The Ferrari 400 and Ferrari 412 are front-engined 2+2 coupé

Coupé

A coupé or coupe is a closed car body style , the precise definition of which varies from manufacturer to manufacturer, and over time...

 cars from Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 manufacturer Ferrari

Ferrari

Ferrari S.p.A. is an Italian sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari in 1929, as Scuderia Ferrari, the company sponsored drivers and manufactured race cars before moving into production of street-legal vehicles as Ferrari S.p.A. in 1947...

. They were available with 5-speed all synchromesh or an optional 3-speed automatic transmission

Automatic transmission

An automatic transmission is one type of motor vehicle transmission that can automatically change gear ratios as the vehicle moves, freeing the driver from having to shift gears manually...

 unit from General Motors. Their design was derived from the almost identical looking 365 GT4 2+2

Ferrari 365 GT4 2+2

The Ferrari 365 GT4 2+2 was a 2+2 grand tourer car from Ferrari, introduced in 1972 to replace the 365 GTC/4. Its chassis was derived from that of the Ferrri 365GTB/4 Daytona.The car was styled by Pininfarina....

 (which itself was based on the famous Daytona

Ferrari Daytona

The Ferrari 365 GTB/4, better known by the unofficial name Ferrari Daytona, is a Gran Turismo automobile produced from 1968 to 1973. It was first introduced to the public at the Paris Auto Salon in 1968 and replaced the 275 GTB/4...

). Production began in 1976, when Ferrari revealed its first car fitted with an automatic transmission - the 400 - at the Paris Motorshow of 1976. With the improved 412 introduced in 1985 it was phased out in 1989. Today, its sleek, Pininfarina

Pininfarina

Pininfarina S.p.A. is an Italian car design firm and coachbuilder in Cambiano, Italy.Founded as Società anonima Carrozzeria Pinin Farina in 1930 by automobile designer and builder Battista "Pinin" Farina, Pininfarina has been employed by a wide variety of high-end automobile manufacturers,...

-designed lines and relatively limited production numbers may give it potential as a future classic. It has not been universally admired however, and is listed at #18 in the BBC's book of "Crap Cars", sandwiched between the Daihatsu Applause

Daihatsu Applause

The Daihatsu Applause was a compact car manufactured by the Japanese automaker Daihatsu from 1989 to 2000. It is most notable for its unusual body style, which, despite appearing to be a 4-door sedan, is in fact a 5-door liftback with a notchback-shaped 412-litre trunk and a tailgate.- Background...

 and the Austin Ambassador

Austin Ambassador

The Austin Ambassador was a medium-to-large hatchback car model introduced by British Leyland in 1982. The vehicle was a heavily updated version of the Princess, an ageing model that had lacked a hatchback...

 and Jeremy Clarkson

Jeremy Clarkson

Jeremy Charles Robert Clarkson is an English broadcaster, journalist and writer who specialises in motoring. He is best known for his role on the BBC TV show Top Gear along with co-presenters Richard Hammond and James May...

 on Top Gear described it as "awful in every way".

Although the incorporation of an automatic transmission, and U.S. emissions compliance, indicate it may have been designed for the American market, no version of the 400 series was ever officially imported to the USA. Despite this, many have been brought to America as gray imports, where the car enjoyed a limited popularity with movie stars, such as Sammy Davis Jr..

400 (Automatic) & 400 GT

The 400 Automatic or 400A used the General Motors Turbo-Hydramatic

Turbo-Hydramatic

Turbo-Hydramatic is the registered tradename of a family of automatic transmissions developed and produced by General Motors. These transmissions mate a three-element torque converter to a Simpson planetary geartrain, providing three forward speeds plus reverse.The Turbo-Hydramatic series was...

 THM400 automatic transmission, whilst the 400 GT used a 5-speed all synchromesh transmission. This was the first Ferrari to have a automatic transmission.

The engine, based on the Daytona's 4390 cc, was a 4823 cc V12

V12 engine

A V12 engine is a V engine with 12 cylinders mounted on the crankcase in two banks of six cylinders, usually but not always at a 60° angle to each other, with all 12 pistons driving a common crankshaft....

 producing 340 PS; front mounted and driving the rear wheels, the traditional GT car layout allowed Ferrari to fit four seats into the stylish coupé. 0-60mph was 7.1 seconds.

400i & 400i GT

The carburetor

Carburetor

A carburetor , carburettor, or carburetter is a device that blends air and fuel for an internal combustion engine. It is sometimes shortened to carb in North America and the United Kingdom....

s on the 400 were replaced with Bosch

Robert Bosch GmbH

Robert Bosch GmbH is a multinational engineering and electronics company headquartered in Gerlingen, near Stuttgart, Germany. It is the world's largest supplier of automotive components...

 K-Jetronic

Jetronic

Jetronic is a trade name of an fuel injection technology for automotive petrol engines, developed and marketed by Robert Bosch GmbH from the 1960s onwards. Bosch licensed the concept to many automobile manufacturers. There are several variations of the technology offering technological development...

 fuel injection for 1979. As in the smaller 308i, power was down substantially, to 310 PS, but emissions were much improved.

412 & 412 GT

The 400 was improved for 1985 with an increase in displacement to 4943 cc and a restoration of the original car's 340 PS. ABS was offered for the first time on a Ferrari; the manual and automatic transmissions were both retained.

Production was stopped in 1989 with only the mid-engined

MR layout

In automotive design, a RMR or Rear Mid-engine, Rear-wheel drive layout is one in which the rear wheels are driven by an engine placed just in front of them, behind the passenger compartment. In contrast to the rear-engined RR layout, the center of mass of the engine is in front of the rear axle...

 Mondial

Ferrari Mondial

The final Mondial evolution was 1989's Mondial t . It was a substantially changed model, "spearhead of a new generation of V8 Ferraris", according to Road & Track magazine. It was visually different from preceding Mondial models, the most recognisable being the redesign of the air intakes to a...

 offering 2+2 seating. The classic front-engine layout returned in 1992 with the 456

Ferrari 456

The Ferrari 456 and 456 M is a front-engined grand tourer. The 456 was produced from 1992 until 2003. It was an overdue replacement for the defunct front-engined 412 as the company's premium 4-seat V12 car. The updated 456M was replaced in 2004 by the 612 Scaglietti...

.