For sale : 1978 Ferrari 400 GT

Adding this one for the records and reference (as it's similar as mine): 

https://www.hagerty.com/marketplace/classified/1978-Ferrari-400-GT/7a0ba7a8-dfe3-4226-899b-f9fec8e5650a

Ferrari 412 successor : 456

And another update on this blog:

https://erwin400.blogspot.com/2024/12/prototipo-prototype-prova-concept-car.html

I had a further email exchange with the guy who created this Ferrari concept cars e-book.

And I was informed the following:

"The large 4-seater Ferrari 456 coupe is usually spoken of as the most beautiful model of the company in the last few years. By the way, the 456, which is no longer in production, still unconditionally leads in comparison ratings with the successor of the Ferrari 612 Scaglietti and especially the FF and GTC4 Lusso, etc.
Large 4-seater Grand Turismo coupes from a certain point in time began to play one of the most important roles in the Ferrari production program. Therefore, immediately with the release of the final version of the Ferrari 412 GT, which was already quite outdated over many years of production (the car was discontinued in 1989 after 16 years of continuous production), the search for an alternative successor began.
The first sketches in the Pininfarina studio started back in 1985 - the F116 project. It was then that the development of the first design of the large Ferrari began. It is worth noting that by the beginning of the 90s the car was almost completely formed both technically and stylistically and practically ready for production. Pre-production mules of the car were even tested on the roads.
Being the successor of the Ferrari 412 GT, the new project continued to carry the seemingly completely forgotten philosophy with a classic layout with the engine in the front. But! The Frankfurt Motor Show in 1989 confused all the cards with the further development of the first version of the design of the large coupe. It was then that the BMW 850 debuted in the E31 body. And it was this striking similarity between the BMW 850 and the F116 project that prompted the then president of Ferrari Luca di Montezemolo to decide to restart the design development, thereby postponing the debut of the new car for several years. Not wanting to produce a car that looked like another brand, much less an Italian one like BMW, Montezemolo commissioned Pininfarina, under the then-retired Aldo Brovarone, to restart development of the F116 Fantasma project on the rather straightforward grounds that it was “too similar to the BMW 850i.” It’s worth noting that rumors of Pininfarina’s potential involvement in the BMW E31 had been circulating for years, suggesting a collaboration that may have been more secretive than widely acknowledged. It was, and still is, common industry practice for automakers to bring in outside design houses to submit proposals early in the development of cars, in search of fresh ideas. In these cases, the design houses can provide valuable insight without necessarily taking responsibility for the final product. The speculative nature of these rumors suggests that BMW may have solicited design proposals from Pininfarina, perhaps compensating the design house for their advice and work, while retaining the autonomy to implement the project as they saw fit. It is worth noting that concrete evidence of Pininfarina's involvement in the design of the BMW E31 remains part of the intriguing rumors in the automotive industry. And yet, the similarities between the projects are very large, and rumors do not come out of nowhere.
The restart of development resumed in October 1989, and after an internal design competition at Pininfarina.
The design project was led by future Pininfarina chief designer Lorenzo Ramaciotti together with Pietro Camardella - it was his first sketches of the first version, as well as the second, that the management of both companies really liked."

See also this link with more photo's of the Ferrari 456 prototipo

https://www.carrozzieri-italiani.com/listing/ferrari-f116/

And this great article:

https://driventowrite.com/2020/03/05/maranello-model-mystery/

We suspect the spionage photo's of that particular prototipo was an early version of the successor of the 412 : the 456. Enzo Ferrari provided his approval in 1988. It now becomes apparent why it took so long before it got launched. 

Remarkably Pininfarina was again involved with a concept car for the BMW 8 series in 2013:

https://www.motortrend.com/news/bmw-pininfarina-gran-lusso-coupe-concept/

Update 25-9-2025:

https://www.deansgarage.com/designer-and-illustrator-mark-stehrenberger/

Ferrari 365GT4 2+2 card - early production model ?

This Japanese card got offered for sale on Ebay. I'm adding it here just for the records. I suspect this is a very early one produced but maybe I'm wrong. Even the badge on the bonnet is missing.

Art - Ferrari 400i is a painting by Yoshiharu Miyakawa

For those interested:

https://pixelsmerch.com/featured/ferrari-400i-yoshiharu-miyakawa.html

Dutch garage : Project works at Forza Service - Ferrari 400 / 412

By coincidence I noticed the project section at a Dutch garage specialized in Ferrari:

https://www.forzaservice.nl/en/ 

https://www.forzaservice.nl/werkplaats/projecten/

Nice to see some of the project activity does include the 400 series and their owners do invest money and love in the maintenance of these verhicles :

https://www.forzaservice.nl/werkplaats/projecten/400-i/

https://www.forzaservice.nl/werkplaats/projecten/400-i-stramann/

https://www.forzaservice.nl/werkplaats/projecten/412/

Maranello concessionaires - catalogue accessori - 1978

And another great catalogue by Maranello Concessionaires from 1978

Click the photo's to enlarge:

 

Pistonheads: Ferrari 412 | The Brave Pill

And another online article I missed out somehow. It was already published about 2,5 years ago.
Still a good and well written article to mention on my blog. And by now also 203 comments to read. The last comment made:

"ELEGANT DESIGN AND VERY ENJOYABLE TO DRIVE.I HAVE TWO OF THEM AND HAVE OWNED 33 FERRARI' S INCLUDING F40 AND SF90'S

400/412 HUGELY UNDERATED"

https://www.pistonheads.com/news/ph-spottedykywt/ferrari-412--the-brave-pill/45456