1982 Ferrari 400i Is Today’s Bring a Trailer Auction Pick

• The Ferrari 400i was never officially sold in the United States, but many found their way here as gray-market imports.
• Styled by Pininfarina, the four-seat coupe featured a 4.8-liter V-12 paired with a three-speed automatic transmission.
  
• This example sold two years ago for $49,750.

Most famous for the chrome-festooned 1949 Buick Roadmaster that appears in so much of the movie, 1988’s Rain Man also features some pretty choice machinery in the opening credits. Today’s pick from Bring A Trailer, which like Car and Driver is part of the Hearst Autos Group, is a 1982 Ferrari 400i that’s a near-match for the first car Tom Cruise’s character drives in the movie. A European-spec coupe imported into the U.S. in 1982, it is as imposing in all-business black as il Commentadore himself, soft-spoken, but with a 4.8-liter V-12 under the hood.

The opening to Rain Man reveals a red Lamborghini Countach flying through the air—actually, it’s being unloaded from a ship via an overhead crane. The car is lowered to join three other Countachs, each one a bewinged adolescent fantasy, as Tom Cruise looks on, dressed like a “Miami Vice” extra. The cars are gray-market imports, and they’re being held up at customs by the EPA, which is central to the initial tension of the film. Cruise drives away in a silver 1983 Ferrari 400i.

Many Italian exotics weren’t officially sold in the U.S. in the 1980s, and gray market importing frequently involved a little hustling. Ferrari never bothered selling its V-12 gran turismo in the U.S. in the 1980s because why would you? A national 55-mph speed limit and tough environmental regulations made the States an ill-suited environment for such a car.

Still, there were plenty of speed-obsessed Ferrari aficionados willing to jump through hoops or cut corners to get their hands on the forbidden fruit. This 1982 Ferrari 400i evidently is the product of such determination, as it was imported in January 1982.

The 400 replaced the 365 GT4 2+2 as Ferrari’s front-engine V-12 grand tourer and was the first Ferrari available with an automatic transmission. This later 400i got fuel injection for its 4.8-liter Colombo V-12, making it good for 306 horsepower. With its wedgy Pininfarina body and five-spoke wheels, it just oozes class. This Ferrari is all business.

With 51K miles on the odometer and a few discreet stone chips, this is not the kind of Ferrari you park in a glass-windowed garage and never use. This is the kind you drive, and if the three-speed automatic might dissuade any would-be Michael Schumachers in the audience, it’s perfect for weekend cruising.

Further, with 2+2 seating, you can bring the whole family along. Although given how lovely those tan seats look, no ice cream cones in the car—sorry, kids.

This auction ends on July 13.

Contributing Editor

Brendan McAleer is a freelance writer and photographer based in North Vancouver, B.C., Canada. He grew up splitting his knuckles on British automobiles, came of age in the golden era of Japanese sport-compact performance, and began writing about cars and people in 2008. His particular interest is the intersection between humanity and machinery, whether it is the racing career of Walter Cronkite or Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki’s half-century obsession with the Citroën 2CV. He has taught both of his young daughters how to shift a manual transmission and is grateful for the excuse they provide to be perpetually buying Hot Wheels.