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Ferrari 365 GT4 BB and UCS F102A Flat-12 Engine

The Ferrari Berlinetta Boxer (BB) is a sports car that was produced by Ferrari in Italy between 1973 and 1984. Replacing the front engined Daytona, it was the first in a series of Ferraris to use a mid-mounted flat-twelve engine. The Boxer was designed by Leonardo Fioravanti and was the first mid-engined road-car to bear the Ferrari name and the Cavallino Rampante (prancing horse) logo. It was replaced by the Testarossa, which continued to use the flat-twelve engine.

 

Production of the BB was a major step for Enzo Ferrari. He felt that a mid-engined road car would be too difficult for his buyers to handle, and it took many years for his engineers to convince him to adopt the layout.[3] This attitude began to change as the marque lost its racing dominance in the late 1950s to mid-engined competitors. As a result, the rear-mid-engined 246 P Formula 1 car was introduced in 1960, followed by the Dino SP racing sports prototypes in 1961. In 1963, the company also moved its V12 engines to the rear with its P and LM racing cars.

 

The first "Boxer" was the 365 GT/4 BB shown at the 1971 Turin Motor Show. Designed to rival the Lamborghini Miura and the newly developed Lamborghini Countach, it was finally released for sale in 1973 at the Paris Motor Show. 387 were built, of which 88 were right-hand drive (58 of those for the UK market), making it the rarest of all Berlinetta Boxers. The Pininfarina-designed body followed the P6 show car with popup headlights.

 

Though it shared its numerical designation with the Daytona, the Boxer was radically different. It was a mid-engined car like the Dino, and the now flat-twelve engine was mounted longitudinally rather than transversely (as it was mounted in the Dino; the Daytona was a conventional front-engine, longitudinal design). The engine produced 253 kW; (339 hp) @ 7,200 rpm, slightly more than the Daytona.

 

The engine shared its internal dimensions with the V12 from the Daytona, but was spread out to 180° as on Ferrari's 1970 Formula One car and was mounted above a five-speed manual transmission. One major difference in this engine was its use of timing belts rather than chains. Although referred to as a Boxer, the 180° V12 was not a true boxer engine, but rather a flat engine.

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Uploaded on June 2, 2021