Click on any photo to zoom in
Question: What car cost $75,000 brand new in 1980, was delivered to it's new owner at Yonge/Steeles Motors in Toronto at 7:30 PM on a Friday and was driven to Terrace B.C. (a distance of over 4,000 kilometers) in under 45 hours (arriving Sunday at 4:30 PM including an overnight stop Saturday night in Saskatchewan).
Answer: Ferrari's fast and fabulous BB512 Berlinetta Boxer.
The BB512 was introduced at the 1976 Paris car show as a replacement for the 365 GT4/BB. Visually, the two cars looked the same but on close inspection a few details had changed. Besides being slightly longer and wider, the new car had a "chin" spoiler under the front grill and NACA ducts located just in front of the rear wheels. In addition the six taillights and six exhaust pipes of the 365 were replaced with 4 of each on the 512. 9 inch rear wheels became standard. The flat - 12 boxer engine located behind the driver was enlarged to 4942 cc but horsepower actually dropped to 360 bhp at 6200 rpm from the previous 380 bhp at 7000 rpm..
So how does a Ferrari 512 BB go? Very well thank you. Road tests quote 0 - 60 mph in 5.5 secs. 0 - 100 mph in 13.2 secs. Top speed 188 mph or 303 kph. What these numbers don't project is the feeling of power in the Boxer that starts right off the line and continues on up with no waiting.
To truly appreciate a Boxer you have to take it out onto a deserted stretch of road and open it up. At normal highway speed around 100 kph the car feels like it is parked but downshift into 3rd gear floor it and the car comes alive. Now rocketing forward the Boxer accelerates with increasingly greater vigor and the audio excitement of the 4 triple barrel Webers barely muffled behind you just intensifies the moment.
As the tach needle approaches redline it sounds like you are piloting a Formula One car!
Even above 250 kph, acceleration is still very impressive and the Boxer is so stable feeling that it seems like you are travelling about half as fast as you are. There is very little sensation of speed - only the speedometer lets you know that you might be sitting in the back of a Crown Victoria sooner that you think.
A total of 929 BB512's were produced before being superceded in 1981 by the almost identical (but quieter) fuel injected BB512i. This model proved even more popular with 1007 examples being produced before production of the Ferrari 512 ended in 1984.
|
Of all the cars I have driven, the 1980 Ferrari BB512 Berlinetta Boxer is one of my favorites and definitely one of the most memorable. |
|