Ferrari Berlinetta Boxer (BB) History

Revealed as a concept at the 1971 Turin Motor Show and entering production in 1973, the Ferrari 365 GT4/BB ('Berlinetta Boxer') was the company's first mid-engine production V12 car. Its horizontally opposed ('boxer') flat-12 engine was mounted longitudinally amidships, producing 344 hp from 4.4 litres.

The 512 BB replaced the 365 in 1976 with a 5.0-litre engine, and was itself succeeded in 1981 by the fuel-injected 512 BBi. The BB family was not officially imported to the United States due to emissions and safety regulations, but grey-market examples arrived regardless and the car's Pininfarina styling — wedge-shaped with NACA ducts and a wide, squat stance — became a motif of 1970s supercar design.

Total production spanned approximately 2,323 cars across all three variants. The BB was supplanted in 1984 by the Testarossa, which used a wider, quad-cam version of the flat-12.