1969 Ferrari 365 NART Speciale Spyder #12611GT
SPECIFICATIONS
- Year1969
- MakeFerrari
- Model365 2+2 NART
- Serial Number12611GT
Price on request
The Offering:
We are pleased to offer 1969 Ferrari 365 NART Speciale Spyder s/n 12611 GT, one of two 365 NART Speciale Spyders commissioned by Luigi Chinetti Jr. of N.A.R.T. (North American Race Team) fame and built in 1987-1988 by Carrozzeria Auto Sport (Franco Bacchelli and Roberto Villa) of Bastiglia, just outside of Modena. 365 NART Speciale Spyder s/n 12611 GT was completed in red with black leather, with a red dash face and black leather dash topping with a black canvas drop-top. The second 365 NART Speciale Spyder is s/n 12605, finished in black with tan leather and in Germany since new. At that time Carrozzeria Auto Sport was an official Ferrari Customer service center. Today Carrozzeria Auto Sport is a Factory restoration shop and body builder for the Ferraris Classiche department.
Ferrari 365 NART Speciale Spyder s/n 12611 GT started life in June, 1969, as a normal production Euro model 365 GT 2+2 completed in Celeste 2.443.625 (silver-blue) with Blu VM 3282 (dark blue) leather delivered new to Motor S.A.S. 365 GT 2+2 s/n 12611 GT was then sold by Motor S.A.S. to Arcibaldo Willibaldo-Eser, Positano, Italy. Only four year later, on 06 Dec., 1974, s/n 12611 GT was sold to England and registered to G.W. Gordon Wright, Aylesbury, England. In 1986 s/n 12611 GT was sold as a project car to Luigi Chinetti Jr., of NART fame, to be rebodied by Carrozzeria Auto Sport as the “Grintosa”, a 365 NART Speciale Spyder. The Italian nickname “Grintosa” best translates as”Aggressive in a Sporting fashion”..
Enzo Approved:
It is important to note the Enzo Ferrari was alive and well and was good long-term friends with Luigi Chinetti Sr., and so both s/n 12611 and s/n 12605 were built with Enzo’s approval, under the supervision of Frederico Trombi, a Ferrari Factory engineer, and Giatano Florini, a Chinetti-family friend and head of Ferraris Customer Racing services. As per Coco Chinetti, the 365 NART Speciale Spyder was meant to be a design continuation of the 365 California, of which only 14 were built by Pininfarina between 1966 and 1967. The initial plan was to match the 365 California with ten to twelve 365 NART Speciale Spyders built over two or three years, offering top-down cruising!
Carrozzeria Auto Sport:
The craftsmen at Carrozzeria Auto Sport first shortened the 365 GT 2+2 chassis from 2,650 mm (104.3 in) to 2,450 mm (96.5 in) and then fabricated an all-new lightweight alloy body. When finished the 365 NART Speciale Spyder weighed in at only 2,536 lbs, much less that the 365 GT 2+2s 4,000 lbs. The front body is a mix of both old and new. The egg crate grille carries back to the styling of the 1950s and 1960s while the shape of the nose and the low-mounted fixed and covered driving lights are much like those in the nose of the 512 BBLM. The twin air ducts in the hood are styled after those in a 365 GTB/4 Daytona, with dual electric fans pulling air through the radiator, allowing hot under-hood air to escape. The lightweight front body lifts and tilts forward for easy access to the engine bay and the trunk offers lots of space for luggage. Coco Chinetti insisted on the unusual rear skirts which he felt completed the rear bodywork, but, at the insistence of the staff at Carrozzeria Auto Sport they were made easily removable. While all exterior and secondary body panels are beautifully hand crafted in aluminum, the pop-up headlights, the windshield and windshield surround, the steering wheel and steering column, the seat frames, the door handles, heater and fan controls and the tail lights are all from the Ferrari 308/288/328 parts bin! The soft top, the top frame and the top latches are from the 365 GTS/4 Daytona Spyder parts bin. The wheels are from the 288 GTO parts bin with 8 x 16 inch Speedline wheels on the front and 10 x 16 inch Speedline wheels at the rear. The tires are Pirelli P Zero with 225/55 VR16 tires on the front and 255/50 VR16 tires on the rear.
The 4.4 liter engine was set back so that only a few inches of the front were forward of the front axle center line while the gas tank was moved forward, well ahead of the rear axle center line, giving excellent balance. Hand-crafted headers carry the exhaust out through the sides. The standard 365 GT engine is good for 320 hp at 6,600 rpm and offers acres of torque with 255 lb-ft of torque at 5,000 rpm, good enough for a top speed just topping 150 mph in the original 365 GT 2+2. While top speed in the “Grintosa”is rpm limited to the same 150 mph, the acceleration through the five-speed box is truly impressive, thanks to the much lighter chassis and alloy body. Steering is light and responsive and the braking is impressive, offering exactly what Coco wanted, “Aggressive Driving in a Sporting Fashion”, again thanks to the light weight. A full belly-pan helped smooth under-car airflow.
Ownership, Magazine Articles and Concours Shows:
When completed in early 1989 365 NART Speciale Spyder s/n 12611 was featured in the April, 1989 issue of Automobile Magazine as the cover car and an eight-page article detailing Coco Chinetti, his design philosophy and the many steps to construction and complete the “Grintosa”. Both s/n 12605 and 12611 were also featured in various Italian and German Automotive magazines. During construction both 365 NART Speciale Spyder s/n 12611 and s/n 12605 were sold to Ulrich Guggisberg, the owner of Graber Automobile, the Swiss Ferrari dealer for Bern, the Swiss capital city. 365 NART Speciale Spyder s/n 12605 GT was sold directly to a German buyer and has remained in Germany. 365 NART Speciale Spyder s/n 12611 GT next appeared at the World Vintage Car Auction, Tokyo, Japan, on 31 March, 1991 and was sold for $329,999. By 1997 s/n 12611 was in California and was shown at Concourso Italiano, Monterey, on Californian plate # 16394. In late 2001 365 NART Speciale Spyder s/n 12611 became part of a large west Coast Collection. In 2014 365 NART Speciale Spyder s/n 12611 GT was shown on 25 Jan., at the Cavallino Classic in the Design Distinction class for Ferraris rebodied in period such as the famed “Breadvan” and 365 NART Speciale Spyder s/n 12611. On 09 March, 2014 365 NART Speciale Spyder s/n 12611 was next shown at the 19th annual Amelia Island Concours d’ Elegance. The “Grintosa” has now remained in the West Coast collection for twenty-four years.
Body, Paint, Interior And Panel Fit.
The body build is of the highest quality, the panel fit is near flawless, the forward tilting hood opens and closes easily and when open is supported by dual hood shocks. The engine bay is very tidy and the wrinkle-finish on the air cleaner box, the cam covers and heat shields is consistent and unmarked. The paint, now thirty-five years old, is exceptionally nice with only a few tiny rock chips in the lower front panel. The leather interior was done by Luppe, the best of the Italian interior shops and is in excellent condition. All the gauges and controls are as-new. The soft top is in excellent condition with only a few small snags caused from the top when folded down. The trunk is both carpeted and spacious and, like the front body, the trunk lid is supported by dual rear shocks when open.
What’s It Like To Drive:
Ready for a test drive? Getting in is easy, a gentle pull on the 308 style door handle and the lightweight door swings open wide. It’s easy to slide in over the wide sills in the form-fitting seats, based on 308/288/328 seat frames. The steering wheel, turn signal, wiper, driving light and pop-up headlight controls are all from the 308/288/328 parts bin and all fall easily to hand. The large tachometer and it’s digital read-out speedometer are both unique and easy to see in their centered binnacle while the water temperature and oil pressure flank the binnacle. The amp gauge, oil temp, fuel level and clock are spread across the center of the dash. A quick turn of the key and the lightly muffled 4.4 liter V12 bursts into song. The clutch is light and shifting through the five-speed box is easy. Thanks to the combination of light weight, lots of horsepower and torque and gearing designed for a much heavier car, its easy to start in first or 2nd gear and go directly to 3rd or 4th. Once everything is up to temperature, it’s easy to blast past the speed limits in 2nd gear with three more gears to go! With the top up, and especially with the top down, the exhaust sound is wonderful!
Well Documented And Priced To Sell:
365 NART Speciale Spyder s/n 12611 is show-ready, very well documented, comes from long term (twenty-four year) ownership and is user-friendly. She offers the enthusiast the opportunity to own a one-of-two custom bodied Ferrari which would be welcome at Concourso Italiano and any weekend Cars & Coffee and would also be amongst the fastest of the cars on any weekend drive or rally. The interior is comfortable, the clutch is easy to use, shifting is easy and the sound of the 4.4. liter V12 is glorious at full song. S/n 12611 is currently titled in Washington and is smog-test free in virtually all states.
