With all the writing we do about Porsche's on this blog, some may think I am a die hard Porschephile. In actuality I'm what would be described as a "Ferraristi". I have always loved the cars from Maranello and probably always will. I have always thought that I liked Porsche's and other exotics and would certainly buy some examples of these cars as soon as I aquired all the Ferrari's I wanted. The problem is, that list of Ferrari's is pretty long; and getting longer every year.
So even though my ongoing work with some of the best Porsche's ever made is probably the envy of a lot of people, it is very special when I get to work on a Ferrari (or two). While in Monterey, I had the opportunity to get close and personal with a Ferrari that is a bit lesser known than some of it's more iconic siblings, but no less exciting or passionate. The Ferrari 365 GTC/4 was sort of the big brother of Ferrari's iconic super-car, the 365 GTB/4 (better known as the Daytona). The Daytona itself was the necessary replacement for the 275 GTB/4, and I use the term "necessary", because the Daytona really was Ferrari's answer to Lamborghini's groundbreaking Muira. In effect, the Muira and the Daytona were the Genesis of the modern super-car (or hyper-car as the Brits like to say) we see today, but what then was the role that the 365 GTC/4 would play?
This "big brother" to the Daytona was a more comfortable and usable grand tourer. The term "usable" is simply decorative because we are talking about a vintage Ferrari. In reality it means what you had was a slower Daytona with back seats big enough to fit one dozen eggs. Seriously, though, Ferrari wanted to make the 365 GTC/4, more comfortable and spacious than the rocket-ship Daytona without losing any of the flair and passion that was part and parcel with the marque. The 365 GTC/4 was the next evolution of Ferrari's "lusso" models that were often among the most beautiful road cars to come out of the Maranello factory.
It was, indeed, a very good looking car (although not in league with the perfectly proportioned Daytona) and no where near the "pebble beach looks" of predecessors like the 250 Lusso, but it checked all the right boxes necessary to be a Ferrari. And did I mention that it's rare? Ferrari only made this car for 2 years in the early 70's and only a bit more than 500 examples were ever produced. It was replaced by the boxy 365/400/400i and 412i series which I really liked but most car guys hated. That low production number is helping the 365 GTC/4 to escalate in value with perfect example running into the mid-6 figures.
Of course, when people shell out half a mil for a red car that some dummies might mistake for an old Vette, it's not too hard to understand that they want the car perfect. These cars, after all, are approaching the half century mark in age and many examples, although original, need some help. Ferrari's go through cycles of value. They start out high and loose value for a certain number of years until collectors find them interesting and start buying them as investments. The lower the production number the faster this turn of events takes place. However, sometimes during the periods where the Ferrari model is at it's lowest value point they may seem financially accessible to guys that really can't afford them and that's when bad stuff happens. Maintenance is neglected and the cars can run down a slippery slope to shoddiness. This doesn't happen that much with Ferrari's but it does happen. (It happens to Porsche's a lot more!)
So with a car like the 365 GTC/4 which is now escalating in price, you can still find examples that have not been completely restored and may need some work here and there. That's where we may come in.
Wait for pictures, video and more details and as always "happy motoring".
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