The Ugliest Ferrari

I spent the morning assembling synthesizer kits. After 50 or 60 packages, my consciousness began to wander down seldom visited neural pathways. I remembered a car mag article from the 1990s that listed a few "bargain" sports cars.

Bargain cars are often cheap for a reason -- dubious reliability, bankrupt manufacturers, odd paint jobs and so on. But one stood out. It was the 365 GT4 2+2, AKA the ugliest Ferrari I've ever seen. The article harped on about its performance, quad exhaust and sub-$25,000 price tag. But I couldn't get past its decidedly docile appearance.

Just over 500 of these angular 2+2s were produced between 1972 and 1976. Beneath the hood lurked an utterly impressive 12 cylinder engine that put out 340 bhp -- enough to push it from 0 to 60 mph in just 6.4 seconds. It was also strikingly fast, with a top speed of 155 mph. In the pre-SUV sport wagon era, this was probably the only way you could take the kids along for a Sunday afternoon jaunt. But you just know they were snickering in their leather rear seats.

It is interesting to note that this wasn't the only weird Ferrari design to wear the 365 badge. The 365 GT4 Croisette was a peculiar estate wagon prototype. Mercifully, it was led behind the barn and shot before reaching production.

1972-1976 Ferrari 365 GT4 2+2 [TopSpeed]