1966 Ferrari 365P Three-Seater; An automotive fantasy realized.(Brief Article)

Today a factory Ferrari racing car commands in excess of $1 million. But in the mid-1960s, last season's racers were more frequently relegated to the scrap pile than turned into cash. The 1965 P2 racing car, chassis No. 8971, was granted a kinder fate.

It was rebuilt as the Berlinetta Speciale and debuted at the 1966 Paris Salon; the three-seater was the first car young Sergio Pininfarina penned on his own, when he started working for his father, Battista ``Pinin'' Farina at Pininfarina Carrozzeria. After the Paris show, the car traveled to Earl's Court in London, then jumped across the pond to wow the crowds in Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York. Besides the white car pictured, a second Berlinetta Speciale was built for Gianni Agnelli, president of Fiat, a silver car that sported a jaunty rear spoiler.

For several decades, the original show car was the centerpiece of the Luigi Chinetti Motors showroom. Can you imagine the delight of a young pilgrim venturing into the hallowed ground of the Greenwich, Connecticut, showroom? Not only did a ring of glamorous powerplants encircle the display area, but spotlighted among the Ferrari F1s and other exotica was this car whose very layout defied convention. With the driver positioned in the middle, its mid-engined nimbleness could be experienced to the fullest. Truly this was the stuff of adolescent dreams!

For this application the 4.4-liter engine-No. 217P-is detuned. Three Weber carburetors feed the V12, instead of the original half dozen. Twin distributors fire only one spark plug per cylinder, but the hand-welded oil tanks speak of the engine's dry sump racing heritage. The transaxle stretches out behind the engine for easy access in the pits, or to make the onlookers swoon when the long trunk lid is raised.

It's easier to enter from the left-side door, the better to avoid entanglement with the chrome shift lever sprouting from the floor by the driver's right knee. The initial impression is one of astonishingly good visibility; perhaps the best of any mid-engine car. A fixed-glass sunroof combined with three windows on each side and a wraparound rear window ...