In early May, Ferrari 365 GT 2+2 s/n 11429, a non-running project, was sold on Bring a Trailer for $78,750, including buyer’s premium. A bargain price! At least until one digests that it was fitted with a 4.6-liter Cadillac Northstar V8 backed up with a 4-speed automatic GM 700R4 trans, a non-original aluminum radiator and side-exit exhaust.
Why the Cadillac engine? Why not GM’s LS V8, the default candidate for all manner of engine swaps, from Miatas to Volvos? As it turns out, the Northstar was installed in 2002, when it was the swap du jour (and the LS, introduced in the Corvette in 1997, was still in its production infancy). In the comments accompanying the auction, the seller stated that the now-deceased owner also had a Ferrari 512 BB with an engine and transaxle rebuild that had gone south years ago, plus three Ferrari 400is, including one parts car. “I think he got a little overwhelmed or fatigued and took a break and stepped away from them, that quietly turned into 15 years, which was the rest of his life.”
A few phone calls confirmed that the former owner had a successful lumber-cutting business. The firm’s custom-built machinery cut, shaped and cured, in multiple dozens of freezers, the bodies for solid-body Gibson guitars. He also did custom woodwork for high-end custom homes. The five Ferrari projects were financially unimportant and so went to his backburner. The auction listing indicated that the Northstar engine had not been started since 2006, having covered just 500 miles since installation, and it was still not fully sorted.
For someone with multiple project Ferraris and a history of rebuilds gone wrong, the Cadillac V8 probably made sense at the time. Excellent documentation from Cadillac Hot Rod Fabricators in Fallbrook, CA, which came with the 365 GT 2+2, gave a complete breakdown. A new Northstar engine with hot-rodded cams and a GM A/C compressor and power steering, with dyno testing, was only $9,940. A new 700R4 with torque converter and trans cooler was a modest $2,150. Comparatively, these are both screaming bargains in the world of Ferrari prices, then and now.
Follow your north star
In conversation with the BaT buyer, he revealed that he owned other Ferraris. This one was purchased as, in his words, “a pig in a poke.” He hopes to find a correct 4.4-liter 365 GT 2+2 engine and 5-speed trans to return it to original — if not numbers-matching — specs. Of course, this raises the question: Can that math work?
A few e-mails to the small world of Ferrari-spotting anoraks determined that none had any early history on s/n 11429. Its original engine is long gone, with no path to find its current location.
There was a time, 20-plus years ago, when a project 365 GT 2+2 was a $20k car, and a few were parted out. No more. A few calls to the usual suspects confirmed that none had a 365 GT 2+2 engine and had not had one in the past half-dozen years. (Coincidentally, one did sell recently on BaT for $22k, which the buyer says will be going into a 250 GTE project. The seller had paid $34k for the engine four years earlier.)
So provided the new owner can find a core engine, he’ll most likely be in at least $35k, and it will still need a rebuild. This would leave no change from a $50k-plus estimate. I did find a core transmission available for $7.5k, but a rebuild would add another $2.5k or more. This ignores the need for a correct radiator, A/C compressor unit and brackets, starter and alternator, headers, exhaust system and heat shields, torque-tube housing and inner shaft and all the many needed brackets and bits. All of these are considered unobtanium, or expensive if they could be found, by the very few dealers in used 1960s and 1970s Ferrari parts.
Franken-Ferraris
Discounting all that, we’re already at $60k-plus for our replacement powertrain estimate. With nearly $80k spent on acquiring the project, which still needs some bodywork and cosmetics, the $240k–$340k market range for the model is fast approaching. Perhaps the most prudent path forward would be paying a shop to sort out the Northstar, or replace it with an LS, for which there is huge aftermarket support.
If you really want a Ferrari project, there are better starting points. For instance, a 365 GT 2+2 (s/n 12733) sold on BaT in February 2023 for $101,365. It was a complete car with the engine, trans and glass out, but these were included. Similarly, a complete but non-running “barn find” 365 GT 2+2 we know of sold recently for just over $100k. Both of these project cars were 95% complete (or more), eliminating months, if not years, of parts chasing and spiraling costs.
In the world of Ferrari restorations, all three of these cars needed roughly the same potential body, paint, interior, chrome and other cosmetic work sometime down the road. We wish the new owner of 365 GT 2+2 s/n 11429 the best of luck in his quest, but our years of experience tell us that its many missing bits will prove the financial equivalent of “a bridge too far.” ♥