Ferrari found success with mid-engine racing cars in the 1960s, but it was not until the end of the decade that Enzo Ferrari agreed to offer a mid-engine road car. Ferrari’s first was the lower-displacement 246 GT Dino, leaving the larger V-12 powered road cars like the 365 GTB/4 Daytona to remain front-engined. However, by 1973, Ferrari was convinced of the merit of building a 12-cylinder, mid-engined road car. The result was the 365 GT4 BB, or Berlinetta Boxer, which featured a 4.4L flat-12 engine similar to that used in its Formula 1 car. Styled by famed Pininfarina designer Leonardo Fioravanti, the design was an evolution of Pininfarina’s 1968 Ferrari P6 Berlinetta Speciale concept car. Under Fioravanti’s shapely body was a steel semi-monocoque chassis with independent suspension, similar in design to the mid-engined 246 Dino that came before it. Mounted longitudinally amidships, behind the driver, was a 4.4L, 4-cam, flat-12 engine mated to a 5-speed transaxle with limited-slip differential. The 365 GT4 BB was offered from 1973 to ‘76, when it was updated with a larger 4.9L Tipo F102 flat-12 engine and rebadged as the 512 BB. The 512 BB was produced from 1976 to 1981, when the engine was upgraded from its four Weber carburetors to a Bosch K-Jetroinc CIS fuel injection system; and at that point, the car was renamed the 512 BBi. In all, 1,007 examples of the 512 BBi were produced from 1981 to ‘84, when the model was replaced with the new Testarossa. The example on offer is a 1984 Ferrari 512 BBi finished in Rosso Corsa over a tan leather interior. One of only 144 BBi’s produced in 1984, this beautiful Ferrari features Daytona-style seats, Borletti air conditioning, power windows, a Momo steering wheel, center-lock five-spoke alloy wheels, and its original owner’s manual, tool roll, car cover and service records. A major service in April 2021 included timing belts, cleaning the injectors, rebuilding the water pump, replacing the spark plugs, resealing the exhaust ports, fuel pumps, transaxle seals and several air conditioning parts, and the BBi was also serviced in May 2015, with efforts including rebuilding the steering rack, overhauling the brake master cylinder and calipers, and replacing the ventilated brake discs at all four corners.
