Ferrari Daytona

Name origin

Ferrari unveiled the 365 GTB/4 at the Paris Motor Show in October 1968. Daytona was its unofficial nickname, commemorating Ferrari’s first, second, and third places at the 1967 24 Hours of Daytona. The winning 330 P3/4 led home a 330 P4 and a 412 P. The nickname also came to describe the factory-built 365 GTS/4 Spider.

The name was in circulation before the Paris unveiling. Designer Leonardo Fioravanti recalled its use in 1967. RM Sotheby’s, citing Ferrari historian Marcel Massini, reports that Luigi Chinetti Motors’ paperwork for development chassis 11001 records both 275 GTB/4 and the spelling Daitona. The evidence leaves the first use and who coined it open.

Ferrari Daytona models compared

• Daytona Berlinetta Plexiglass
• Daytona Berlinetta with pop-up headlights
• 365 GTB/4 Daytona factory Competizione

Ferraris that carry the Daytona name

• Ferrari Daytona SP3

  Official Ferrari model name

  Ferrari unveiled this Icona model in 2021. Its name and design celebrate the sports prototypes behind the 1967 result.

  • Tailor Made 599+1 charity car

• Ferrari 550 Maranello

  “Daytona of the Nineties”

  Ferrari specialists use the phrase for the 550, which brought back the front-engined, two-seat V12 layout in 1996.

• Daytona development cars

  Prototypes based on the 275 GTB/4

  These two development chassis document the transition from the 275 GTB/4 to the production Daytona.

  • First prototype · 10287
  • Development prototype · 11001

• Michelotti Daytona NART Spiders

  Independent coachwork on 365 GTB/4 chassis

  Luigi Chinetti commissioned Michelotti to rebody Daytona Berlinettas, including chassis 14299, known as Marion.

• The two Daytona Shooting Brakes

  Independent coachwork on two Ferrari models

  Panther Westwinds built the original on a 365 GTB/4. Niels van Roij Design reinterpreted it half a century later using a 599 GTB Fiorano.

  • Original Shooting Brake · 15275
  • 599-based Shooting Brake Hommage · 160781

Ferrari’s 12Cilindri echoes the classic Daytona’s nose. The reference is to the 365 GTB/4’s design, while the Daytona SP3 draws on the sports prototypes that finished together in 1967.

What to check across the range

Use factory build records to establish whether the chassis began as a Berlinetta, Spider, or purpose-built competition car. Two factory Spiders, 15417 and 16793, sold under GTB/4 lot titles. Chassis 14849 began as a Berlinetta and was converted to open form. Follow the chassis evidence and compare cars with the same factory origin and later configuration.

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Related guides

• Ferrari 275 GTB/4

Sources

• RM Sotheby’s, Daytona Berlinetta, Spider, and Competizione guide
• Ferrari, highlights from its first 70 years
• RM Sotheby’s, Daytona factory and independent competition cars
• 24 Hours of Le Mans, the 365 GTB/4 and the Daytona nickname
• Ferrari, Daytona SP3 announcement and the 1967 Daytona finish
• RM Sotheby’s, Daytona prototype 11001 and the Chinetti paperwork
• Porter Press, Leonardo Fioravanti’s recollection of the name
• DK Engineering, 550 Maranello and the Daytona of the Nineties
• Foskers, the 550 Maranello in specialist usage
• RM Sotheby’s, factory Spider 15417, Amelia Island 2015
• RM Sotheby’s, factory Spider 16793, Arizona 2015
• RM Sotheby’s, converted Berlinetta 14849
• Classic Driver, the commission and coachwork history of chassis 15275