Ferrari 400: April 2024

Sunday 21 April 2024

The boss's car. Paradoxical as it may seem, both Enzo Ferrari and Ferruccio Lamborghini, among the builders of the most famous sports (and racing) cars in the world, loved comfort with a touch of luxury. No mystery that Lamborghini liked Espada and Jarama, and his absolute favourite (and personal everyday car) was an Islero rather than the ones for which his maison would become more renowned. Ferrari wasn't even looking for power for personal use, often further dampened by his chauffeur Dino Tagliazucchi: Peugeot 404, Fiat 131 and 132. Absolute fulfillment reached in the 70s, delicate moment in which the sports car, caught between two fires (social protest and oil crisis) split up and specialized in order not to risk its very existence. As in the USA the fuel shortage makes the horsepower battle disappear from market and advertising, moving on to highlight a much more spongy and baroque luxury to divert attention from weakened engines with ridiculous and compromised efficiency, Ferrari moves the engine of its total-performance machines to the rear. While on the other hand creates a big luxury car with less compromises. Instead, until the previous decade, its entire range was conceived and built in the same way, classic fuselage-like front-engined GTs, larger or smaller and more luxurious or essential, following a single common line: there was only to decide whether they were also ideal for racing or not. So if this role is now covered by the hyper-focused 365GT4 BB, while best-seller Daytona leaves the scene and precisely due to market needs the GTC4 hadn't completely convinced, the GT4 2+2 becomes the most indicated full-fledged luxury car, authoritative, snob, geometric and essential outside, sumptuous inside. Pininfarina loves continuity...(in first comment) #ferrari #ferrari365 #ferrari365gt4 #ferrari365gt42plus2 #365gt4 #berlinettaboxer #ferrari400 #ferrari365gt2plus2 #v12 #ferraridaytona #enzoferrari #ferrariclub #ferrariclassic #classicferrari #scuderiaferrari #ferrarifans #ferrarilovers #ferrarilove #1970s #anni70 #italiancars #sportscar #ferraristyle #ferrarilife #drivetastefully #pininfarina #ferrari365gt #ferrarifans #ferrari2plus2 #ferrariheritage

Therefore all the lines, the details, everything has the meticulous precision and sheer simplicity of its finest creations. And mind you, here he had a lot of time to start from afar and gradually refine this modeling, from the Lancia Flaminia Coupé to the 365GT 2+2, to the Fiat 130 Coupé, passing through the one-off Bentley T1 Coupé Speciale. Like the latter it has the rear whose seriousness is only slightly dampened by the circular taillights, plus the concession to sportiness of the trendy pointed front and the retractable headlights is obvious, but still managed with discretion. Mission accomplished, if Enzo himself drove one it means that it's the perfect car for the bosses, even if for emissions regulation reasons it was never sold in the USA and therefore only equipped with a normal (and rather tricky, especially when cold) manual gearbox . He drove it anyway, but it's understandable that in the 400 evolution, the automatic transmission would later have made sense and was quite well-suited.