{"id":499238,"date":"2021-04-20T12:44:09","date_gmt":"2021-04-20T19:44:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportscardigest.com\/\/?p=118128"},"modified":"2024-12-01T23:33:14","modified_gmt":"2024-12-01T23:33:14","slug":"the-first-nart-boxer-1974-ferrari-365-gt4-bb","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/the-first-nart-boxer-1974-ferrari-365-gt4-bb\/","title":{"rendered":"The First NART Boxer \u2013 1974 Ferrari 365 GT4\/BB"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"\"<\/a>Ferrari SN: 18139 started life as a 365 GT4\/BB. It was delivered to Chinetti\u2019s 1970s NART shop in Connecticut \u2013 a place I would visit a lot were time travel to become practical. Back then, the energy and passion for Ferrari in the USA lived there, making many of the people who worked there legendary figures of Ferrari\u2019s early USA history. Several people stand out – Luigi \u201cCoco\u201d Chinetti Jr., Bob Craige, Dick Fritz, Joseph \u201cRandy\u201d Randazzo and Fran\u00e7ois Sicard. In the early \u201870s, these gentlemen were in their prime and loved racing. Fortunately, I had the privilege to extensively interview Dick Fritz about his historical recollections. I asked him what he thought about taking a very expensive, brand new, stock 365 GT4\/BB and doing all of the work needed to turn it into a racecar. He told me, \u201cBecause Luigi Junior and I were,\u201d he paused here for a split second, \u201cyounger and we\u2019d try anything. A lot of his father\u2019s mentality [was], you promote the product, you take any of the newer cars that came in, whether a Daytona, whatever it might be, and you race<\/em> it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of course, when Fritz and Chinetti Jr. saw the Boxer, the NART racing DNA kicked in. He said, \u201cThe Boxer, boy, that\u2019s got a great potential.\u201d Plus, in his role as team manager of the NART racing team, Dick Fritz knew the cars they would be racing against. \u201cYou got to look at the competition – back then, there wasn\u2019t much. If we had gotten a powerful engine, it could have won Le Mans. With good backing, it was a great car.\u201d Fritz emphasized, \u201cWell, [we thought] you take whatever car there is, you modify it and you RACE it. And that\u2019s the promotion\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n