>>Ferrari Berlinetta Boxer

Ferrari Berlinetta Boxer

Ferrari Berlinetta Boxer

Manufacturer	Ferrari
Production	1973–1984 2,323 produced
Assembly	Maranello, Italy
Predecessor	Ferrari 365 GTB/4
Successor	Ferrari Testarossa
Class	Sports car
Body style	Berlinetta
Layout	RMR layout
Transmission	5-speed manual
Designer	Leonardo Fioravanti at Pininfarina

365 GT4 BB

Production	1973–1976 387 produced
Engine	4.4 L V12

BB 512

Production	1976–1981 929 produced
Engine	5.0 L V12

BB 512i

Production	1981–1984 1,007 produced
Engine	5.0 L FI V12

A Ferrari Berlinetta Boxer is one of a series of cars produced by Ferrari in Italy between 1973 and 1984. They used a mid-mounted flat-12 (180° V12, not actually a true boxer) engine, replacing the FR layout Daytona, and were succeeded in the Ferrari stable by theTestarossa. It was designed by Leonardo Fioravanti.

Production of the BB was a major step for Enzo Ferrari. He felt that a mid-engined road car would be too difficult for his buyers to handle, and it took many years for his engineers to convince him to adopt the layout. This attitude began to change as the marque lost its racing dominance in the late 1950s to mid-engined competitors. The mid-engined 4-, 6-, and 8-cylinder Dino racing cars were the result, and Ferrari later allowed for the production Dino road cars to use the layout as well. The company also moved its V12 engines to the rear with its P and LM racing cars, but the Daytona was launched with its engine in front. It was not until 1971 that a mid-engined 12-cylinder road car would appear.

No BB was ever originally sold in North America, as Enzo did not believe it to be worth the cost of federalizing. However, third parties made conversions, and quite a few of them are now in the United States.

365 GT4 BB

The first "Boxer" was the 365 GT4 BB shown at the 1971 Turin Motor Show. Designed to rival the Lamborghini Miura, it was finally released for sale in 1973 at the Paris Motor Show. 387 were built, with 88 in right-hand drive (of which 58 for the UK market), making it the rarest of all Berlinetta Boxers. The Pininfarina-designed body followed the P6 show car with popup headlights.

Though it shared its numerical designation with the Daytona, the Boxer was radically different. It was a mid-engined car like the Dino, and the now flat-12 engine was mounted longitudinally rather than transversely (as it was mounted in the Dino; the Daytona was a conventional front-engine, logitudinal design). Horse Power @ 380 was also slightly higher than the Daytona.

The engine shared its internal dimensions with the V12 from the Daytona, but was spread out to 180° as on Ferrari's 1970 Formula One car and was mounted above a five-speed manual transmission. One major difference in this engine was its use of timing belts rather than chains.

512 BB

The 365 GT4/BB was updated as the BB 512 in 1976, resurrecting the name of the earlier Ferrari 512 racer. The engine was larger at 4942cc, had an increased compression ratio of 9.2:1,Horse Power was slightly down to 360 and a new dual plate clutch to handle the added power, torque and ease the pedal effort. Dry sump lubrication was used to prevent oil starvation in hard cornering due to revised rear suspension, wider wheels and wider rear tires. External differentiators included a new front spoiler, wider rear tires, added NACA side air vents ducting air to the brakes, four tail pipes and four tail lights (instead of six).

929 BB 512 models were produced.

512i BB

The Bosch K-Jetronic CIS fuel injected BB 512i introduced in 1981 was the last of the series. The fuel injected motor produced cleaner emissions and offered a better balance of performance and daily-driver temperament.

External differentiators from the BB 512 besides badging include a change to metric sized wheels and the Michelin TRX metric tire system, small white running lights in the nose, and red rear fog lamps outboard of the exhaust pipes in the rear valance.

1,007 BB 512i models were produced.

Specifications and performance

Measurements are notoriously variable, inaccurate, and definitionally vague even from Ferrari-issued sources of the same period. For example, the workshop manual documents maximum speed (typically speed at redline) whereas the owner's manual documents «attainable» speed which appears to be speed at maximum HP per RPM not exceeding redline; for the 512 and 512i, this is likely not the maximum speed. Also, the workshop manual does not consistently distinguish measurements between the carbureted (512) and injected (512i) engines except with respect to the fuel delivery system, even though it is common knowledge that differences exist.

Owner's Manuals	365	512	512i
Power	344 hp (257 kW) @ 7200 rpm	360 hp (268 kW) @ 7000 rpm	340 hp (254 kW) @ 6000 rpm
Torque	302 lb·ft (409 N·m) @ 3900 rpm	333 lb·ft (451 N·m) @ 4600 rpm	333 lb·ft (451 N·m) @ 4200 rpm
Redline	7000 rpm	7000 rpm	6600 rpm
Attainable speed	188 mph (303 km/h) @ 7000 rpm	188 mph (303 km/h) @ 6200 rpm	160 mph (260 km/h) @ 6000 rpm
0–100 km/h (0-62 mph)	5.4 secs	5.4 secs	n/a
Dry weight	1,235 kg (2,723 lb)	1,596 kg (3,519 lb)	n/a
Kerb weight	n/a	n/a	1,580 kg (3,483 lb)

Workshop Manual	365	512 & 512i
Power	344 hp (257 kW) @7200 rpm	360 hp (268 kW) @6200 rpm
Torque	41.7 kg·m (409 N·m; 302 lb·ft) @ 3900 rpm	46 kg·m (450 N·m; 330 lb·ft) @ 4600 rpm
Redline	7000 rpm	6600 rpm
Maximum speed	302 km/h (188 mph)	303 km/h (188 mph)
0–100 km/h (0-62 mph)	5.4 secs	5.4 secs
Dry weight	1,235 kg (2,723 lb)	1,515 kg (3,340 lb)
Kerb weight	n/a	n/a

BB LM

A Series III Ferrari 512 BB LM

In 1974, Luigi Chinetti's North American Racing Team (NART) developed a racing variant of the 365 GT4 BB to replace the team's Daytonas for use in sports car racing. NART's car debuted at the 24 Hours of Daytona in 1975 before earning a sixth place finish at the 12 Hours of Sebring two months later. NART continued to use the car into 1978, by which time Ferrari had begun their own development of a racing variant of the updated 512 BB. Ferrari's Customer Assistance Department extensively modified four 512s in 1978, adding wider wheel arches, a roof-mounted aerofoil, and reusing rear wings from Ferrari 312T2 Formula One cars. Power from the flat-12 was increased to 440 hp (328 kW) while the cars' weight were decreased to approximately 1,200 kg (2,646 lb). The four cars, termed BB LM by Ferrari, were entered by Charles Pozzi, Ecurie Francorchamps, and NART in the 1978 24 Hours of Le Mans, but none were able to complete the race.

After the failure of the first batch, Ferrari worked on fixing the BB LM with a second development program in late 1978. The flat-12's carburetors were replaced with an electronic fuel injection system to increase power to 480 hp (358 kW), a system later adapted to the 512i BB. The production-based bodywork of the first BB/LMs was replaced by a new design developed by Pininfarina which was 16 in (41 cm) longer and carried over none of the original styling cues. The pop-up headlights were now replaced by fixed units integrated into the fascia, while the tail was lengthened to the maximum allowed by regulations. Nine of these revised BB LMs were built by Ferrari in 1979, while a further refined series of sixteen were built from 1980 to 1982. Amongst the BB LM's best finishes was a fifth overall and first in the GTX class at the 1981 24 Hours of Le Mans.