1971. Peak music some would say, myself included. In the year that produced Who’s Next?, Hunky Dory, Sticky Fingers, Led Zeppelin IV, Pearl, Meddle, LA Woman and Tapestry how could it be any other? And who needed The Beatles anyway?
In motor racing it was the year the Porsche 917 was in its swaggering pomp, sweeping all aside in the World Sportscar Championship, while at Monza a bloke called Peter Gethin won the Italian Grand Prix in what remains to this day the closest finish in F1 history, so close that the difference between winning and not even standing on the podium was less than two tenths of a second. A blink. It was also the fastest race in F1 history, won at an average of 150.7mph, and would remain so for the next 32 years.
But that wasn’t the only Italian peak that year, for down to the south of Modena, Ferrari added a stunning new coupé to its range to create the most beautiful, alluring and exciting portfolio of product in its history. Perhaps in any other’s too. It was the 365 GTC/4, which joined the extant Dino 246 GT and 365 GTB/4, better known as the Daytona. And it would be fully half a century, until the 296 GTB was announced in 2021 no less, that with the Roma and 812 Superfast I would argue Maranello scaled such giddy heights again. And talking of scale, it’s worth remembering that in 1971 Ferrari made fewer than 1300 cars, in 2023 more than 13,000… Let’s hope the 12Cilindri maintains its current incredible run of form.
