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Some engine swaps are about adding power. This one is about building a Ferrari prototype that Ferrari never built that way. A 512BB-powered Ferrari 412P re-creation by Norwood Autocraft is live on Bring a Trailer, with bidding at $150,000 and the auction scheduled to close on Tuesday, October 27.
Bob Norwood, the Texas Ferrari specialist, built it in early 1982. According to the listing, he started with the shortened chassis of a wrecked Ferrari 365 GT4 BB, which means the car carries real Berlinetta Boxer hardware under its race-car skin. The frame was reportedly cut from 98.8 inches to 94.8 inches of wheelbase and fitted with a spaceframe structure. The nose and tail are fiberglass, said to be formed using spare alloy Ferrari P3 panels as bucks, while the doors, cowl and rear bulkhead are alloy.
A Flat-12 Where a V12 Should Be
The original 412P was a customer version of Ferrari's 330 P3, built in 1966 and 1967 in just four examples. This one swaps the V12 for the 4.9-liter F102B flat-12 and five-speed transaxle from a 512 BB, topped with quad triple-barrel Weber carburetors and dry-sump lubrication. If you've followed our coverage of the Ferrari 365 GT4 BB, you know that engine layout already has a following. Seeing it in a sports-prototype body is another matter.
Suspension is unequal-length wishbones with coilovers, with double coilovers at each rear wheel. Ventilated discs sit at all four corners behind white-painted 15-inch Campagnolo wheels with knock-offs. Inside, there are fixed-back aluminum seats, blue Willans four-point harnesses, a MOMO wheel and Veglia Borletti gauges, with an 8,000-rpm tachometer. There is no odometer, so mileage is unknown.
The Build Story
The seller says this is the first of Norwood's P3/4 re-creations and the only one built on a Ferrari chassis. The car appeared on a 1982 cover of Petersen's Sports Car Classics, was displayed in 1984 by the founder of the Dallas Grand Prix, and later spent time in the UK under Lord Charles Brocket, then in Belgium for roughly a decade. It returned to the US and stayed with its previous owner until his death in 2024. Photos of the construction taken by Norwood are included in the sale.
Re-creations of Ferrari's 1960s prototypes are a corner of the hobby we like. We've covered a Ferrari 330 SP re-creation by Noble Motorsport, and the story of the Ferrari P4/5 shows how long these cars have fascinated builders and collectors.
What to Know Before Bidding
Documented and claimed details are worth separating. The BaT listing describes the history and the specifications above, and includes the engine number, F102B00000768, which is also used as the car's identification number on its Montana title. That title describes the car as a 1979 Ferrari P4. Statements about the panel bucks, its place in Norwood's output and its past owners are the seller's account. Service in September 2025 by Team CJ in Austin reportedly covered timing belts, hoses and fluids, and the brake calipers, master cylinder and hoses were refreshed before sale.
It also comes with caveats. The seller notes the car has no emissions equipment and will not pass a smog test, it is registered in Montana but located in California, and the finish has noted chips, cracks and scratches. The car is offered on dealer consignment from Costa Mesa, California.
This is a re-creation, not a factory prototype, and it should be judged as one. As a hand-built 1980s homage with a mid-engine Berlinetta Boxer drivetrain, it is among the more unusual builds currently at auction. The sale ends on October 27 and the listing, photos and video are on Bring a Trailer.
