Ferrari Daytona

The Ferrari Daytona 365 GTB/4 was perceived proudly by the manufacturer as its last attempt at superfast front-engined Grand Tourers. It was so named because of Ferrari's success in the Daytona 24 hour race, with 365 referring to the capacity of each cylinder and 4 referring to the number of camshafts.

Amazingly though, this super V12 car was released with mixed reviews. Its supporters had envisioned a car to challenge the Lamborghini Miura, but saw instead a vehicle touted as a conventional front-end Tourer.

The car was a heavy-weight but against the clock it could accelerate to 280 km/h, much faster than the Lamborghini Miura, and could do 0 - 96 km/h in an astonishing 5.4 seconds.

Its motor was a technically brilliant 4.4 liter quad cam V12 which produced 352 bhp at 7,500 rpm. It was powered through a rear-mounted five-speed gearbox with wishbone suspension. Its interior was comfortably functional, though it did house power windows and leather seats with air-conditioning as an option.

On the open road the car flew and for many years it was known as the world's fastest road car. Its reputation grew to a point where the Daytona turned out to be one of the best-selling Ferrari's. It ceased production in 1973 with sales of 1,426.