preceding 275 to 4.4 liters in the 365 BTB4, pumping up the output from 300 to 352 horsepower and pushing the max speed to 174 mph. More vital to its on-track success than engine size was engine placement; while many rival supercars featured mid-engined layouts, the Daytona’s front-engined configuration helped it achieve a superior weight distribution and, therefore, handling. That engine was wrapped up in an aggressively muscular body designed by Pininfarina.
This 1972 Ferrari 365 GTS4 by Scaglietti is one of two finished in Nero over Beige Scuro (Tim Scott/RM Sotheby’s)
The racing success, Ferrari V12 lineage and iconic design all factor into the Ferrari Daytona’s value, as does rarity. Just over 1,400 were built, the majority being the 365 GTB4 and a mere 122 examples being the 365 GTS4—the “B” denotes a “Berlinetta” coupe, while the “S” denotes a “Spyder” convertible. And as with nearly all classic Ferraris, prices are trending upward. The all-time sales record is held by a 1971 Ferrari 365 GTS4 Daytona, which fetched $3,721,879 million in 2014 at an event by the U.K.’s Iconic Auctioneers. That lofty figure stood as an outlier for more than a decade until 2024, a year that’s seen other examples of convertible Daytonas command similarly steep bids.
Ferrari 365 GTB4 DaytonaFerrari 12CilindriEngine: 4.4-liter Tipo 251 Colombo V12 producing 352 hp
Transmission: 5-speed manual + reverse
Top Speed: 174 mph
Years Produced: 1968–1973Engine: 6.5-liter F140 HD V12 producing 830 hp
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic
Top Speed: 211-plus mph
Year Produced: 2024–present
In May, a fully restored 1972 Daytona that Ferrari deemed worthy of participating in its Cavalcade Classiche vintage car rally fetched $3,702,903 at an RM Sotheby’s sale, and in February, Gooding & Company auctioned another 1972 Daytona with slight condition issues for $3,635,000. As the expert classic-car evaluators at Hagerty noted of this increased Daytona demand, “One surprisingly high price can be an outlier, even on rare cars that seldom come up for sale. Two is a more reliable suggestion of where the market is.”
The brand-new Ferrari 12Cilindri Spider and its coupe variant, due out soon, are front-engined V12-powered spiritual successors to the classic Ferrari Daytona (Ferrari)
Like the Spyder, the more widely produced Berlinetta coupe has recently approached its record price of $1,155,000, which was set by a 1971 Ferrari 365 GTB4 Daytona in 2016. A total of four Berlinettas have cracked seven figures at auction, and the only one to do so this decade is a 1973 Ferrari 365 GTB4, in May 2024. If it’s a front-engined V12 Ferrari you crave, then the Daytona is the one to cop.