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Filippo Sapino is perhaps best known for the three decades he served as design director at Ghia. But by far, his most memorable project was the Ferrari 512S Berlinetta Speciale, undertaken during a short stint at Pininfarina in the late 1960s…
Launched at the 1969 Turin Motor Show, the Ferrari 512S Berlinetta Speciale concept shocked and confused in equal measure. The shock factor came from its being the first Ferrari to receive the ‘wedge’ treatment that became popular in the late 60s; the confusion stemmed from the ‘512S’ moniker, as there was no 5.0-liter V12 to be found beneath the louvers of that rear clamshell.
It wasn’t a 3.0-liter V12 either, despite the Speciale’s underpinnings being rescued from a 312P (chassis #0868) badly damaged in service at the 1000km of Monza. The engine was, in fact, a 6.0-liter V12 from a 612 Can-Am racer – although it was sadly an empty block, explaining why an earth-mover was required to ‘escort’ it to this rendezvous atop a mountain in Como, Italy. Regardless, Sapino had made the most of the floor-hugging physique of the chassis, adding some unorthodox surface treatments to transform static into supersonic visually.
Flourishes such as the flip-up canopy completed the Speciale’s theatre. Still, it was to be another 512S concept that would define the wedge-tastic era: Paulo Martin’s Ferrari Modulo of 1970. The Berlinetta Speciale was perhaps more significant for breaking the curvaceous mold of prior road-going Ferraris while setting an angular design precedent for the 365 GTC/4 (also a Sapino design) and the later Berlinetta Boxers.
Source: Joe Breeze - www.classicdriver.com
Images: pininfarina spa., shorey.net; www.lotusespritturbo.com; www.classicdriver.com
