Jay Leno doesn’t own any Ferraris, but he does drive them occasionally. On a recent episode of “Jay Leno’s Garage,” he took a spin in a 1967 Ferrari 365 California Spyder that’s part of the Nethercutt Collection.
Situated not far from Leno’s Los Angeles-area garage, the Nethercutt Collection is chock full of rare prewar cars like the 1928 Isotta Fraschini Type 8A Landaulet and 1933 Hispano Suiza J12 that appeared on previous episodes. While more recent, the Ferrari may be even rarer, as it’s one of just 14 built.
The California Spyder was introduced in 1966 as the first variant of the 365 series, which later grew to include 365 GT 2+2 and 365 GTC 2-seat coupes. The hardtop versions were built in larger numbers, including about 200 of the GTC model alone. They lacked some of the Spyder’s distinctive styling features, however, such as the chrome spears that encase the door handles and the large, unusually shaped taillights.
All 365 models use a 4.4-liter version of the Colombo V-12 that powered most Ferrari road cars in the late 1960s, connected to a 5-speed manual transmission. In the Spyder, it’s rated at 320 hp, which enables a Ferrari-estimated top speed of 152 mph.
As the name California Spyder suggests, this car targeted the U.S. market, but most models ended up in Europe, Nethercutt Collection Vice President Cameron Richards says in the video. This car was also originally sold in Europe, as evidenced by its covered headlights. It no longer gets driven regularly, but it is no trailer queen either. It currently shows about 18,000 miles on the odometer.
Watch the full video to see one of this car’s rare outings, and hear that classic V-12 sound.
This article was originally published by Motor Authority, an editorial partner of ClassicCars.com.
Source: www.classiccars.com