During the late sixties, Ferraris road-oriented berlinettas split from their race cars in terms of design. After the 250 short wheelbase, the dual purpose road / race Ferrari seemed gone. This new distinction motivated Ferrari to manufacture more civil road cars having impressive specification. The first example following this new trend was the 275 GTB.

As unveiled at the 1964 Paris Motor Show, the 275 sported race-inspired engineering. Features such as all-independent suspension, four-wheel disc brakes, a five speed transaxle and an optional alloy body distinguished the 275 from the much larger and heavier 330 GTC built beside it.

Being light, powerful and strikingly beautiful, the 275 was a very successful car for Ferrari. It sold well, with around 1000 examples made, and, as an afterthought, scored victories in endurance racing after the 250 LM was denied homologation. For these reasons, Ferrari used the 275 as a traditional basis for their next gran turismo.

The 275 Daytona Prototipos

After Lamborghini’s launch of the mid-engine Miura, the 275 quickly showed its age. Ferrari responded with the quad-cam 275 GTB/4, but couldn’t match the outrageousness of the Lamborghini.

Not soon after the Miura launch, Leonardo Fioravanti of Pininfarina started new Ferrari sketches in late 1966. The initial design laid out the character of things to come: Fioravanti’s lines held to Ferrari tradition. His car was front-engined, having classic proportions similar to that on the 275 GTB. Keeping their traditional design language reinforced Ferrari’s position to offer more than just outrageous styling.

After achieving a 1-2-3 finish at the 1967 Daytona, with the 330 P4s finishing ahead of the Ford GT40 Mark IIs, Enzo decided to name the 275 successor the Daytona. Despite his attempts to cover up the name after a ‘press leak’, the name unofficially stuck around.

The first Daytona, built in late 1967, was executed on 275 GTB/4 chassis #10287. Scaglietti built a unique body which featured a 275 nose but was completely new from the windshield back. An engine was installed in the chassis which featured a 330, 4.4 liter block but had a three valve head. The resulting engine, called the tipo 243, was unique to chassis #10287.

A sister car built on 275 GTB chassis #11001 was also bodied by Scaglietti. It again had a 275 nose on the Daytona theme, but this time had flat headlight covers. Unlike #10287, this car featured the standard GTB/4 engine.

Daytonas built after the two Scaglietti test cars, featured the standard Daytona frame, tipo 251 engine and covered headlights. The first Pininfarina prototype, the third Daytona made, was shown at the 1968 Paris Auto Salon and the production version was released at the 1969 New York Auto Show.

Remarkably, both the 275 Scaglietti prototypes survive today. The red car seen above is the first Daytona, chassis #10287.

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