The seventies were a transitional time for Ferrari, as the mid-engine Dino and 308 series started to become their volume product, and what the brand increasingly came to be associated with. The larger, traditional front engine V12 cars meanwhile seemed to struggle a bit to stay relevant. They were very expensive, and stylistically, some of them were not as consistently hitting the mark as almost all of the ones from the 50s and 60s had.
The one exception was the brilliant Daytona. Which made it a bit questionable as to just where this new 330 GTC 4 fit in, as it was a bit larger than that, but not a genuine 2+2 as the 365 GTC. A “tweener”, and as such not one of the more memorable Ferraris. But it nevertheless delivered the classic Ferrari experience.
Not surprisingly, a Daytona today is worth several times what one of these brings now.
Even though they are valued at a fraction of the Daytona, they’re still fairly expensive. Gullwing motors has one for $199,500 currently.
20 years ago they were almost in reach for a “normal” person to buy, but I’m sure the maintenance costs would have been dreadful.
I find them quite handsome, the black “clown lips” bumper looks better when painted body color.
Looks like the greenhouse on my Monza 2+2…
This car’s picture, possibly this article, absolutely went straight up on an inspo board at the GM Design Center in Warren.
Not only the Monza but so many other GM coupes all the way up to the Cobalt riffed on this greenhouse design that the connection really becomes an elephant in the room and it makes me wonder whether that’s what’s holding it back in value.
On top of the Daytona being such an icon of course.
Per Wikipedia: “General Motors’ John DeLorean nicknamed ( the Chevrolet Monza) the “Italian Vega”, citing styling with a strong resemblance to the Ferrari 365 GTC/4″
No complaint here, if they have to borrow styling influences, they may as well go right to the top.
Of course they’d been borrowing Italian styling themes for some years, as the Vega and 2nd gen F-bodies demonstrate.
The Chevy Monza (and other division variants) get a lot of grief for being nothing more than a rebodied Vega. But, by then, GM had gotten most of the Vega’s kinks out (or as best they could) and a Monza with a V6 or V8 wasn’t any worse than any other domestic compact from the mid-seventies.
At least they looked good with the Ferrari-esque styling.
Your Monza 2+2 looks like the greenhouse on the Ferrari, you mean.
Well, yes that would be the case, Tom.
Certainly under the hood the VegaMeataVitaMin 4 banger would dissuade any thoughts of Fellini; just Felony, while the added dual air horns were all sound and fury signifying nothing other than JC Whitney.
I can remember browsing through those old car trader magazines when I was a kid and the prices for these not being much more than the 308s, which intrigued me as a kid as it had a V12 and kind of visually had the bone structure of the Daytona, which I loved due to my VHS of gumball rally. Seemed attainable at the time, in the mind of a car obsessed child.
I never knew about the engine differences of the GTC until now, I always thought it was a detuned Daytona engine, I must have never looked under the hood of one in all these years to recognize that (really cool looking!) carburetor arrangement. I think the body from the cowl back is exceptionally pretty, maybe even better than the Daytona to my eye, it’s rubber nose is a real turnoff though, it reminds me of a Bricklin. The triple taillight arrangement I can’t decide if I love or hate, that seemed to be a design progression for the V12s as the mid engined 365BB used them too but they might have been a visual indulgence too far.
It’s kind of funny when you think about it. At Ford, it was like, “Here’s a downsized Mustang for today’s fuel efficient needs!”
Chevrolet then countered with, “Why settle for a downsized Mustang, when you can have a downsized Ferrari??
I had misremembered the cover of the Carpenters’ “Now And Then” album as featuring one of these with them in it, but that was a different Ferrari, after all.
Got me wondering…
Ferrari 365 GTC4
Wheelbase – 98.2 in
Length – 179.0 in
Width – 70.0 in
Height – 49.9 in
Monza
Wheelbase – 97.0 in
Length – 179.3 in
Width – 65.4 in
Height – 50.2 in
Remarkably similar, width is the biggest difference!
I think the Monza 2+2 is the most underrated GM styling effort of the decade, the 75 Seville’s sheer look hasn’t aged nearly as well as the 75 Monza, it just had a “premium” badge to elevate it in its heyday.
Chevy Monza (hatchback): Looked like a Ferrari, drove like a Vega, didn’t outsell the Mustang II.
But today, a nice one will get as much attention as that Ferrari at a Cars n Coffee event.
Wow. Thank you for researching that. I never would have guessed that, width aside, the dimensions of the two cars were so similar. Of course, the Monza’s greenhouse isn’t pushed back as far as the Ferrari’s, but that five extra inches of width contributes to the illusion that the Ferrari is a much, much larger car.
Yes, there is a resemblance to various GM coupes (US and European) but that’s going to stop you having one is it?
That style (outside, inside and under the bonnet) is supremely well executed, not a statement you can always make about Vauxhall.