Blue Ferrari 512 BB, three-quarter front view

Ferrari 512 BB

1976–1981 · 4.9L NA flat-12 · 5-speed manual · mid-engine RWD
3.2 / 10
Involvement 7.8 / 10

Why 3.2: The flat-12 the Testarossa would inherit and soften, in a narrower, rawer body Ferrari never federalized — every US car is a grey-market federalization job. Auction averages have climbed 263% since 2011, and a car once considered the 'affordable' flat-12 Ferrari next to its successor is not affordable anymore.

Ferrari flat-12512 BBTestarossa
GARAGE QUEEN NEVER DRIVEN FORBIDDEN FRUIT NEVER SOLD IN THE USA IMPORT ONLY
Miles actually driven1.5
Bought to drive, not to flip4.0
Track-day sightingscontext · not scored2.0
Handling · unassisted steering, flat-12 mounted high, heavier than the 3087.0
Power-to-weight · sweet spot229 hp/t
355 hp · 1,550 kg

Layout

MID-ENGINE · RWD4.9 NAflat-125-speedmanualgearbox mounted beneath the crankunusually high center of gravity for a mid-engine car42 %58 %approx. static weight distribution

Natural habitat

AUTOBAHN6.5NORDSCHLEIFE6.5ALPS7.5at home

Ride comfort

4.51 · F4010 · S-Classpassive suspension, GT-firm 70s flagship tune
DougScore 48 / 100Weekend 32/50 · Daily 16/501981 512BB Boxer · dougdemuro.com

Market value

Median asking price, good condition · €39k (1976) → €276k (2026), trending up · illustrative data

€39k€276k197620112026€276k

Child seats · ISOFIX

Anywhere in the carNot available

Built before ISOFIX existed, so there are no anchor points at all. A child seat here is a seatbelt installation in the only passenger seat there is.

Derived from production years and seating layout, not a per-car source. ISOFIX was standardised as ISO 13216 in 1997, required on new EU model types from 2011 and on all new EU cars from 2014.

The long version

This is the car Testarossa fans forget existed: same basic idea — a flat-12 slung amidships, gearbox mounted beneath the crank, an arrangement that gave every Boxer-era Ferrari an unusually high center of gravity for a mid-engine car — in a narrower, more aggressive shape that predates the Testarossa's wide-body theatrics by eight years. Ferrari built 929 of the carbureted 512 BB before switching to fuel injection for the BBi, and never once federalized either version for the US market; every American example went through an independent specialist's smog and safety conversion, a process that got noticeably easier by the fuel-injected BBi era but never ran through an actual US Ferrari dealer. For years that grey-market friction kept it priced as the overlooked, cheaper flat-12 next to the more famous Testarossa. That gap has closed hard: auction averages are up 263% since 2011, recent sales cluster around $200,000–$250,000, and the concours-condition average now sits near $305,000. A car bought for decades by people willing to deal with import paperwork specifically because they wanted to drive a flat-12 Ferrari is increasingly being bought by people who want to own one instead.

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