Ferrari Boxer 512BBi World's Best All Around Boxer & Ferrari's Answer to Miura

This is the most spectacular, best driving and most exquisitely detailed Ferrari Boxers on the planet.
This is a late model 1984 512BBi, Serial Number 49311, which was the last and most refined year of the Ferrari Berlinetta Boxer production. The prior owner of this Ferrari purchased it at RM Auctions.
However he immediately discovered what most Boxer owners have discovered—that there are issues that need addressing in order to make the car truly driver friendly, reliable, comfortable and confidence inspiring.
The Ferrari was completely disassembled, each and every part, nut and bolt, properly restored and refinished in a truly no expense spared restoration.
A hardcover book detailing the restoration with photographs was published. The cooling system was upgraded so unlike most any other Ferrari of that era, this car can have the air conditioning on in 100 degree temperature, sit in traffic and not run hot or overheat (I know this from first-hand experience). The cockpit was lined with proper heat insulation and other measures were taken as well in order to prevent heat generated by the engine, radiator and coolant pipes from heating up the interior, as is common with all other Boxers.
The suspension was upgraded to allow for ride height adjustment as well as stiffness adjustment, thereby dramatically improving the handling and the aesthetic appeal.
The color is Rosso Scuderia, the official race car color for Ferraris, over the classic Boxer black trim.
Cheap fiberglass components were upgraded with beautifully crafted show quality carbon fiber.
The brakes were upgraded along with the wheels and tires so this Boxer now stops as good as a modern supercar…something that can come in handy when you’re driving a Ferrari on the street and you need to stop quickly.
The front brakes feature lightweight aluminum six piston calipers, slotted discs and aluminum hats while the rear brakes feature four piston aluminum calipers, slotted discs and aluminum hats. These modern brakes not only stop the car quickly but weigh less thereby reducing unspring weight to improve ride quality, handling and acceleration.
The transmission shifts beautifully and the engine starts on the first turn of the key. The air conditioning actually blows cold and again, as good if not better than any other Boxer on the planet.
Unlike most classic Ferraris the windows in this Boxer go up and down quickly.
The interior is pristine with glove soft leather, mohair trim and Keith Collins custom floor mats. The exterior is pristine.
This Ferrari features a premium Macintosh Stereo and an Alpine alarm system that conveniently locks and unlocks both doors with a remote.
The engine bay is the most beautifully detailed engine bay of any Boxer and arguably of any Ferrari. It truly reflects the mechanical art of Enzo Ferrari.
The engine, the ultra-reliable flat 12, harkens back to Niki Lauda’s Formula 1 World Champion winning 312T. If you turned this car upside down you could eat off the bottom of the car…that’s how clean and detailed it is.
The real world beauty of the 1984 Boxer as opposed to the earlier cars with six webers is this car always starts up right away. There are no finicky carbs to tune. No cars that have jets that clog and no floats that can become stuck and flood the engine with gas….or worse, flow over onto a hot engine! No misfires or backfires. No gas spurting out of the webers. This fuel injection system is simple and reliable….two thing one can appreciate when dealing with a Ferrari!
How many cars today have both the front and rear of the car open like giant clam shells? The only sorts of cars that do this include the Lamborghini Miura, Ford GT40 and the Ferrari Boxer—and none do it better than this Boxer!
I drove this car one afternoon and the very next day drove a 575 SuperAmerica and, without question, this Boxer road far smoother over Los Angeles’ potholes than did the much newer 575….the Boxer also stopped better and was far more fun to drive and exotic.
The wheel, tire and suspension setup on this car transforms the Boxer’s handling. Road testers reported how the standard Boxer was twitchy and nervous in turns. Not this Boxer. The standard tires were 240 mm front and rear, have been upgraded with 245/19 front tires and 305/19 Michelin Pilot Super Sport rear tires. The car handles like a dream!
As for the larger wheels and tires, this is how Enzo Ferrari and its designer Leo Fioravanti (who also designed the Dino, 308 and 288 GT) wanted the car. I asked Mr. Fioravanti about this when he was in Monterey a few years ago and he stated they wanted larger wheels and tires but they were not available when the car was produced. That how this car looks is how he envisioned it when he designed it. A few years later I confirmed this in the book Ferrari Berlinetta Boxer by Mel Nichols. He states Ferrari wanted to use the new low profile tires coming out from Pirelli, the P7, but the problem was they did not have large enough wheels and matching tires back then. “There was not a tyre and wheel combination that would leave the Boxer with sufficient ground clearance; its wheel arches were also too high, so that a P7-shod BB would not only be too close to the ground but would have wheels and tyres that looked pathetically small within the vast wheel openings. Ferrari engineers had no choice but to continue with the Michelein XWXS.”
Today we have the tires and wheels to fit the car the way Enzo Ferrari wanted and properly filling out the wheel wells in a most aesthetically pleasing way.
This Ferrari comes with three sets of wheels and three sets of Michelin tires. The factory original wheels with tires, the wheels and tires from the Forza magazine shoot and the wheels and tires you see in these photos. Also included are numerous other parts from the restoration, in good condition, such as the original radiator, brakes, etc.
Where ever this car goes it draws a crowd. Upon its unveiling at the 2008 Concorso Italiano the Ferrari was literally surrounded by admirers, including the editors from Forza Magazine who proceeded to do a full 7 page spread in their April of 2008 issue.
It is a truly stunning car to behold. At the 60th Anniversary event in Beverly Hills the owners of a Daytona Spider and a 250PF Cab, respectively, asked that the Boxer be moved further from their cars as they were concerned the crowds of people gathering around the Boxer might scratch their Ferraris.
This Boxer was chosen to celebrate the 70th Anniversary of Ferrari in Monterey at the prestigious Quail event.
At the Enzo Ferrari birthday event at the Peterson, where there were approximately 200 Ferraris, including multiple 275s, a 250 SWB, F40 and a Zagato bodied Ferrari, according to the Peterson Museum staff who counted the votes for the “People’s Choice Award,” the Boxer had it “in the bag” until five minutes before voting ended. They explained how a celebrity owner of a lovely restored 275 managed to get his friends to vote for his car. In the end, the Boxer lost by just one vote for the People’s Choice of Best in Show and ahead of Ferraris costing $10,000,000 (e.g., 250 SWB, etc.)
This is truly the world’s best Ferrari Boxer. It is a stunning car that truly represents Ferrari’s original production supercar. Ferrari’s fitting response to Lamborghini’s Miura and Countach. This is the Boxer for the enthusiast who knows quality and wants the best: An ultra reliable properly performing Boxer--Ferrari's first mid-engine Supercar.