The first wedge-shaped concept car of Ferrari

Ferrari, the iconic supercar manufacturer that houses everything about Italian sports cars, such as passion, emotion, beauty, and speed. With a well-known history of road cars and racing cars, there have been countless beautiful car models from time to time, but there are also many models that were never seen on the production list.

1969 Ferrari 512S Berlinetta Speciale concept car whose entire development work was done by Pininfarina and launched for the first time at the Turin Motor Show 1969. (Picture from: https://bit.ly/30FZgqp)

Luckily, most of them are concept cars that don't go any further. At other times, the concepts inspire a production vehicle that goes by much more beautifully, and sometimes special designers try to create a new Ferrari that should remain in their imagination. 

Uniquely, not an ordinary door system but a canopy flip-up is used to access the cabin of 1969 Ferrari 512S Berlinetta Speciale concept car. (Picture from: https://bit.ly/3imrwEC)

One of them is the Ferrari 512S Berlinetta Speciale concept car whose entire development work was done by Pininfarina and launched for the first time at the Turin Motor Show 1969. This concept was created by Filippo Sapino, who has been known for 3 decades as a design director at Ghia. But his most striking project was this Ferrari concept car during his brief tenure at Pininfarina in the late 1960s.

1969 Ferrari 512S Berlinetta Speciale concept car's interior view with right-hand steering wheel and 5-speed manual transmission. (Picture from: https://bit.ly/33AhQlI)

This is the first Ferrari concept car to apply a wedge-shaped design that defines the trend of car design in the 1970s. Besides that, the naming of the concept car is also confusing, first from the '512S' moniker, but no 5.0-liter V12 under the rear clamshell grille. Furthermore, although it is based on the 312P, the engine was not the 3.0 liter 12 cylinder, but the 6.0 liter of the 612 Can-Am. Sadly, the concept car was not a drivable vehicle as the engine block has no innards. Might be someday you able to see it running on the streets after the real engine had been attached.

1969 Ferrari 512S Berlinetta Speciale concept car features a mid-mounted 6.0-liter V12 engine from a 612 Can-Am racer. (Picture from: https://bit.ly/3iiA2o3)

Apart from that, Sapino had made the most of the floor-hugging physique of the chassis, adding some unorthodox surface treatments to visually transform static into supersonic. Uniquely, not an ordinary door system but a canopy flip-up is used to access the cabin of this car, which was then also applied to another 512S concept made a year later (1970) called Paulo Martin's Ferrari 512S Modulo. 

Yes, the car concept design looks very different from previous models made by Pininfarina such as the Ferrari 250 P5 Berlinetta Speciale designed by Leonardo Fioravanti in 1968. Unfortunately, only one example of the 512S Berlinetta Speciale was made.

The design of the 512S Berlinetta Speciale is perhaps more significant for breaking the curvaceous styling of Ferrari's earlier prints, while also setting the angular design precedent for the 365 GTC/4 (also the Sapino's design) and the next Berlinetta Boxers. *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | CLASSICDRIVER.COM | CARSTYLING.RU]

Note: This blog  can be accessed via your smart phone

Kindly Bookmark and Share it: