Spyder Conversions and Why

    While inputting photos into the photo files it hit me I needed to write another article to fill these pages.

    I find it interesting as to how many Ferraris have been converted from their original configuration and I began to wonder how many have been converted and why.

    I happened to be looking at the Daytona files and marveled at how many Daytona Berlinetta have been converted to Spyders.

    This led to other models and how they had fared in retaining their original bodywork.

    Taking the Daytona first, it is easy to see why so many of these cars had the tops removed. Ferrari built and sold a convertible version of the model and while not as popular at the time as the Berlinetta the result was a very pretty automobile with classic elegance and style.

    Not popular? Well, Ferrari built only one hundred and twenty-two original Spyders. One was the prototype and the rest were production cars.

    Not counting the prototype, there were eighteen European chassis Spyders. Seven were made as RHD examples and the balance, ninety-six, were for the American market.

    Clearly the American market liked the Spyder, but had it been more popular Ferrari surely would have made more to meet demand.
It took Ferrari three years to make the original one hundred and twenty-two cars, from July 1971 through July 1973.

    It should be noted that none of the original Daytona Spyders had a Plexiglass cover over the headlights. All had the Americanized “pop-up” headlight system except for the lone prototype.

    We have determined the Daytona Spyder was manufactured in a small quantity compared to the Berlinetta in which twelve-hundred and eighty-six were made.

    The Berlinetta was built for speed, and many drove them as God and Enzo intended. Not quite revered as the iconic Ferrari of today, many were looked upon as we might look at a current F8 Tributo. With so many made these will never be collectable so drive it and enjoy.

 

    With use, and abuse, the Daytona can be a handful when pushed to the limit of physics or driver ability. Many were crashed and damaged. Putting one on its roof usually added much to the cost of repairs in addition to fenders and trim.

    By the early 1980s these, now seven-year-old, used cars were not worth much. The FML Asking Price Index showed the Berlinetta to be a $40,000 to $50,000 Ferrari. The Spyder was worth more at $90,000 to $100,000.

    An owner facing the high cost of repair, increased insurance and diminished value could opt to have the roof area removed and his car turned into a Spyder conversion.

    While not a ‘real’ Spyder, the value fell somewhere between the Berlinetta and what a real, original Spyder was worth. The tragedy of a serious accident could be recovered with the added value of now owning one of the rare and beautiful convertible Daytona.

    Several companies rose to the challenge with Straman and European Auto Restoration doing many conversions in the automobile culture rich southern California area.

    Additionally, Scaglietti, Autokraft and others performed the same service. It would be easy to speculate that every Daytona Spyder conversion was the result of some unfortunate incident. Few would find the need to remove the roof on a perfectly good Berlinetta without cause.

 

    So, how many conversions are there? Our database has one-hundred and forty-four identified Spyder conversions. I would bet there are still several more we have not confirmed. A little more than eleven percent of all the Daytona Berlinettas built have been turned into Spyders.

 

    Which got me to thinking, what about other Ferrari models? The 275 GTS/4 NART Spyder immediately came to mind. With only ten real NART Spyders made it would be logical to convert a real 275 GTB/4 into one of those.

    The database shows a total of seventeen 4-cam 275s converted to NART Spyders. It also shows we have eight 2-cam cars converted into NART Spyders.

 

    The 2-cam cars clearly would never be confused with the real McCoy because Ferrari never made 2-cam NART spyders. It would stand to reason, with the same logic as above, no one would take a perfectly good 275 GTB and remove the top just because.

    Certainly, the reason would be the same as the Daytona scenario. Crash damage or roll-over would be expensive to repair and since all that work would be necessary, why not cut the top off and create the look of a real NART Spyder?

    There was a financial gain in removing the roof. Real NART Spyders don’t come on the market often, so valuation is difficult, but there is no denying the beauty of the spyder increased the value over a standard 275 GTB.

 

    We know of at least one spyder conversion that has been returned to its original form. With values ever increasing there may be more in the future that will have the roof reinstalled for Classiche reasons. May there be Daytona re-conversions that will follow in the future?

    This brings me to another question. Why do we not see other models converted to spyders? The 330 GTS is another beautiful creation and with only one hundred made they are relatively rare.

    The 330 GTC with six hundred made could have been a candidate for conversion to a spyder. But, we have only two identified as spyder conversions. At least one of those is identified as being wrecked and instead of being parted out was turned into a convertible version.

    Surely, 330 GTCs were crashed in period but the thought, or effort, was not there to resurrect into a GTS version.

    The 365 GT 2+2 is another Ferrari that has not been converted into a convertible version. First, Ferrari never made the extra large ‘Queen Mother’ as a convertible so there was no blueprint to visualize what one of those would look like.

    The closest 365 in size and was made in only a convertible version was the 365 California. With just fourteen made they are both a rare and pretty Ferrari. 

    There have been several 365 GT 2+2s that now carry the essence of the 365 California. We have four identified in the database.

    The 365 GT 2+2 brings up our next interesting issue. The Daytona, 275 GTB/4, and the 330 GTC all had a version to compare against. All of those models had a corresponding spyder version to aspire to.

    The 365 GT 2+2 did not, and the California was as close as that model could come to in visualizing a convertible version. The scope of this article was to compare original cars to their spyder counterparts.

    There are only three models that have been converted into their spyder counterpart. Nobody has ever removed the roof from a TdF to create a Spyder California. There was no 308 Spider made to cause the GTB or GTS owners to remove the sail panels and create a convertible 308.

    The same is easily said for every model since. Ferrari built the 348 and 355 series cars in all three versions. Why would you need to convert one when they are already readily available?

    Will there ever be a time when a 488 gets modified into a full convertible version? I think not!

    This is not to say that Ferraris will not be modified. There are Boxer convertibles and Testarossa convertibles and others, but only the three Ferraris above have ever had the serious effort in changing the original body style to reflect a similar original Ferrari model.

    To stay with the convertible theme there is one other Ferrari that has been converted. The 365/400/412 series Ferrari.

    We have nearly one hundred cabriolet conversion serial numbers. There could be many more.

 

    Why the 400? There is no factory version of a convertible. I believe the body style tends to lend itself to be a convertible. Where the 365 GT 2+2 does not, the 400 flat trunk lid lends itself to visualize what this body style would look like without a roof.

    I also think that while many of these cars were driven and used, and most certainly damaged, most of the conversions were done to vehicles by owners who wanted the open-air driving experience.

    These Ferraris have never been expensive, or even that desirable. Values have historically remained at the lower end of Ferrari values. So, why spend the money to convert one?

    I believe that is the very reason many have been turned into convertibles. The 400 series is a wonderful driving experience and very reliable to boot. Removing the roof does not really change the value of the car.

 

    I think the allure of driving a convertible outweighs the cost of conversion and any reduction in value.

    I could continue the convertible theme by going into the many 330 GT 2+2 and 250 GTE that have been converted into Spyder California, but those cars are being transformed into something they were not to begin with.

    Unlike the Daytona and 275 GTB which are being converted into something identical, or nearly so, to the same body style of an original model.

    The same goes for the 400 series cars in as much as they are still the same car albeit in a convertible style.

    The others are recreations of other Ferrari models.

    So there you have it. The very few Ferrari models that have been the subject of masquerading as spyders, or convertibles.

    Isn’t imitation the highest form of flattery?