1969 ferrari daytona speciale

What’s marvellous about the Copperstate is that the organisers take full advantage of Arizona’s diverse terrain and open spaces. Classic desert with towering Saguaro and spindly Ocotillo cacti come to mind, but the state has grassy plains, thick forests, clear lakes and snow-covered mountains – and fabulous, sparsely trafficked roads that take you from one to another. Such open spaces really are the Speciale’s domain, for it (and all properly fettled Daytonas) possess that sweet combination of comfort and road feel. It chews up the straights heading off to the horizon, and gobbles up long, sweeping turns like a starving kid chowing down his favourite dessert.

Straight-line stability at triple-digit speeds is superlative, so much so that Thomas took his hands off the wheel at more than 100mph to highlight its arrow-straight tracking. And while this Ferrari won’t fool a Miura or Dino driver with ballerina-like litheness, it is remarkably nimble for a front-engined continent crusher. On one continuously curvy stretch, where some other rally participants appeared to struggle, the Daytona easily found its rhythm, the front and rear pivoting as one.

If the car has a shortcoming, it’s the brakes. They work quite well when you stand on them but pedal feel is wooden, with slight travel before they bite. Jack, though, is amazed; he’s used to drum-braked Ferraris, in which you need to preplan when you want to stop!

After four days and several hundred miles, I was sad to part company with this one-off Ferrari. Not only is there that fascinating historical back story, it possesses numerous qualities that make a car truly collectable: rarity, provenance, condition and big-league stature in the automotive world when new.

Best of all it’s still a superb drive, leaving no doubt as to why Autocar proclaimed the Daytona ‘an all-time great, at the pinnacle of the fast car market’.