Bill Harrah's 'Hot Rod' Ferrari Heading To Auction At No Reserve

In 1968, Ferrari introduced the 365 GTB/4. It was a dramatic departure from the 275 GTB before it, and a first, second, and third place finish at the 1967 24 Hours of Daytona gave it the nickname "Daytona," which is still used today. But the car you see here is no factory Daytona – it's a "Harrah Hot Rod" special commissioned by famed collector William Harrah, naturally.

Casino magnate and enthusiast collector, William Harrah picked up the car new from his West Coast distributor, Modern Classic Motors of Reno, and almost immediately decided that it was in need of an upgrade. The Ferrari was handed over to Francisco Mir's Service Center in Santa Monica, California where it was given nine-inch alloy racing wheels, thicker tires, and wider fender flares to accommodate the new setup, not to mention a more powerful engine – the specifics of which were unknown.

Now the car is headed to auction as part of the RM Sotheby's Monterey sale taking place in August. The car was handed over in 1975 to A&P heir John Robertson, who damaged it in an accident, necessitating the replacement of new front and rear clips. The car was sold again in 2002 to collector Peter Markowski, and then again in 2012 to its current consigner.

The car has been fully restored since. A rebuilt suspension and front end was completed courtesy of Ferrari of Scottsdale. New paint and bodywork were done by Glenn Roberts, and a complete rebuild of the numbers-matching engine was carried out by Patrick Ottis, which saw new pistons, rods, valves, and timing chain. All said and done, the car now produces 386 horsepower (287 kilowatts).

The Ferrari is being offered with complete concours-quality sets of books and tools at no reserve. Pricing estimates haven't been given, but previous examples have gone for well over $700,000 in this condition. Given its uniqueness, it's safe to say that a $1 million price tag isn't out of the realm of possibility for this particular example.