Three Collector Worlds Meet in a Ferrari Bottle Cap

Coca-Cola Japan's Ferrari 275GTB/4 Supercar Crown Cap, Series #2

What This Bottle Cap Is

This is a metal crown cap — the standard bottle stopper, roughly 26mm across — produced by Coca-Cola Japan as a collector’s premium. The underside carries a full-colour print on a gold background: “Italia” at the top, an illustration of the Ferrari 275GTB/4 in the centre, and the car’s name along the bottom. The “#2” marks its place in a numbered series; at least several car models were included, though the exact total and the official series name have not been confirmed.

This is not shokugan or a gashapon prize. It belongs to a distinct Japanese tradition of bottle-cap campaigns, in which soft-drink companies printed collectible imagery on their crown caps and encouraged buyers to gather and trade complete sets. Coca-Cola Japan ran several such campaigns, and a series themed around European sports cars fit naturally into the cultural moment that surrounded it.

The Ferrari 275 GTB/4 and Japan’s Supercar Boom

The car depicted — the Ferrari 275 GTB/4 — was built between 1966 and 1968. The “/4” stands for quattro camme (four camshafts), a twin-cam-per-bank specification that distinguished it from the standard 275 GTB. Pininfarina designed the body, giving it the long-nose, short-deck profile that defines the gran turismo style of that era. Approximately 280 examples were produced, making it a low-volume model even in period. The Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona succeeded it, and the 275 GTB/4 is widely regarded as the culmination of Ferrari’s front-engine berlinetta line of the 1960s.

Japan’s supercar boom peaked roughly between 1975 and 1978. European exotics — Lamborghini Countach, Ferrari Berlinetta Boxer, Ferrari 308 GTB — filled boys’ magazines and scale-model shops alike. The manga Circuit no Ookami, serialised in Weekly Shonen Jump from 1975 to 1979, is widely credited as a major driver of the phenomenon. Older Ferraris, including the 275 GTB/4, were drawn into this renewed enthusiasm and celebrated as landmarks of the genre. Drink manufacturers responded with supercar-themed premiums; this bottle cap belongs to that world, though its precise release year has not been confirmed.

Where Three Different Collector Interests Converge

Part of what makes items like this one interesting to a broad range of collectors is the convergence of three distinct worlds. Coca-Cola advertising memorabilia has a well-established international collector base, with bottle caps occupying their own documented subcategory. The Ferrari 275 GTB/4 holds a high reputation among classic-car enthusiasts globally, particularly those focused on 1960s Italian road cars. And Japanese domestic promotional goods attract collectors specifically for their regional character: the Japanese text on the cap — “Italia” and “Ferrari 275GTB4” — is a marker of provenance that speaks directly to that interest.

Being number two in a numbered series adds a further dimension: it implies companion caps exist, and for collectors drawn to completing sets, the question of what else the series contained becomes part of the appeal in itself. Metal crown caps, when stored reasonably well, also hold their printed surfaces over decades — a material quality that helps explain why examples from this era can still be found in legible, presentable condition.