A
Ferrari Berlinetta Boxer is one of a series of
carsAn automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...
produced by
FerrariFerrari S.p.A. is an Italian sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari in 1929, as Scuderia Ferrari, the company sponsored drivers and manufactured race cars before moving into production of street-legal vehicles as Ferrari S.p.A. in 1947...
in
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
between 1973 and 1984. They used a mid-mounted
flat-12A flat-12 is an internal combustion engine in a flat configuration, having 12 cylinders.The flat-12 is wider than a V12...
(180° V12, not actually a true
boxerA flat engine is an internal combustion engine with multiple pistons that move in a horizontal plane. Typically, the layout has cylinders arranged in two banks on either side of a single crankshaft and is sometimes known as the boxer, or horizontally opposed engine. The concept was patented in 1896...
) engine, replacing the FR layout
DaytonaThe Ferrari 365 GTB/4, better known by the unofficial name Ferrari Daytona, is a Gran Turismo automobile produced from 1968 to 1973. It was first introduced to the public at the Paris Auto Salon in 1968 and replaced the 275 GTB/4...
, and were succeeded in the Ferrari stable by the
TestarossaThe Ferrari Testarossa is a 12-cylinder mid-engine sports car manufactured by Ferrari, which went into production in 1984 as the successor to the Ferrari Berlinetta Boxer...
. It was designed by Leonardo Fioravanti.
Production of the BB was a major step for
Enzo FerrariEnzo Anselmo Ferrari Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI was an Italian race car driver and entrepreneur, the founder of the Scuderia Ferrari Grand Prix motor racing team, and subsequently of the Ferrari car manufacturer...
. He felt that a mid-engined road car would be too difficult for his buyers to handle, and it took many years for his engineers to convince him to adopt the layout. This attitude began to change as the marque lost its racing dominance in the late 1950s to mid-engined competitors. The
mid-enginedA mid-engine layout describes the placement of an automobile engine between the rear and front axles. Another term for this is mid-ship.-Benefits:The mid-engine layout is typically chosen for its relatively favorable weight distribution...
4-A flat-4 or horizontally opposed-4 is a flat engine with four cylinders arranged horizontally in two banks of two cylinders on each side of a central crankcase...
,
6-A flat-6 or horizontally opposed-6 is a flat engine with six cylinders arranged horizontally in two banks of three cylinders on each side of a central crankcase...
, and
8-cylinderA flat-8 or horizontally opposed-8 is an internal combustion engine in flat configuration, having 8 cylinders.The most famous engine of this type is the Porsche air-cooled flat-8 engine introduced in a 1.5 L version for Formula One that grew up to a 3 L version used in the Porsche 908.Another...
Dino racing cars were the result, and Ferrari later allowed for the production Dino road cars to use the layout as well. The company also moved its V12 engines to the rear with its
P and LM racing carsThe Ferrari P series were prototype sports cars in the 1960s and early 1970s.Although Enzo Ferrari resisted the move even with Cooper dominating F1, Ferrari began producing mid-engined racing cars in 1960 with the Ferrari Dino-V6-engine Formula Two 156, which would be turned into the Formula...
, but the
DaytonaThe Ferrari 365 GTB/4, better known by the unofficial name Ferrari Daytona, is a Gran Turismo automobile produced from 1968 to 1973. It was first introduced to the public at the Paris Auto Salon in 1968 and replaced the 275 GTB/4...
was launched with its engine in front. It was not until 1971 that a mid-engined 12-cylinder road car would appear.
No BB was ever originally sold in North America, as Enzo did not believe it to be worth the cost of federalizing. However, third parties made conversions, and quite a few of them are now in the United States.
365 GT4 BB
The first «Boxer» was the
365 GT4 BB shown at the 1971 Turin Motor Show. Designed to rival the
Lamborghini MiuraThe Lamborghini Miura was a sports car produced by Italian automaker Lamborghini between 1966 and 1972. The car is widely considered to have begun the trend of high performance, two-seater, mid-engined sports cars...
, it was finally released for sale in 1973 at the Paris Motor Show. 387 were built, with 88 in right-hand drive (of which 58 for the UK market), making it the rarest of all Berlinetta Boxers. The
PininfarinaPininfarina S.p.A. is an Italian car design firm and coachbuilder in Cambiano, Italy.Founded as Società anonima Carrozzeria Pinin Farina in 1930 by automobile designer and builder Battista "Pinin" Farina, Pininfarina has been employed by a wide variety of high-end automobile manufacturers,...
-designed body followed the P6 show car with popup headlights.
Though it shared its numerical designation with the
DaytonaThe Ferrari 365 GTB/4, better known by the unofficial name Ferrari Daytona, is a Gran Turismo automobile produced from 1968 to 1973. It was first introduced to the public at the Paris Auto Salon in 1968 and replaced the 275 GTB/4...
, the Boxer was radically different. It was a mid-engined car like the Dino, and the now
flat-12A flat-12 is an internal combustion engine in a flat configuration, having 12 cylinders.The flat-12 is wider than a V12...
engine was mounted
longitudinalIn automotive engineering, a longitudinal engine is an internal combustion engine in which the crankshaft is oriented along the long axis of the vehicle, front to back....
ly rather than
transverselyA transverse engine is an engine mounted in a vehicle so that the engine's crankshaft axis is perpendicular to the long axis of the vehicle. Many modern front wheel drive vehicles use this engine mounting configuration...
. Horse Power @ 344 was also slightly lower than the Daytona.
The engine shared its internal dimensions with the
V12A V12 engine is a V engine with 12 cylinders mounted on the crankcase in two banks of six cylinders, usually but not always at a 60° angle to each other, with all 12 pistons driving a common crankshaft....
from the Daytona, but was spread out to 180° as on Ferrari's 1970
Formula OneFormula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...
car and was mounted above a five-speed
manual transmissionA manual transmission, also known as a manual gearbox or standard transmission is a type of transmission used in motor vehicle applications...
. One major difference in this engine was its use of
timing beltA timing belt, or cam belt , is a part of an internal combustion engine that controls the timing of the engine's valves. Some engines, such as the flat-4 Volkswagen air-cooled engine, and the straight-6 Toyota F engine use timing gears...
s rather than chains.
512 BB
The 365 GT4/BB was updated as the
BB 512 in 1976, resurrecting the name of the earlier
Ferrari 512Ferrari 512 S was the designation of 25 five litre sports cars built until January 1970, related to the Ferrari P sports prototypes. The V12-powered cars were entered in the 1970 International Championship for Makes by the factory Scuderia Ferrari and private teams...
racer. The engine was larger at 4942cc, had an increased compression ratio of 9.2:1,Horse Power was slightly up to 360 and a new dual plate clutch to handle the added power, torque and ease the pedal effort. Dry sump lubrication was used to prevent oil starvation in hard cornering due to revised rear suspension, wider wheels and wider rear tires.
External differentiators included a new front spoiler, wider rear tires, added NACA side air vents ducting air to the brakes, four tail pipes and four tail lights (instead of six).
929 BB 512 models were produced.
512i BB
The
BoschRobert Bosch GmbH is a multinational engineering and electronics company headquartered in Gerlingen, near Stuttgart, Germany. It is the world's largest supplier of automotive components...
K-JetronicJetronic is a trade name of an fuel injection technology for automotive petrol engines, developed and marketed by Robert Bosch GmbH from the 1960s onwards. Bosch licensed the concept to many automobile manufacturers. There are several variations of the technology offering technological development...
CIS fuel injected
BB 512i introduced in 1981 was the last of the series. The fuel injected motor produced cleaner emissions and offered a better balance of performance and daily-driver temperament.
External differentiators from the BB 512 besides badging include a change to metric sized wheels and the
MichelinMichelin is a tyre manufacturer based in Clermont-Ferrand in the Auvergne région of France. It is one of the two largest tyre manufacturers in the world along with Bridgestone. In addition to the Michelin brand, it also owns the BFGoodrich, Kleber, Riken, Kormoran and Uniroyal tyre brands...
TRX metric tire system, small white running lights in the nose, and red rear fog lamps outboard of the exhaust pipes in the rear valance.
1,007 BB 512i models were produced.
Specifications and performance
Measurements are notoriously variable, inaccurate, and definitionally vague even from Ferrari-issued sources of the same period. For example, the workshop manual documents maximum speed (typically speed at redline) whereas the owner's manual documents «attainable» speed which appears to be speed at maximum HP per RPM not exceeding redline; for the 512 and 512i, this is likely not the maximum speed. Also, the workshop manual does not consistently distinguish measurements between the carbureted (512) and injected (512i) engines except with respect to the fuel delivery system, even though it is common knowledge that differences exist.
| Owner's Manuals |
365 |
512 |
512i |
| Power |
344 hp @ 7200 rpm |
360 hp @ 7000 rpm |
340 hp @ 6000 rpm |
| Torque |
302 lbft @ 3900 rpm |
333 lbft @ 4600 rpm |
333 lbft @ 4200 rpm |
| Redline |
7000 rpm |
7000 rpm |
6600 rpm |
| Attainable speed |
188 mi/h @ 7000 rpm |
188 mi/h @ 6200 rpm |
160 mi/h @ 6000 rpm |
| 0–100 km/h (0-62 mph) |
5.4 secs |
5.4 secs |
n/a |
| Dry weight |
1235 kg (2,723 lb) |
1596 kg (3,519 lb) |
n/a |
| Kerb weight |
n/a |
n/a |
1580 kg (3,483 lb) |
| Workshop Manual |
365 |
512 & 512i |
| Power |
344 hp @7200 rpm |
360 hp @6200 rpm |
| Torque |
41.7 kgm @ 3900 rpm |
46 kgm @ 4600 rpm |
| Redline |
7000 rpm |
6600 rpm |
| Maximum speed |
302 kilometre per hour |
303 kilometre per hour |
| 0–100 km/h (0-62 mph) |
5.4 secs |
5.4 secs |
| Dry weight |
1235 kg (2,723 lb) |
1515 kg (3,340 lb) |
| Kerb weight |
n/a |
n/a |