1984 | Ferrari 512 BBi

With a top speed of 283kph, this Ferrari was truly one of the fastest sportscars on the market during the 1980s and combined with such advanced technology as air conditioning and central locking as standard, the overall package had it all. Launched during the 1981's Paris Salon, Ferrari's 512i Berlinetta Boxer most notably marked the arrival of fuel injection on Ferrari's flat-12 engine replacing the familiar Weber carburettor setup. Fuel injection not only improved an engine's flexibility but made it much easier to maintain as well as prolonging the lifetime of the engine and remained in production for almost three years. With just 48 right hand drive examples ever built, this made it the rarest variation of all right hand drive Boxers. This is a particularly special car as it was used as the demonstrator for Maranello Concessionaires and indeed one of the very last 10 UK Boxers as the Testarossa was introduced later that year.

It was delivered in May 1984 to the dealer in Egham in classic Rosso Corsa with contrasting tan leather seats with Daytona pattern inserts. It was then sold and exported to Jersey where the car was used sparingly before being re-imported in 1998 by previous concours winner Michael Clarke having covered just 8,800 miles. The engine bay area was then detailed and minor paint rectification was carried out. In 1999, with 10,227 miles recorded, the car was transported to the workshops of multi-course winner Nigel Chilton Hunt and Neil Cornes of CCH where it underwent initial an inspection to decide what was required to make this a concourse winning car. It was initially sent to the paint shop where minor paint rectification took place. The bodywork was initially machined polished followed by a hard wax polish applied by hand.

It was then returned to the workshops and lifted for the suspension and brakes to be removed, everything was bead-blasted to ASI Grade 2, cleaned, inspected and refinished. The engine & gearbox assembly was then removed where it was cleaned and all ancillary components were removed and inspected the cost of which totalled in excess of £30,000. The cylinder heads were re-torqued and the valve clearances reset with new camshaft and ancillary drive belts installed. The engine was refinished in a low machine heat resistant paint and the rear engine frame cleaned and re-finished in satin black. The wheel spinners were re-chromed and the shock-absorbers were overhauled with an invoice at the end of May for just over £9,000. The radiator was then removed for cleaning and refinished in black with cooling fans removed cleaned and refitted.

New front wheel bearings, new tires and newly refinished wheels were all installed with new brake hoses, re-built brake calipers and re-finished fuel tanks in silver with oil tanks in semi-matte black. The road springs and anti-roll were refinished in the correct black paint and all finally refitted and adjustments made totalling £14,200. Final finishing detailing and refitting completed eventually in July 1999 adding a further £5,300 whereupon it was dually entered into the Ferrari Owners Club Concourse d’Elegance where, unsurprisingly, it won first in class and featured in the Autumn 1999 addition of the FOC magazine. Subsequent works have been carried out by Nigel Hudson formally of Emblem Sports Cars/Nigel Mansell Sportscars of Westovers in Dorset. At the time, this was thought to be one of the finest examples of the 42 512BBi’s imported to the UK.

The current owner purchased the car in 2006 with 16,500 miles covered and it remains in exceptional and original condition having driven just 16,706 miles from new and finished in its original paint and trim. Believed to have had only three private owners from new. The car was supplied with a comprehensive cam belt service (2013) by Ferrari specialist’s specialists DK Engineering and a more recent service at Bell Classics in St. Albans in 2018 to the tune of just over £2,500. Supplied with a fresh 12-month MoT tests as well as a new cambelt service, an important factor when dealing with 12-cylinder cars, it also benefits from its original Ferrari owners books, wallet and history folder. With very few miles driven in recent years, this near-faultless Boxer represents not only handsome investment potential but also one of the most stunning designs to leave the gates at Maranello.

Consigned by Edward Bridger-Stille