1983 Ferrari 512 BBi Koenig Coupé

Delivered new to Auto Becker GmbH in Germany in 1983, the vanishingly rare Ferrari 512 BBi Koenig Coupé offered here has been tuned and extensively modified by the eponymous company founded by former racing driver Willy Koenig, winner of the 1962 German Mountain Championship at the wheel of a 250 GT SWB.

Today, Koenig’s company still specialises in supplying parts and accessories for Ferraris, but it is no longer in the business of carrying out performance conversions.

Consequently, what were rare cars from the outset are now growing inexorably rarer and more sought-after with every passing year.

In order to help define what we mean by ‘rare’, the vendor learned from Walter Koenig, Willy Koenig's son, that a total of between 20 and 30 Koenig versions were built across all three Boxer iterations – the carburettor 512, the fuel injected 512 and the 365.

The vendor tells us that when he bought it, the car was one of 5 in the UK, and the only one in Rosso Corsa red.

So, yes, it’s properly rare.

Koenig's package of upgrades for the BBi was a great success, and not least because the modifications carried out by Koenig were by no means just cosmetic or aesthetic.

Far from it.

These Koenig-fettled cars came with different pistons, camshafts and exhaust systems, among other changes, with the thus uprated 512 BBi engines pushing the stock 340bhp up to 450bhp – enough to make an already very fast car ballistically quick.

The cost of a Koenig-fettled 512 BBi was 50% more than that of the standard car.

This car later moved from Germany to the USA, where it was first owned, the vendor understands, by a New York stock broker who owned 10 Ferraris (the Wolf of Wall Street immediately springs to mind). 

He kept this one for his personal use and lent the others to existing and potential clients. His fleet of Ferraris was maintained by his own personal mechanic.

The car was next owned by a Mr Gerardo Lombardi, a successful restaurateur from Wading River, Long Island. 

When acquired by the current owner from Gulling Motorcars of New York in 2015, it was in running order. 

Upon its arrival in the UK, the vendor had it thoroughly checked over by the fully trained and highly experienced Ferrari Technician John Greatorex, who gave the car the thumbs-up.  

For the last 10 years the Ferrari has been laid up in a heated garage and will require thorough mechanical recommissioning before it can be started or driven. 

The current odometer reading is a little over 24,000 miles. No attempt has been made to start the car, but the belts move by hand, and the pop-up headlight actuators work.

People of a certain age, your author being one of them, would have had a poster of a Ferrari 308 on their bedroom wall, quite possibly next to images of Che Guevara.

We were young and foolish. 

Had we known better, had we been more sophisticated, had we possessed finer sensibilities, we would have had a poster of a 512 BB.

And had we been really cool, and a little bit different from everyone else, we might just have had one of Koenig’s fine creations.

This car has had the full Koenig 512 BBi treatment. There are no cut corners of half measures here: all the boxes on the Koenig options list have been ticked.

With a couple of minor cosmetic exceptions to the rule, the eye-catching bodywork looks okay.

Aside from a gouge and some scuffs and scrapes on the lower lip of the front valance (caused by an errant loader when the car was being transported from the USA to its current home), the bodywork is free of any dinks, dents, creases, holes or dimples to speak of.

The shut-lines and panel gaps look consistent and even to us, and the Rossa Corsa paintwork has lost little of its trademark vibrancy, shine and lustre.

There is a little blistering to be seen to the paint in places around the rear wheel arches.

The trim around the front of the ‘frunk’ is a little ragged in places and the black paint on the bumper strip beneath it is cracked and peeling.

The car’s splendid Gotti split-rim alloys look to be in broadly good condition. 

The same can’t be said for the tyres, which are all too long in the tooth, and one of which is cracked and beyond re-inflation.

The car’s lights, lenses, badging and various other external fixtures and fittings all look pretty good to us.

The good news continues unabated on the highly authentic and original interior.

All of the original back-lit, orange-on-black Veglia Borletti gauges are in fine order, as far as we can tell, and they are of course, easy to see and read through the spokes of a beautifully simple steering wheel unadorned by all the flappy paddles, buttons, switches and levers that separate today’s bloated items from their pared-back, analogue predecessors.

The black leather seats with their highly distinctive ‘Daytona’ stripes have different stories to tell. 

The passenger seat looks as if it hasn’t played host to many guests during its lifetime. 

The driver’s seat has plenty of creases and cracks, a short tear to the leather on the driver’s seat squab, and a small hole on the outer bolster of the backrest.

We also noticed that the cover for the driver’s seat incline/recline mechanism is missing.

The black trim is lifting away from the underlying structure on the passenger-side door card, and some of the trim at the top of the dashboard adjacent to the instrument binnacle looks as if it might have sat in hot sunlight for a little too long.

The controls, instruments and dials seem to be in very good order and, even though we didn’t flick every switch or press every electrical button, those we did flick and press responded faithfully. 

We particularly like the very much of-the-period Nakamichi (they were the best) cassette player.

The storage areas are in reasonable condition, as are the carpets and mats. 

The engine bay is dry and tidy and there are no obvious leaks or other aberrations on view. 

Everything appears to be in its right and proper place.

The undersides of the car look decent. 

Clearly, you will want to see for yourself and reach your own conclusions.

The car doesn’t have much by way of history but then, with 24,000 miles on the clock and at least 10 years of total inactivity, it really hasn’t done very much.

The Ferrari is offered with a New York State title; Gullwing Motorcars invoice; confirmation of UK taxes paid; and correspondence with Koenig concerning the availability of some spare parts.

A Ferrari 512 BBi is a simply fabulous car to start with – aesthetically, mechanically and dynamically.

Factor in the exclusivity of one that’s received the full Koenig bodywork treatment and has a 450bhp engine in the middle, and you’ve got yourself a truly remarkable, thoroughbred supercar that’s rarer than a solar eclipse.

Yes, it needs careful and expert mechanical recommissioning but we’ve seen nothing to suggest that won’t be a rewarding project.

Either way, the successful bidder will have won a car that is almost certain never to find itself next to another one in the carpark at Waitrose. 

We don’t expect to see another one coming our way any time soon.

We are happy to offer this car for auction with an estimate in the range of £85,000 - £90,000.

Viewing is strongly encouraged, and this lot is located at Bonhams|Cars Online HQ. Viewings are STRICTLY BY APPOINTMENT and we are open weekdays between 10am - 12pm or 2pm - 4pm. To make a booking, please use the ‘Enquire About This Vehicle’ button on the listing. Feel free to ask any questions, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.