One-off Aluminium-bodied Ferrari Daytona BARN FIND up for grabs

A 1969 Ferrari 365 GTB / 4 Daytona Berlinetta Alloy by Scaglietti barn find has been discovered in Japan, the only one built. Goes under the hammer on 9 September.

The Ferrari 365 GTB / 4 ‘Daytona’ is perhaps the most appealing ‘Grand Tourer’ Ferrari ever built, and 1,200 were made between 1969 and 1973. But there’s one elusive car that stands apart from the rest.

Ferrari built five lightweight Alloy competition cars to compete at the 24 hours of Daytona, and just one road-going version. And it’s been on the missing list for 40 years.

Chassis #12653 with Scaglietti body #32 was completed in June 1969 and ended up in the hands of Luciano Conti, a close friend of Enzo Ferrari. But he only kept it for a year before selling it to Guido Maran of Verona.

But a year later the Daytona’s Italian registration was cancelled and it was exported to Japan, where it had a bit of profile for a few years before being bought in 1980 by Makota Takai – and pretty much disappearing from view. Many believed it had been lost for good.

But now the car has been found – in real ‘Barn Find’ condition – and is heading for R M Sotheby’s Maranello auction.

It comes with just 22,000 miles on the clock, matching numbers and is in very original condition. Checked by leading Ferrari expert Marcel Massini, the Daytona remains in remarkably authentic condition – especially the interior – and is a big chance to restore or preserve for any Ferrari collector who covets the rarest of the rare.

And although the auction estimate of €1.4 – €1.7 million is a lot of money, it seems like a steal considering its rarity.

The aluminium-bodied Ferrari Daytona will cross the block on 9 September 2017 at R M Sotheby’s Passion and Legend Sale at Maranello.