Beschreibung:

Of all historic cars it is probably hardest to find a Ferrari with a low mileage and/or in preserved original condition. For the race cars, they were rebuilt, re-liveried, updated, suffered major or minor incidents which required repair, or any number of other reasons that cause them not to be as new. Today, the huge increase in their values has driven a need for those cars to be 100% authentic and this has lead to exquisite, well-detailed restorations being carried out which bring them literally to the way they left the factory. For road cars, the opportunity for damage is perhaps less, but many were exercised to their fullest potential and limits of road adhesion tested and exceeded often within a few years or even months of their original purchase, which necessitated a rebuild or body repair. Market trends and fashions of colors saw period liveries and interiors updated, or changed - how many 1960s/70s cars that were a quirky metallic brown (Marrone) or bright yellow (Giallo Fly) survive with original paint? The answer is very few, a quick respray in 'Rosso' or redo of the interior in biscuit/magnolia hide to aid a sale, has seen road cars go through many different guises. Again this is a trend which is now being reversed with the availability of information on original specifications of each car and a number are returned to their more interesting period schemes by purists. Nevertheless, there can be only handfuls of models that are still exactly as they were when new, and against this backdrop and with the theme of preservation of this auction, it is particularly rewarding to be able to have sourced a couple of 'Prancing Horses' that are ostensibly as they were new. Only 505 GTC/4s were built from 1971 to 1973, of which just 180 were destined for the United States. Road & Track called it "a graceful, clean and understated design." It is all that and more. The Daytona's successor, it retained a reworked 4390cc V12, with new heads and slightly lower compression ratio, set in a chassis of the same wheelbase. 11 inch ventilated discs ensured that the horses could be tamed, and contemporary reports praise the models handling as 'phenomenal'. Despite the same wheelbase, Pininfarina's clever body design allowed for greater cabin and luggage space, as well as giving it an ultra modern style, with flat nose and Kamm tail. In theory there were '+2' seats in the back, but really this space was best used as additional luggage room. The 'C4' we offer here is a fine example of its breed. Its 40 year history is simple in that, aside from the self evident originality throughout, it has been with its current owner since 1976, who believes that he had bought it from the second owner of the car. An original import to this country, it was brought in through Algar and as new wore its Rosso Rubino paint, black leather interior and the Borrani wire wheels it still sports today. Over the course of four decades, its recorded mileage has been just over 63,800 miles. The car's paintwork has survived well as has its interior and it remains complete with tools. Recent maintenance has included a major service some 10,000 miles ago and more recently approximately 100 miles ago a major service of the brakes was carried out. Still representing terrific value when compared to their predecessor, it can't be too long before a 'C4' catches the wave of the current buoyancy for the marque, or before this remarkably original example will be coveted as one of few original survivors of its brethren.