Ferrari Daytona 365 GTB/S 1972 total restoration

1972 Daytona Spyder

This car is not a Ferrari factory conversion from a Daytona Coupe as the 121 original Daytona Spyders are. This was converted after the sale.

I purchased the car for a previous client in September 1982. He had purchased cars from me in the past and I would care and maintain them for him. On several occasions I would sit in the car and the seat and mirror were set for me, he is much taller than I am so he had not driven it. He enjoyed having it more than using it. I had my 275 GTB restored by the highest quality shop I was knew of. The car came out perfect and scored 99-100 points in the concours I entered it. He liked the idea of showing a car and decided to restore his Daytona. We used the same shop that had restored my car.

The restoration took on a life of it’s own and more and more was done. In the end the car is done to exactly the same specifications as an original factory Daytona Spyder. That includes steel front fender liners, steel panels in the rear bulkhead, windshield and window channel frames reinforcement and all the bracing to the frame. If you are familiar with a factory Spyder when you see a non-factory conversion it’s pretty easy to spot the non-factory Spyder. The most obvious is the rear clip, the shapes and curves are subtlety complex. For the conversion shops this a very expensive proposition and required a high level of skill, it just was not done. This car is exactly the shape of the original. This is an every nut and bolt restoration all finished to the highest possible standards to exactly match the Ferrari factory specifications.

The mechanicals followed the same standard as the engine and transmission, they were rebuilt by Phil Riley & Company in Northern CA. They maintain and restore some of the finest racing and collector cars in the world. When we did the transmission we chose to lower the final drive ratio to increase acceleration and “liven up” the drivability of the car. It now feels much lighter than stock Daytona and is very quick, top speed was dropped from 174 to about 150, but the drivability is hugely improved as you can use the whole gearbox and the full range of the engine rpm’s.

The body and overall restoration was done by Chris Springer here in San Jose over a period of 2 years He photo documented the entire process.

The books with the car are 100% complete with every book, tag, diagram that was delivered with a new car. It has all the Becker radio inserts the factory provided. All pieces are original pieces. We paid $12K for all the small pieces to complete the books and manuals 27 years ago, God only know what they would cost today, if at all available, which is not likely. The tools are 100% complete and in perfect unused condition.

The car is absolutely indistinguishable from the Ferrari factory Spyder in all respects. The Daytona remains in perfect condition with just the right patina that only time can apply. Full photo and receipt documentation from the day purchased to present are available with the car

Scott Cote