The Ferrari 365 GT4 and 400 Series were the most civilized Ferraris of their generation, and they were the first to be offered with automatic transmission. This change horrified Ferrari Purists, but went down so well with paying customers that in fact very few of these cars were ever built with manual transmission. The crisp, chisel edged Pininfarina shape began life at the Paris Show in 1972 with four camshaft, 4.4 liter V12 engine and a five speed manual gearbox only. A 150 mph (240 km/h) four seater, the 365 proved a short lived variant, replaced by the 400GT in 1976. This car’s bigger 4.9 liter engine gave more torque, thanks to modified camshafts and valve timing, but from the outside there were few differences compared with the outgoing model apart from a discreet front spoiler. Of the 507 400s built, only 147 were five speed manuals, which showed the direction in which the market was going. With the 400i of the 1979 came Bosch fuel injection, which improved the car’s drivability, but robbed the V12 of 30 bhp although minor improvements later in the production run reclaimed that loss to some extent. Again, most of the 800 cars built were fitted with the smooth GM 400 automatic gearbox.
Last, and best, of the 400 line was the 412 of 1985. Its bigger 5 liter V12, with redesigned combustion chambers and new Marelli injection, gave 340 bhp and 9.5 percent more torque, whilst anti lock brakes and bigger tyres improved the dynamics performance of these large, hefty cars. Outwardly Pininfarina had discreetly modified the styling, with a raised rear desk, body color bumpers and flush alloy wheels. Production of the 412 ended in 1989. It was the last traditional front engined Ferrari in production until the release of the 456 GT in 1992.
