Ferrari 365GTC/4 dune buggy: muscle beach

| 17 Jul 2024

To most enthusiasts, the term ‘beach car’ conjures images of an adorable Fiat 500 or 600, reimagined without doors or a roof, painted in cute pastel shades, with wicker seats and sometimes a canvas awning as a rudimentary shelter.

These ‘Jolly’ Fiats, the brainchild of coachbuilder Ghia, were cars for threading through the streets of Italian summer havens – think Capri, Sicily or Sardinia – in the holidays.

But when Gianni Agnelli was seen at the wheel of one, the Jolly took on a fashionable image that grabbed the attention of the wealthy jet-set.

The Ferrari 365GTC/4 dune buggy took the beach-car recipe to the extreme

The Fiat supremo became so crazy about them that he asked Pininfarina to design the 600 Eden Roc, based on a Fiat Multipla, then tasked Boano with creating the Fiat 500 Spiaggina.

These leisure cars, beloved by celebrities and motoring moguls alike, swiftly became an ingrained part of la dolce vita.

But with time they gradually disappeared, replaced by a new generation of four-wheeled vehicles created purely for fun, such as the Meyers Manx buggy, while more utilitarian, simplified versions of city cars – such as the Mini Moke and Citroën Méhari – democratised the genre.

Willy Felber was asked to deliver this coachbuilt Ferrari 365GTC/4; the car was styled by Giovanni Michelotti

Although it had been widely popularised by the mid-’70s, the beach car had not quite been abandoned by the glitterati – at least if a special order placed by the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Khalifa Bin Hamad Al Thani, is anything to go by.

It was left to Willy Felber, the Swiss Ferrari and Rolls-Royce distributor, to deliver via his Haute Performance garage.

Felber had dreamt of becoming a car manufacturer, seducing the new Gulf billionaires and their petrodollars with a string of custom works that ranged from chromed nose-jobs on Pontiac Firebirds to the neoclassical Felber FF, for which seven Ferraris were sacrificed in Panther Westwinds’ attempt to recreate the 166 Spyder Corsa.

This unique Ferrari’s eye-catching split-rim alloy wheels are bespoke

Questions such as ‘which beaches does the Emir want to drive to?’ and ‘why so quickly?’ were probably never asked; his desire for a Ferrari-based beach car – likely the most decadent automobile imaginable in 1975 – was dutifully carried out.

Felber acquired a 365GTC/4, chassis 16017 (assembled in late 1972 and delivered new to a Swiss surgeon in Lausanne), and sent it to Italian designer Giovanni Michelotti, with whom he was already collaborating regularly, in early 1976.

Michelotti was credited with the design of some 1200 cars and signed off no fewer than 192 Ferraris, mostly one-off bodies produced between 1949 and ’53 when he worked for Carrozzeria Alfredo Vignale.

‘The rear panel and indeed the overall styling closely shadowed the NART Spider, while its front end and side cutout echoed the DAF Kini’

He had drawn up a few beach cars, including the Fiat 850-based Shellette that enjoyed limited commercial success, and one-offs such as the Fiat 600 Multipla Marinella or the similarly diminutive DAF Kini (as used by the Dutch royal family at its Italian summer residence in Porto Ercole).

Michelotti had also styled a series of Ferraris for US importer Luigi Chinetti; based on the 365GTB/4 and GTS/4, they featured angular noses and wraparound beltlines, with the most famous being the 1971-’72 NART Spider.

True to form the Italian worked fast, and within three months the car commissioned by Felber was not only designed, but assembled and finished.

This Ferrari-based dune buggy’s light-bronze hue was chosen by Michelotti

As original as the idea was, Michelotti didn’t look too far for inspiration: the rear panel and indeed the overall styling of his new Beach Car closely shadowed that of the NART Spider, while its pointed front end and side cutouts echoed the DAF Kini.

Yet while the Kini was about as seductive as a bed bug and the NART Spider massacred the Daytona’s lines, the Beach Car displayed superb finesse and had spectacular presence.

The Emir had specified the creation in pale-blue metallic with a denim interior, but the order was eventually cancelled and Felber kept the car, which Michelotti chose to paint in a light bronze.

The Felber Beach Car’s Ferrari V12 is mighty but remarkably friendly

It was presented on the coachbuilder’s stand at the Geneva Salon in March 1976, alongside a pair of Lancia Beta Monte-Carlos from Pininfarina.

On offer for a hefty Sfr300,000, the Beach Car didn’t find a buyer, so Felber proposed to Michelotti that it be rebodied as a station wagon.

This metallic brown and cream-vinyl-roofed GTC/4 Shooting Brake was exhibited at the 1977 Geneva show, with slightly clumsy lines and a glass tailgate with visible hinges.

Surprisingly, the Ferrari 365GTC/4-based Beach Car is perfectly usable

It featured in a famous Felber publicity photograph, alongside the small Swiss firm’s contemporary range: the retro-style Felber Ferrari, the Lancia Beta Felber FF, the Lancia FF Spider and the Pontiac Firebird-based Felber Excellence… Quite a bestiary.

When the Shooting Brake also received no takers, Felber reinstated the Beach Car panels (which had been retained by Michelotti) and the station wagon body was destroyed.

Repainted white, with blue leather instead of denim, it was was finally sold, in 1978, to Swiss entrepreneur Henri-Ferdinand Lavanchy, founder of a temporary employment agency.

This one-off Ferrari keeps the 365GTC/4’s Veglia dials

He fitted the Ferrari (by then renamed Croisette) with a soft top stretched over an unsightly hoop that slid in behind the seats.

By 1988 the car still hadn’t been homologated for road use and had a mere 1002km on the clock.

It was sold by Lavanchy and changed hands several times before going to Horst Mülau, with whom it finally obtained a Swiss registration certificate on 29 September 1989.

The following day it appeared in Italy at Incontro Michelotti, the coachbuilder’s car meeting in Modena.

The blue-leather interior makes this unique Ferrari 365GTC/4 dune buggy appear even more striking

Mülau took advantage of the occasion to propose to Studio Michelotti (by then owned by Giovanni’s son, Edgardo) that it build a special Ferrari Mondial for him, until the full cost of the project quashed the idea.

But the exchange facilitated the return of the Beach Car to its original bronze hue.

At the beginning of 2023 the car was acquired by collector Roger Imboden, who succeeded in reuniting all three Ferraris by Felber: an example of the neoclassic FF, the Beach Car, and the Felber Croisette SW, a unique station wagon based on the 365GT4 2+2 (see below).

Felber’s Ferrari Beach Car made its debut at the 1976 Geneva Salon

Today, it is from Roger’s garage in south-west Switzerland that we have a rare chance to see and drive the infamous Beach Car, and the first impression is of something quite astonishing.

It has the alien presence of a 1970s concept car, and on the road its looks stop the traffic.

It’s like nothing else, with a body as wide as it is flat, superbly set off by its light-bronze hue and enhanced by the vivid blue of the leather.

The design is a success in its simplicity and proportion, except for the slightly abrupt angle of the windscreen and the fixtures of the soft-top that subtly disrupt the otherwise elegant lines.

Pop-up headlights on the Ferrari 365GTC/4 dune buggy

The shape of the side cutouts is especially captivating and, despite its unique dune-buggy-inspired design, the resemblance to other Ferraris of the period remains clear.

The car remains in superb order, and only the slight discolouration of the interior trim betrays the fact that it hasn’t been restored.

To get in, you have to first sit on the wide, padded leather sill before dropping into the reclined but comfortable bucket seats.

Once you have settled in, the view ahead is as evocative as that of any Ferrari.

The Ferrari 365GTC/4 dune buggy offers a unique, open-air experience

The instruments come from the donor GTC/4, which means a familiar assembly of black-plastic blocks, but it takes a moment to realise that the rest of the dash is bespoke and there is no switchgear apart from the column stalks – nor any radio or ventilation controls.

Simplicity is the order of the day, but the finish and assembly are remarkable, right down to the gearknob in matching blue leather.

Only the generic door mirror mounted off the side of the dashboard looks out of place.

The Felber badge on the Ferrari 365GTC/4-based Beach Car

Unsurprisingly, sitting in the open air gives an extraordinary feeling of space, especially in such a wide and already roomy vehicle.

It’s a far cry from the cramped cabin of a 500 Jolly or a Méhari, and it seems obvious that this car is intended to go a little further than just from the marina to the nearest beach.

The 4390cc quad-cam Colombo V12 revs vigorously, as noisy as it is complicated, yet this 340bhp one-off is a Ferrari that can be driven by anyone.

Even at low speeds it’s easy to manoeuvre, the pedals require only light pressure and the wet-sump motor pulls with docility, never intimidating.

‘Although it had been widely popularised by the mid-’70s, the beach car hadn’t quite been abandoned by the glitterati’

On the move it’s surprising how little buffeting there is in the cabin: there’s something about this shape that clearly works, and cruising at around 60mph isn’t as exhausting an experience as it can be in other stripped-back roadsters – at least not on a sunny day.

In fact, there is not much to distinguish the driving experience from that of a standard GTC/4: it has all the makings of a refined, supple GT, allied to that wonderful feeling of being totally outdoors, watching the road rush by through the cutaway sides.

The sea is a few hundred miles away from our stark photo location in a quarry, yet this Felber Beach Car feels ready to go much further than the shores of Lake Geneva.

It has the spirit of a long-legged tourer, even if its unique bodywork is an unexpected shift in style.

All the ingredients are there for an exhilarating road trip, just so long as the sun shines.

Words: Yan-Alexandre Damasiewicz

Images: Kevin Van Campenhout

Thanks to: Cyrille Jaquinot, author of History Book: Felber Ferrari 365GTC/4; Gamsen-Kies AG quarry; Roger Imboden at Touring Garage

The other Felber Ferraris

The Ferrari 166 Spyder Corsa inspired the Felber FF

The first Ferrari creation by Willy Felber was in 1974, with Robert Jankel’s Panther Westwinds in Surrey forming aluminium panels over a 330GTC engine and chassis supplied by the Swiss dealer.

Felber was reportedly inspired by Maranello’s early racers, particularly the 166 Spyder Corsa, and was so impressed with his new ‘FF’ (above) that he commissioned a series of replicas using new platforms.

However, while Felber’s Haute Performance was an official concessionaire, and permission had at least not been denied for use of the Prancing Horse badge on these neoclassic oddities, there was a reluctance to supply fresh parts for further examples.

The last of seven was completed in 1975.

This wouldn’t be the end of Felber’s Maranello machinations, however.

As well as a string of Pontiacs and Lancias, the temporary design of a sharp station wagon body on the Beach Car’s chassis inspired another Ferrari shooting brake, the 1975 ‘Croisette SW’ (below).

Based this time on the more angular 365GT4 2+2, its roofline was nonetheless far more rakish and dynamic, offering a relatively low profile at the rear, with a slatted C-pillar following the lines of the donor car.

It was displayed at the 1977 Geneva Salon, and chassis 18255 remains in Switzerland to this day.

Felber later increasingly focused on less invasive modifications for more mass-produced cars, particularly following the tightening of type-approval regulations across Europe during the 1980s.

The coachbuilding business closed down for good in 1991, after the completion of a luxuriously trimmed Maserati Shamal.

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