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SUPERCAR CELEBRATION IN ADELAIDE FOR THE FERRARI DAYTONA
The Ferrari Daytona, one of the greatest all-time super cars, will be celebrated in its 40th anniversary year at this year’s Classic Adelaide in November (20-23 November 2008) when some of the world’s rarest Daytonas gather to participate in Australia’s premiere classic car rally.
“The Daytona is the epitome of a super car, with its styling, potent V12 performance and ‘bad boy’ aura that has made it star on the track, in films and on TV,” says Kevin Wall, General Manager of European Automotive Imports, the Australian and New Zealand Ferrari importer who will be welcoming Ferrari Daytona owners to Adelaide. “Its influences can be seen across the industry and the top Ferrari model today is, like the Daytona, a classic front engine, rear wheel drive V12 powered supercar, the Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano.”
The Ferrari Daytonas attending the Classic Adelaide event will be on display at the Gouger Street party on Friday 21 November before taking part in the event on 22 and 23 of November, allowing the public to hear the magnificent sound of the Daytona’s V12 engine at full pelt.
The Daytona celebration in Adelaide is part of a worldwide celebration for the classic Ferrari Supercar, which started at this year’s Geneva Motor Show when Ferrari launched a special version of the modern Ferrari 612 Scaglietti with a colour and trim combination the same as the original launch Ferrari Daytona. This was followed in April by the first of a series of Daytona gatherings at the Mugello Historic Festival and a celebration of the Daytona at the Essen Technoclassica in Germany.
Officially named the Ferrari 365 GTB/4, the Ferrari Daytona was launched at the 1968 Paris Motor Show and its design by Leonardo Fioravanti at Pininfarina was a radical change for Ferrari, with its sharp edge lines, flowing shape and blended lights and bumpers placing it at the cutting edge of car design.
Fioravanti was inspired to produce the Daytona after seeing a bare Ferrari 330 GTC chassis. “It struck me as something unique. I wanted to follow its dimensions, while playing close attention to aerodynamics. The fundamental objective was to obtain a thin, svelte car; the search was for a sense of lightness, rake and a slender look.”
The official name comes from capacity of one cylinder – 365 cc – and the 4 represents the four camshafts atop the V12 engine. The unofficial Daytona name arose from its unofficial designation during its development, to commemorate the triple success of Ferrari in the 1967 Daytona 24 hour race with the Ferrari 330P4. The Daytona raced at Daytona with its best result being in 1973 24 hour race when a car entered by NART finished second overall, driven by Francois Migault and Milt Minter and the same year two Daytonas finished in the top ten at Le Mans.
With its front mounted 259 kW 4390 cc V12 engine and relative light weight of just 1200 kg, the Ferrari Daytona offered performance even today places it in the super car bracket and for many years held the title of “fastest car tested” for many motoring magazines.
The engine, known as the Tipo 251, was a classic 60 degree V12 with double overhead camshafts and featured six Weber twin carburetors and provided the Daytona with a 280 kmh top speed and it blasted its ways to 100 kmh in just 5.4 seconds. The Daytona was officially the world’s fastest road legal car from 1968 to 1970 with an independentlytested top speed of 175 mph or 281 kmh by the UK magazine, Autocar, and enough to see off its nearby rival, the Lamborghini Miura.
Of the 1406 Daytonas produced by Ferrari, just 158 were made in right hand drive, while the rare Spider, produced by Scaglietti, had a total production run of 122, with just seven in right hand drive. In addition some 15 Daytonas were built as racing cars.
The Ferrari Daytona’s bad boy image was cemented in 1971 when racing legend Dan Gurney and Car and Driver Editor Brock Yates drove a Sunoco Blue Daytona from New York to Los Angeles in the inaugural Cannonball Baker Sea to Shining Sea Memorial Trophy Dash. The Daytona covered the 4,628 km route in 35 hours 54 minutes at an average speed, including stops of 129 kmh. The drivers claim to have crossed the back roads of Arizona at a steady 290 kmh, reporting the Daytona to be ‘rock-steady’.
Chris Rea celebrated the Ferrari in his song ‘Daytona’ in his 1989 album ‘Road to hell’ with the lines “She ain’t easy, so you take good care or she will scream down your lust” and the song finishes with Daytona’s engine at full power and screaming tyres to match.
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For further information, please contact
Kevin Wall
/ Tel: +61 2 9701 8000General Manager, European Automotive Imports / Fax: +61 2 9701 3555
Official Ferrari importer Australia & New Zealand / E:
Edward Rowe
/ Tel: +61 2 9701 8000Public Relations Manager / Fax: +61 2 9701 3555
European Automotive Imports / Mob: +61 407 913 244
Official Ferrari importer Australia & New Zealand / E:
EUROPEAN AUTOMOTIVE IMPORTS PTY LTD
Street Address: Heritage Building, Campus Business Park, 350 Parramatta Road, Homebush NSW 2140 Australia.
Postal Address: Ateco Automotive Pty Ltd,Locked Bag 260, Silverwater, NSW 1811, Australia
A.B.N. 79 115 107 189
EAI Media web site: Australia:
New Zealand:
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Release Number: Ferrari_317
Date of Issue: 28 November 2018. Time of Issue: 12:53:51