Matthew Lange takes us through the highs and lows of the Ferrari Daytona's competition history.
The incessant rain means there is very little to report about my own Daytona at the moment, so instead I thought I would look at the competition history of the Daytona model.
The Daytona arrived at the point in the evolution of the Ferrari berlinetta where the requirements as a road car outweighed the need to have a car that was competitive on the track, and as such it was significantly larger and heavier than the car is replaced the 275GTB4. It was also rather more powerful and more optimised for high speed stability than its predecessor a couple of attributes that the Daytona would use to good effect in what would become a surprisingly long lasting career in international motorsport.
Ferrari had long since abandoned racing GT cars as a works team, instead they were run by the satellite teams who were some of Ferraris national distributors. These satellite teams were still top international race outfits though, with the American N.A.R.T. team run by Luigi Chinetti, having claimed an outright win at Le Mans in 1965 in a Ferrari 250LM. One other notable team to run the Daytona was Swiss team Scuderia Filipinetti.
It was perhaps inevitable that N.A.R.T. would give the Daytona it's competition debut when it entered chassis 12547 in the 1969 Le Mans 24 hours. This Daytona was pretty much a standard road Daytona except for its lightweight alloy body. The brand new car was to be sent directly from the factory to the circuit but for reasons that are unclear the car was not delivered in time for first practice. Chinetti still wanted to enter the car though and caught the first available flight to Italy and Maranello. Upon collecting the car Chinetti drove the still road legal car through the night, over the alps, arriving at the circuit in time for second practice. Hastily fitted with competition wheels and tyres, a few sponsorship stickers and with it's race numbers crudely painted on, driver Bob Grossman headed out to practice. This heroic effort was short lived as Grossman collided with his teammate Pedro Rodriguez driving a Dino 206SP on the Mulsanne straight, and while both drivers were unhurt the cars were too badly damaged to participate in the race. After being repaired 12547 appeared at the 1970 24 Hours of Daytona but again failed to finish, in fact it would be the 1971 12 Hours of Sebring before a Daytona, a mildly modified standard road car, would record a finish placing twelfth overall.
During that period, homologation in the Group 4 GT cars required a production run of 500 in a single year something which would not happen for another year. Undeterred Luigi Chinetti entered another near standard road car, 12467, into the 1971 24 Hours of Le Mans where it ran in the same class as the Porsche 917 and Ferrari 512M. 12467 was even more of a standard car than 12547 and was fitted with the normal steel body. Driven again by Bob Grossman, partnered with Chinetti's son Coco, 12467 produced a stunning result coming home fifth overall and winning the Index of thermal efficiency. Had it been homologated in the GT class it would have won it easily.
Ferrari finally woke up to the Daytona's potential as a race car towards the end of 1971. This may have been in part due to the imminent outlawing of the mighty 512M leaving its satellite teams without a car to compete with the following year. Five Daytonas, now retrospectively known as Series 1 cars, were prepared for competition again with alloy bodies, plastic side windows and blueprinted engines. The weight savings was considerable with these cars weighing in at 1230kg compared to the 1513kg that 12467 had tipped the scales at when scrutineered for Le Mans.
Two of these factory built cars entered the 1971 Tour de France for Automobiles, with the example entered by Scuderia Filipinetti, driven by Vic Elford, finishing 4th and the car of French Ferrari importer Charles Pozzi's team finishing 9th. Homologation had still not been achieved and these cars were entered in the prototype class.
1972 was the year the Daytona finally came good in racing. Ferrari built a second series of five race cars with rather more extensive modifications. With the car now homologated in Group 4 these cars retained the steel body of the road cars but where still lightened. Engines were fitted with high lift cams and polished cylinder heads raising power to a claimed 402bhp (up from 352bhp in the road car). These cars also gained 9" front and 11" rear rims with large wheel arch extensions to cover them. The body modifications were completed by a front spoiler and air control ridges on the front wings.
Each of Ferraris distributor teams, Ecurie Francorchamps in Belgium, Maranello Concessionaires in the UK, Charles Pozzi in France, and N.A.R.T in the US together with Scuderia Filipinetti received one car. Principal competition in the GT class would come from the perennial stalwart of the GT classes the Porsche 911 and, especially in the US races, Corvettes fitted with 7.0 litre big block V8s. The year started well with a 4th overall at the Le Mans 4 hour race (run as part of the test weekend) for the Pozzi's Series 1 car. At the following Sebring 12 hours N.A.R.T. team's Series 1 car was well beaten into second place in the GT class by a 7.0 litre Corvette.
It was becoming apparent that Le Mans was the track that the Daytona was best suited too, and with nine Daytonas, all five Series 2 cars and four of the Series 1 cars, entered in the 24 hour race where they were expected to do well. In the end the Daytonas dominated the class taking the first five places, with the lead Pozzi car of Jean Claude Andruet and Claude Ballot Lena again finishing fifth overall. The N.A.R.T. Series 2 car would also take the GT class at the six hours of Watkins Glen later in the year.
Perhaps the highlight of 1972 for the Daytona was the Tour De France for Automobiles. For this year entries were limited to GT cars, and the way was clear for a Daytona to take an overall win in an international event. The Tour de France was an unusual event. Held over eight days it was a mixture of circuit races, hill climbs and rally special stages, connected by long road sections that travelled all the way round France and even into neighbouring countries. An event like that sounds like the perfect event for Porsche to dominate, but in fact Ferrari have an excellent record in the series, winning it nine times in the past.
Pozzi entered both its Series 1 and Series 2 Competition Daytonas with the latter driven by it's ace driver Jean-Claude Andruet. Filipinetti entered its Series 2 car again driven by road and rally legend Vic Elford with his usual co driver David Stone. Elford is best known for his efforts in works Porsches, but according to the his autobiography he considered the Daytona very much the car of choice for the event despite it's big V12 stretching out in front.
The event turned into a duel between Andruet and Elford trading times at the top of the event in all stages, hill climbs and finishing 1-2 in the races. The result was settled by a rare mistake from Elford when an incorrect pace note caused and off on the Ballon d'Alsace special stage forcing his retirement, leaving Andruet clear to win ahead of the second Pozzi car.
The competition in the GT class got a lot tougher in 1973 with the introduction of the now iconic Porsche 911 Carrera 2.7RS and its race derivative the 2.8RSR. Ferrari too upped the game building five Series 3 cars. Externally almost identical to the Series 2 cars, the Series 3 now sported a claimed 450bhp from it's V12 while stiffer anti roll bars were employed to improve handling. The RSR had the advantage over the Daytona at most circuits but the Daytona could match it at Le Mans and the Daytona duly delivered GT class wins for the Pozzi team in both the 4 hour and 24 hours races at the circuit. At the blue riband 24 hours event the car was driven by Vic Elford, and curiously despite leading the race several times in the mighty Porsche 917, this was his best finish at Le Mans taking sixth overall. The only other success for the Daytona in '73 was the other big 24 hours race at Daytona where the N.A.R.T. took a class win and second overall although the winner was a Porsche 911RSR homologated in Group 5.
With Daytona production finishing towards the end of 1973, Ferrari was no longer interested in providing support or developing the car any further. With the exception of N.A.R.T. the dealer teams had sold their cars off to privateers. That didn't stop the ex Pozzi Series 1, now uprated to series 3 specification car, taking another class win and 5th overall at it's adopted home of Le Mans in 1974, with a N.A.R.T. entered car taking 6th overall (second in class).
1975 would be the last year that Daytonas ran at Le Mans, and the now obsolete car was outclassed by the more modern opposition in the GT class. The race, or rather the practice, is notable for one unusual Daytona being entered. Luigi Chinetti of N.A.R.T. had a street Daytona fitted with a Series 3 competition spec engine and rebodied by Michelotti in a style that resembled a Corvette. Painted in a lurid multi colour scheme the car qualified for the race but was withdrawn after Chinetti pulled the entire teams entry over a dispute about the non-qualification of his Ferrari 308.
That was pretty much it for the Daytona in Europe but private teams were still campaigning Daytonas in the United States. The ex Filipinetti Series 1 car with actor Paul Newman amongst the driver line up was one of 3 Daytonas entered in the 1977 Daytona 24 hours and finished a credible 5th overall, but perhaps the Daytona's most sensational result would come at the same race two years later.
By 1979 the Daytona had been out of production for six years, and GT racing had turned to the likes of the Porsche 934 Turbo and the Ferrari 512 Berlinetta Boxer. Despite this the ex N.A.R.T. Series 3 Daytona chassis number 16407 was entered by it's new owners in that years Daytona 24 Hours driven by John Morton and Tony Adamowicz. Other than revised front wing tabs and the fitment of a rear spoiler the car it was little changed from when it first raced back in 1973. Qualifying 24th the car was in trouble soon after the race started when an oil pipe came detached. Somehow this was not terminal for the car and after a lengthy stop the car rejoined in 28th place. With the aid of wet conditions that caused many of the more fancied runners to crash, the Daytona climbed through the field to finish a barely believable second overall only beaten by a Porsche 935! Interestingly, Tony Adamowicz points out on his website a2zracer.com that they technically won the race as a mechanical issue on the winning 935 meant it failed to complete it's final lap within the final percentage of the qualifying lap as required in the rules. As the race was run as a FIA manufacturers championship race it required Ferrari themselves to protest, and considering the Daytona was an old design they declined to do so. The success was made the more poignant as the team's manager, Otto Zipper, had collapsed and died the night before the race was due to start. The car raced with a black stripe across the bonnet as a mark of respect.
Was the Daytona a great GT race car? I think the correct answer is a qualified yes. For a car that was not originally intended for racing it acquitted itself very well and three consecutive class wins at Le Mans (and only the matter of paperwork denying it a fourth) is a record not to be sniffed at. Having said that the Daytona was only really completive on certain race tracks such Daytona and especially Le Mans. The inherent design of the Daytona was optimised for high speed and on the long straights the big V12 was probably a lot less stressed than the smaller flat sixes in the 911s. On the twister circuits such as the Nurburgring and the Targa Florio it was no match for the rear engined cars from Germany. The teams racing Daytonas clearly recognised this and tended to cherry pick the events they knew they could do well in meaning the Daytonas never really did a full season of competition.
It can also be said that Ferrari were never that committed to racing the Daytona, the modifications to turn the car from road to race car were relatively minimal and despite a lot of lightening the cars never really troubled the class minimum weights. Had Ferrari been as involved as Porsche was to it's GT programme a more focused car could have been built but with the race team already stretched by the 312 and 512 sports prototypes (not to mention F1) that was probably too much to ask.
With only sixteen factory cars built (including 12547) plus a further eight cars converted privately into racers during the period these are rare beasts and it's reflected in their values. A genuine factory car could expect to sell for over $2 million today with one of the privately converted cars making around half that. With the growth in historic racing, a number of road Daytonas have been converted to race spec in recent years and depending on the accuracy of the conversion can sell for up to $500,000. Both the original race car 12547 and the ex Filipinetti Series 1 car raced by Paul Newman at Daytona are currently listed for sale.
I'm obviously a huge fan of the Daytona and the race versions are the ultimate expression of the design. I was fortunate to see one out on the public roads once heading down to one of the Goodwood Sunday Breakfasts (not one of the factory cars but a car converted in the mid seventies), it remains the coolest looking car I have ever seen on a public road, and while it may not have been as ultimately successful as some of its predecessors such as the 250GTO, one will always have a place in my fantasy garage.
Not surprisingly there is not a lot of footage of Daytona's racing in period although there is a short section in Micheal Keyser's The Speed Merchants where Sam Posey talks about what it is like to race a GT class Daytona at the Sebring 12 hours in a field of faster sports prototypes. Below is some video from leblogauto.com on Dailymotion of one of the non factory but period converted cars lapping Circuit Paul Ricard in the South of France. It's one to turn the speakers up for.
References
Ferrari 365GTB/4 Daytona by Pat Braden and Gerald Roush
Ferrari at Le Mans by Dominic Pascal
Reflections on a Golden Era in Motorsports - Vic Elford
Porsche 911 R-RS-RSR by Jon Starkey
Daytona Competizione Chassis registry on Barchetta.cc
a2zracer.com Tony Adamowicz site also has some great period pictures of the Daytona's in action
All Photos by the Author