Jay Leno lowers the top of his 1967 Ferrari 365 California Spider.
Jay Leno doesn't own a Ferrari, but he drives one occasionally. In a recent episode of "Jay Leno's Garage," he drove a 1967 Ferrari 365 California Spider, part of the Nethercutt Collection.
Located not far from Leno's Los Angeles-area garage, the Nethercutt Collection is filled with rare prewar cars like the 1928 Isotta Fraschini Type 8A Landaulette and 1933 Ispano Suiza J12 that appeared in a previous episode of "Jay Leno's Garage. The collection is chock-full of rare prewar cars. The Ferrari is one of only 14 recently manufactured cars, so it may be even rarer.
The California Spyder was introduced in 1966 as the first variant of the 365 series, which later included the 365 GT 2+2 and 365 GTC two-seater coupe. The hardtop version was produced in much larger numbers, including about 200 GTC models alone. However, it lacked some of the Spyder's distinctive styling features, such as the chrome lances surrounding the door handles and the large, oddly shaped taillights.
All 365 models used a 4.4-liter version of the Colombo V-12 engine that had been used in most Ferrari road cars in the late 1960s, connected to a five-speed manual transmission. The Spyder produces a maximum output of 320 hp and reaches a Ferrari-estimated top speed of 152 mph.
As the name California Spyder suggests, the car was targeted at the American market but went mostly to Europe, said Cameron Richards, vice president of the Nethercutt Collection, in the video. This car was also originally sold in Europe, as evidenced by the covered headlights. It is no longer driven regularly, but it is no trailer queen either. It currently has about 18,000 miles on the odometer.
Watch the video for a rare glimpse of this car in action and the sound of its classic V-12.