Geoffrey Marsh
‘I’ve owned mine since 1972’
I bought my Daytona new on 2 June 1972 from Colonel Ronnie Hoare’s Maranello Concessionaires in Egham. The last MoT certificate indicates it’s done 27,904 miles and it remains totally original, including the paint. It’s the best classic road car I have owned.
In my first year I did 9000 miles. A memorable trip was taking the early ferry to Le Havre, driving through Rouen and Aix-en-Provence and arriving in Monte Carlo – a 730-mile run in ten hours. The Daytona is superb at these fast Continental journeys and there’s a lot of nonsense spouted about it being heavy and ungainly. I’m a pretty fit 78 years of age and I still find the car wonderful to drive. At anything over 5mph the controls are light and communicative and on the open road it is still a fantastic experience.
The trouble is that most Daytonas have been ‘restored’ with the emphasis being cosmetic. If you see a perfect Daytona with Pininfarina badges down both sides – that’s wrong. They only ever had one on the right-hand side.
And mechanical set-up is usually worse. It’s crucial to have the camber, castor and kingpin inclination spot-on, otherwise the steering will be heavy and the response dull. It’s also important to keep the clutch cable filled with copper grease because it can dry out and cause drag, which wears the clutch. I always carry a spare cable in the boot.
Ferrari’s transaxle was very advanced for its time but you have to know how to treat it. When the car is cold I shift from first to fourth (not to third as some advise) because that’s on a different plane and so saves having to force the gears. And I’m scrupulous about using the correct Shell Helix Ultra 5W/40 engine oil developed specifically for older engines, changing it at regular intervals. I have the Dot 4 brake fluid changed every three years and have never had any braking problems on the road, but it can get hot on circuits so my workshop has replaced all the hoses with Aeroquip racing lines, which results in a significant improvement.
My engine idles at a steady 600rpm and is totally untemperamental. It never gets hot – actually it is difficult to get the water and oil temperatures off the gauge stops! Of course the radiator has been re-cored and all the hoses have been replaced, with good-quality fastening clips. It’s important to use the correct fuel-resistant rubber hoses to connect the twin rear-mounted fuel tanks. With the change in regulations on refrigeration, my air conditioning works adequately but we will take another look at improving its effectiveness.
I knew Ferraris suffered rust problems from new so took precautions and had the sill plates and doortrims removed and all surfaces coated in Shell Ensis, so the Daytona remains rust-free. Another tweak was to remedy the fragile quarterlight window catches by fixing them in place.
After 45 years of ownership the Daytona remains my favourite car. It’s docile, reliable, simple, balanced, manoeuvrable, fast, a pleasure to own and wonderful to drive.