The 'BB' In Ferrari 512 BB Has More Than Just One Meaning

The first mid-engine Ferrari with a 12-cylinder engine, the Ferrari 365 GT4 Berlinetta Boxer, or "BB," was not named for either its body style, Berlinetta, or for its engine configuration, boxer. Instead, it's said that the BB's designers were inspired by the car's beauty and possibly named it after French movie star Brigitte Bardot, which would make it one of the Ferraris named after people.

Born in 1934, Brigitte Bardot was a famous actress, model, and recording artist who appeared in 47 films from the 1950s through the 1970s. As a teen, she was featured on the cover of Elle magazine. Her appearance in Roger Vadim's "And God Created Woman" in 1956 made her famous around the world for her innate sensuality, shooting her to stardom. She retired from acting in 1973 and founded organizations to protect animals. Bardot was married four times and had one son, and she died in 2025.

There is another meaning for one of the Bs in the "BB" that refers to the Ferrari Berlinetta Boxer, but it is a more technical one. According to Ferrari engineer Mauro Forghieri, the first "B" in the BB's name was supposed to represent "Bialbero," referring to the engine's twin-cam design. However, when the BB was introduced at the 1971 Turin Motor Show as the Berlinetta Boxer, the name "stuck." Five years later, the 365 GT4 BB's successor, the 512 BB, debuted.

The Ferrari Berlinetta Boxer was neither a Berlinetta nor a boxer. Though a Berlinetta is typically a front-engine vehicle, the BB's engine is mounted behind the cockpit. It also has a flat engine rather than a true boxer. While a boxer uses an separate crank journal for each of its pistons, the BB's piston pairs share a journal, making the F102 engine a flat-12. Additionally, Enzo Ferrari himself objected the BB and felt that his customers would find a mid-engine car too tough to handle compared to Ferrari's traditional front-engine models.

But Enzo finally relented, and the BB started to take shape under the watchful eye of Pininfarina's Leonardo Fioravanti. Fioravanti and his fellow designers created a truly beautiful mid-engine design housing a 380-horsepower, 4.4-liter flat-12 with dual overhead camshafts per bank of cylinders. It breathed through four triple-choke Weber carburetors and was mated to a five-speed transmission driving the rear wheels.

The BB was produced in three different versions: the 1973-76 Ferrari 365 GT4 BB, the 1976-81 Ferrari 512 BB, and the 1981-84 Ferrari 512 BBi. Their 0-60 mph times were all between 5.4 and 5.5 seconds, while their top speeds varied, with the 365 GT4 BB reaching 188 mph, the 512 BB hitting 160 mph, and the 512 BBi achieving 174 mph. The BB was never officially sold in the U.S., making it one of the coolest cars you couldn't buy in America, but some gray-market examples managed to make it here.