This Daytona Shooting Brake pays homage to a 1972 Pennsylvania one-off
Dutch designer Niels van Roij loves a shooting brake. He’s designed long-roofed versions of the Tesla Model S, Rolls-Royce Wraith, and Range Rover. He also loves to reimagine the more unusual automotive works of the past, having delivered a modern-day take on the Breadvan Ferrari, and now embarking on a project that will reinterpret a Ferrari Daytona Shooting Brake from the ’70s.
In 1972, Florida architect and real estate developer Bob Gittleman took a shine to the Ferrari Daytona, but he wanted something a little different to add to his collection. Gittleman turned to Ferrari dealer Chinetti-Garthwaite Motors, of Paoli, Pennsylvania, whose Luigi Chinetti Jr. had form. In the late 1960s, Chinetti turned a 1965 Ferrari 330 GT 2+2 into a very distinctive shooting brake with the help of Italian coachbuilder Vignale, so he was the perfect choice to transform the Daytona.
It took two years to create the incredible machine with its Kamm tail, acres of curved glass, and butterfly wing access to the long luggage area. The interior was also completely redesigned with a stunning central instrument cluster in walnut.
Surprisingly the car wasn’t returned to Italy for the coachwork, but instead to Britain, where Robert Jankel’s Panther Westwinds masterfully crafted it. After several years in Gittleman’s ownership the car passed through owners in Chicago, Houston, and New Jersey. It then spent time in Belgium before returning to the U.S. Fully restored in 2013 it was put up for auction by Gooding & Company in 2016 but failed to sell.
For this 2021 tribute, van Roij won’t be taking an angle grinder to an original Daytona. Instead, as he did with the Breadvan Hommage, an “Italian V12 grand tourer” (read Ferrari 550 Maranello) will be the base car. Every single body panel will be new and the butterfly rear windows will feature.
“Designing the Daytona Shooting Brake Hommage commission is an honorable task and a great opportunity,” van Roij says. “The project is equally ambitious as it is demanding. Rendering the legendary classic ’70s shooting brake into a contemporary piece of car design will be complex. We intend to celebrate the radical original whilst ensuring we are not bound by it in our imagination.”
The whole project will be documented on van Roij’s website and social media channels. It will likely take as long as the original 1970s Daytona to complete.
