Ferrari

Following the introduction of the 365 GTB/4 Daytona in 1969, Ferrari engineers began work on a successor, the 365 GT4 BB. Though it shared its numerical designation with its predecessor, the 365 GT4 BB was radically different in layout than the front-engined 365 GTB/4. The new car was to have rear mid-mounted flat-12 engine, arranged longitudinally, an unprecedented configuration among Ferrari road cars. The body was styled at Pininfarina, supervised by Leonardo Fioravanti. The design was influenced by the Ferrari P6 Berlinetta Speciale, a one-off concept car created by Pininfarina in 1968. The first 365 GT4 BB prototype was presented to the public at the 1971 Salone dell'Automobile di Torino. The  prototype's paint scheme was designed to lower and reduce the visual mass of the car when seen in profile. To this effect, the bodywork was split with a horizontal seam near the top of the wheel rims and everything below this point was painted satin black, including both front and rear bumpers. This two-tone paint scheme would carry over into production BB models. The production version of the 365 GT4 BB was introduced at the 1973 Mondial de l'Automobile in Paris. The start of production coincided with the 1973 oil crisis and as a result initial demand was low. In total, 387 units were built between 1973 and 1976, making it the rarest of all Berlinetta Boxer models.

The 365 GT4 BB was replaced by the BB 512 in 1976. The name 512 referred to the car's 5 litre, 12 cylinder engine, a deviation from Ferrari's practice of naming 12-cylinder road cars (as the 365 BB) after their cylinder displacement. The chassis remained unaltered, but wider rear tires meant the rear track increased to 1,563 mm and the rear bodywork was widened accordingly. At the rear, there were now twin tail lights and exhaust pipes each side, instead of triple units as on the 365 GT4 BB. The panel between the taillights was now slats, instead of black mesh. The number of vents in the engine cover increased, in order to improve engine cooling. 929 units of the BB 512 were produced between 1976 and 1981.