Released in 1971 at the Turin Hall (where else could it be?) the Ferrari 365 GT4 Berlinetta Boxer it was like a stone in the pond. After all, the model that is considered by many to be one of the most beautiful Ferraris ever, was Maranello's first road model to feature a 12-cylinder engine in a central rear position…
I can already hear the voices in the background shouting the name Dino, but despite the central rear position of its engine, it wasn't a 12-cylinder nor was it born a Ferrari. It would earn that title decades later.
Despite the revolutionary character of this Ferrari, its name, however, made no sense. It's just that despite being designated Berlinetta Boxer (or BB) it was neither.
How not?
First, as it had a central rear engine, it was not, according to brand standards, a Berlinetta (a term used only in models with a front engine position); and second, despite having opposite cylinders, the engine used in this Ferrari was not a Boxer, but a V12 at 180º — yes, there are differences…Why, then, call it Berlinetta Boxer or simply BB?
A “clandestine” tribute
Apparently, the meaning of the letters BB couldn't be more different than the one known so far, and it involves a… woman. BB was a tribute to a female icon from the time this car saw the light of day: the French actress Brigitte Bardot.
If you don't know who Brigitte Bardot was, don't worry, we'll explain. During the 50s, 60s and 70s of the last century, the French woman born in 1934 was one of the greatest sex symbols for a whole generation, having become the crush of many young boys at that time, among whom, how could she not stop being, Ferrari designers.
Leonardo Fioravanti, at the time a Pininfarina designer, author of classics for the rampante horse brand such as the Ferrari Daytona or the 250 LM, in statements to the English magazine The Road Rat, told how the 365 GT4 BB ended up containing a discreet tribute to the iconic French actress.
Brigitte Bardot has made a total of 45 films over the course of her career.
The story behind the name
It all started when the team saw the first full-scale prototype arrive. At that moment they thought “Wow…it's really good. It's very beautiful! Very… turned”, As Fioravanti points out, the association of the prototype's curves to Brigitte Bardot was immediate and consensual.
From then on until its launch, the car was known internally as BB, or Brigitte Bardot. However, when it came time to market it, they couldn't name the car after the actress, and as Fioravanti tells us, “a genius at Ferrari invented “Berlinetta Boxer”. It's good, but it's wrong, because Berlinetta means front engine. And Boxer? It's not a Boxer, it's a flat 12″, and that's how the Ferrari became the 365 GT4 Berlinetta Boxer instead of Brigitte Bardot.
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The letters BB would continue to be used in the successor to the 365 GT4, the BB 512 and BB 512i, only disappearing with the 1984 Testarossa.
Interestingly, Fioravanti admitted that for every car he designed he had a female muse as inspiration, but the designer, now 80 years old, did not reveal which cars, stating “What cars? What names? That's my secret.” Are there other tributes among the names of Maranello's cars?
Sources: The Road Rat and Road & Track.