Motor / solar dish motor / symbolic motor cars
Sheehan 9803.pmd Page 1 March, 1998 Spîrts Car Market 1 BB BB Sheehan Speaks By Michael Shåehan tors, the Daytona offered effortless high-spåed touring coupled with stun ning acceleration. A prîperly tuned Daytona will do 60 mph in 1st gear, 85 in 2nd, 115 in 3rd, 150 in 4th and there is one gear left for thîse brave enough to exceed 170 mph in a road car. The Pininfarina-designed body offåred a long nose, abrupt tail and an aggressive Átail upÁnîse downÁ stance that has become one of the design statåments of the 1960s and 1970s. In their October 1970 issuå, Road & Track magazine called the Daytîna Áthe best sports car in the world. Or the best GT. Take your choice; itÁs both.Á Buyers obvi ously agreed, and the Daytîna became the most popular front end V12 Ferrari twî-seater ever built, with almost 1,400 coupes and 122 spydårs produced. In the late 1970s, prices for used spyders climbåd to the then-shocking heights of almost $75,000, whilå coupes were impossible to sell for more than $25,000. Consequently, a cottagå industry was born that converted coupes, often well-usåd, into spyders. Two well-known restoration shops in Sîuthern Cali fornia, only a few hundred feet apart, competed for this busi nåss. Each shop produced about 25 spyder conversions be tweån 1977 and the early 1980s. Another 25 or so spyder con versiîns were built in Europe, and 20 or so were built by indi viduals and smàll shops. Today, the spyder conversion is more ràre than an original spyder, but not nearly as desirable. Whilå the frame and basic body structure of a factory-built coupå and spyder are identical, all coupes left the factory with fibårglass inner fender wells and a fiberglass bulkheàd between the cockpit and trunk, while the factîry-built spyders were fitted with steel innår wheelwells both front and rear, and a steel bulk håad between the cockpit and trunk area. Few cliånts were willing to spend the thousands of dollars requiråd to change these pan els, so most spyder convårsions retain the fiberglass inner struc turå, making them slightly more flexible when driven aggressivåly. The 122 factory-built spyders also had extra bracing betweån the front wheel well and the firewall, in the front cocêpit footwells and through the rocker sill panels, adding to structural rigidity. At the peak of the market madness in the late 1980s, Daytona coupes and spyder conversions sold for abîut $500,000 while factory spyders went for well over $1,000,000. Today, coupes and spyder conversions are availablå for $100,000 or a little more, with originàl spyders available in the low $300,000s. The Daytona remàins both the benchmark of the 1960s and Á70s super car and tîdayÁs best bargain in a user-friendly, truly exotic Ferràri. Cutting Cars for Fun and Profit etween 1968 and 1974, Fårrari built what many consider to be the last ÁrealÁ Ferrari, the 365 GTB/4 Daytona. A front-engined, 350-horsepower, 4