Paul Katsus has always rated the Ferrari Daytona as his favorite sports car of all time. The Ferrari Daytona was officially named the 365 GTB/4 by Ferrari and produced from 1968 to 1973, with a maximum speed of 174 mph. In 1971, famous race car drivers Brock Yates and Dan Gurney drove a Daytona in the Cannonball Baker Sea to Shining Sea Memorial Trophy Dash cross-country race, winning in just 35 hours and 54 minutes with an average speed of 80.1 mph. The Ferrari Daytona is considered one of the top classic cars of all time by experts and collectors.

1. Paul Katsus has always rated the Ferrari Daytona as his favorite sports car of all time. Paul
Katsus would encourage all readers to research all the accolades this car has received. The
Ferrari Daytona was officially named by Ferrari as the 365 GTB/4. The unofficial Daytona name
was given by the media rather than Ferrari in honor of Ferrari's 1-2-3 finish in the February
1967, 24 hours of Daytona Race in Daytona, Florida, USA. The car was introduced in 1968 to
replace the 275 GTB/4. This grand tourer automobile was produced from 1968 to 1973. The
engine produced 352 horsepower and could reach 174 mph. The 0-60 mph time was a quick 5.4
seconds. Even though Lamborghini came out with a mid-engine Miura, it was not until 1973,
when the Daytona’s replacement, the 365 GT 4 Berlinetta, did Ferrari have a mid-engine car.
The Lamborghini influence can be seen by the wedge shape styling. The early model Daytona’s
were standard with fixed headlights that were behind Plexiglas covers. New safety regulations in
1971 called for a new headlight setup. The solution was the installation of retractable pop-up
twin headlights. An interested trivia fat - the Daytona designer, Leonardo Fioravanti, was
reported to have stated that he designed the car in seven days.
The total the number of Daytona’s from the Ferrari club historians is 1,406. This total number of
units includes 158 UK right-hand-drive coupés, 122 factory-made Spyders, and 15 competition
cars in three series with modified bodies and in various engine outputs.
The legendary Daytona received wide spread attention when in 1971 Brock Yates and Dan
Gurney (famous race car drivers of the day) competed in the Cannonball Baker Sea to Shining
Sea Memorial Trophy Dash. Hollywood later immortalized the race and the Daytona with the
movie “The Cannonball Run” starring Burt Reynolds. In this coast to coast car race, the Ferrari
driven by the pair won with an average speed of 80.1 miles per hour completing the New York to
Los Angles trip (2,878 miles) in 35 hours 54 minutes. It was widely reported in the media of the
time that one of the Ferrari drivers, Dan Gurney, stated "We never once exceeded 175 miles per
hour."
The Ferrari Daytona is considered one of top classic cars of all time by experts and car
collectors. The Daytona was voted top sports car of the 1970s by Sports Car International
magazine in 2004. Also, Motor Trend Classic named the Ferrari Daytona 365 GTB/4 and GTS/4
as number two in their list of the ten "Greatest Ferraris of all time". This car is definitely on the
list of Paul Katsus as an all time favorite.