At its 1971 debut, the 365 GT4 BB (Berlinetta Boxer) represented a stark departure from Ferrari’s flagship road cars, which had always used front-mounted V-12s. Enzo Ferrari was apprehensive about putting the less-forgiving handling characteristics of a mid-engine high-horsepower car in the hands of the public. Even in racing cars, he was reluctant to adopt the mid-engine layout, although Ferrari did eventually begin racing mid-engine 12-cylinder cars in 1960, and debuted the nominally road-going 250 LM in 1963. However, Ferrari still lacked a 12-cylinder mid-engine production car to rival Lamborghini’s groundbreaking Miura of 1966. That changed with the Boxer, launching Ferrari’s 20-plus-year experiment with a mid-mounted flat-12 engine – an era that sired both the Boxer and Testarossa lines.

The Boxer was technically advanced, with a horizontally opposed alloy, quad-cam 12-cylinder engine, derived from the powerplant of the 312 B Formula 1 car. The engine was mounted atop the five-speed transaxle, which kept the powertrain dimensionally compact. The chassis used semi-monocoque construction, with double-wishbone suspension all around. The Pininfarina styling was penned by the legendary Leonardo Fioravanti, who also designed the Dino 206/246, Daytona, 308/328/288, Testarossa, and several other Ferraris.

The Boxer was developed over three major variants: the carbureted 365 BB and 512 BB, followed by the Bosch CIS fuel-injected 512 BBi. The Boxer was never officially sold in the US because of emerging safety and emissions regulations, although some gray market imports made their way to the US with private owners.

This is one such Boxer, a late-production car completed in March 1984. Originally supplied by Newport Imports of Newport Beach, California, for Gregory Packer of Balboa Island, it remained in Southern California until 2001. The car then spent four years in the South, and was relocated to the Northeast in 2005, where it has since resided with two well-known keepers, one of whom was Wayne Carini, who featured it on his show Chasing Classic Cars. The car was Classiche certified in 2013, and the included Red Book confirms that the car retains its matching-numbers engine and transaxle, as well as its original, striking color combination of Blu Scuro (Dark Blue) over Crema (Cream).

Included are the car’s original books, tools, and jack, as well as extensive service records and ownership documentation dating back to the 1980s. Only 2,300 Boxers were built, compared to the nearly 10,000 examples of the Testarossa line. The Boxer has always been a connoisseur’s choice, especially in the US, and possesses a visceral, experientially immersive character that was mostly refined out of the Testarossa. This example is exceedingly complete, Ferrari Classiche Certified, and finished in a handsome and rare color combination, adding further to its appeal for the discerning Boxer enthusiast.