By Zach Doell
Question: What’s the flashiest way for you and two friends to pop around town on four wheels? Answer: The 1966 Ferrari 365 P Berlinetta Speciale.
Nicknamed ‘Tre Posti’ for its unusual driver-center, three-abreast seating position, the unique Ferrari 365 exudes classical style and adds to it significant provenance from within the home of one of Ferrari’s greatest figures. Did we mention it’s for sale?
The 365 P Berlinetta was built in 1966 by renowned design house Pininfarina for Luigi Chinetti Sr., founder of Ferrari’s official North American Racing Team (N.A.R.T.), and the automaker’s first US importer. This marked the last occasion that Pininfarina built a bespoke car for an individual customer.
Underneath its flowing lines evocative of the Ferrari 246 GT Dino, with which it shares some design elements, the 365 P sports a mid-mounted 4.4-liter V12 engine mated to a five-speed transaxle. A trio of Weber carburetors help to output an impressive 380-horsepower at 7,300 rpm.
Pininfarina built the car on a racing chassis engineered to take on Le Mans, and in the process proved that a mid-mounted V12 could work on a road car. The odometer hasn’t actually covered many miles and reads a scant 7,965km (4,950 miles) from new.
Before the car was delivered, it highlighted the 1966 Paris auto show and the Earls Court Motor Show in London. Chinetti originally sold the car to a buyer from New York, who then sold it to a third owner shortly afterward.
Since 1969, it’s been in the hands of Chinetti Sr.’s son, Luigi, who confessed to the New York Times that it has been both his and his father’s favorite car to drive. The celebrated Ferrari will go up for auction on August 17 at Gooding & Company’s Pebble Beach auction, expected to sell for close to $30 million.
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