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The Style & Performance of Ferrari

Ferrari 250 GTO

Can you believe the Ferrari 250 GTO is almost 60 years old? Born in 1962 and produced only until 1964, the 250 GTO was sold exclusively to wealthy and famous VIP buyers that were personally approved by company founder Enzo Ferrari. It’s considered one of the most beloved Ferraris in history and one of the best sports cars of all time.

The GTO in the car’s name stands for Gran Turismo Omologato, which is Italian for “Grand Touring Homologated.” For those of us who aren’t Italian professional race car drivers, omologato/homologated refers to a particularly exclusive class of high-performance racing engine – a 3-liter V12 engine capable of 300 hp. The name’s “250” is the engine’s displacement per cylinder in the engine, in cubic centimeters.

With a 5-speed manual transmission and a chassis that’s been a winner in worldwide competitions, this car was built to race. But it was also designed to be an unforgettable road car for people who love to show off a little. The 250 GTO body shape was designed to fit right in at the most elite racetrack, even though it’s mostly been about joyriding for famous buyers like Ralph Lauren and Gianni Bulgari. This was the last of the GTO bloodline and sent the GTOs out on a rather glamorous note.

Looking to buy a classic Ferrari 250 GTO? There are fewer than 40 left on the planet and you’ll probably be bidding against some of the richest people on Earth. A world record for the most expensive car was set in June 2018 when a ‘63 250 GTO went for $70 million.

Ferrari 275

Between 1964 and 1968, Ferrari sold the 275 series. Several in this iconic series are considered some of the all-time best sports cars, including the 275 GTB coupé/GTS spider, the 275 GTB/4, and the GTS/4 NART Spyder.

The 275 GTB/4s debuted as road cars with a sporty, low-profile body shape known as the berlinetta style. Ferrari fans hailed the 1965 version’s “long nose” look as an instant classic that echoed the best aspects of the predecessor 250 GTO’s design. The 1966 275 GTB update included an enlarged rear window so it was easier to see all the other cars as you left them in the dust.

This well-balanced speed demon has a rear-placed 5-speed gearbox and rearward-shifted 3.3-liter V-12 engine. It was the first road-built Ferrari with an independent rear suspension that included coil springs, Koni shocks, and double-wishbones. It also has a built-in antiroll bar to protect the driver, despite the fact that this series has some of the best weight distribution of any vintage Ferrari. 

The top speed of the 275 GTB is 156 mph and it does zero to 60 in 6 seconds. It was designed to hit a fast corner smoothly, even at high speeds. It has excellent low-end torque and originally came standard with 3 Weber carburetors or an option of 6 carburetors for extremely high-rpm acceleration.

Even this extremely fast and luxurious vehicle wasn’t enough to satisfy Enzo Ferrari. In a market newly-dominated by Maseratis and Lamborghinis that could hit up to 170 mph, the Ferrari 275s started to look a bit too slow. Ferrari introduced a limited edition of the 275 GTB/4 NART Spyder, featured in the Steve McQueen movie The Thomas Crown Affair, then retired this series soon afterward.

Ferrari 288 GTO

When the limited-edition Ferrari 288 GTO launched in 1984, its look embodied everything that was right about the mid-1980s. It was an expensive, sleek, road-ready Ferrari that looked great on video and took advantage of some of the most innovative materials available in the 80s. A hull with KevlarⓇ and carbon fiber made the 288 GTO light on the road and easy to accelerate.

Interestingly enough, the 288 was actually a modified version of the 308 GTB that was produced from 72 extra road versions of the vehicle that were sitting around the Ferrari factory. They gave it a 2.9-liter Twin Turbo V8 with 400 hp that could hit 179 mph and do zero to 60 in 5 seconds. All GTO road cars came in stock red, except a single black car.

Devoted Ferrari fans know the 288 GTO wouldn’t even exist if it weren’t for Group B regulations from the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA). While previous regulations were more stringent, Group B regulations that were introduced in 1982 loosened the rules about technology, design, and materials. Newly-produced cars were being produced at much lower weights while at the same time, the average power of competition rally cars more than doubled.

The 288 GTO emerged from this era feeling lighter than any Ferrari before it, yet packed with raw racing power. It was the first street-legal Ferrari race car since the 250 GTO and guess what? It ended up staying on the streets. Before this car could enter racing competitions, Ferrari ended the line.

Ferrari 360 Modena

In 1999, the Ferrari 360 Modena wrapped up the end of the millennium with a curvy and carefully-crafted design that looked ready for 2000 and beyond. Gone was the sharp-edged wedge design Ferrari embraced throughout the 1990s. Car experts the 360 Modena “refreshing,” “clean and uncluttered,” and “approachable and easy to drive.”

The 360 Modena not only looked totally different from previous models on the outside, it also had a revamped interior intended to attract to the type of wealthy, middle-aged dad who was fast becoming Ferrari’s target market. Designers gave it a simple, sophisticated dashboard that’s more like a cleaned-up desktop than a gauge-heavy cockpit. Promotional photos from the 360 Modena’s launch showed golf clubs tucked neatly into the narrow space behind the two leather bucket seats.

But make no mistake, this isn’t grandpa’s bulky touring car. Ferrari wanted to prove that racing was still in the bloodline of this car and named it after Enzo Ferrari’s birthplace of Modena, Italy. Ferrari gave it a light, aerodynamic aluminum-over-steel frame for breezy maneuvering and fast turns. 

It’s a street-ready sports car with a 395 hp, 3.6-liter V8 engine that can hit 62 mph in 4.5 seconds. When the 360 Modena was introduced, you could request a traditional gated 6-speed manual transmission or an F1 automatic. About 70% of its 8,800 buyers requested the automatic option, showing their preference for an easy drive in their easy-riding 360 Modena.

Ferrari 458 Italia

The Ferrari 458 Italia was born straight out of Ferrari’s Formula One racing history. It replaced the Ferrari F43 and there are very few other cars ever produced that can touch the 458 Italia in terms of flat-out road speed. It’s one of the fastest cars in the world.

In fact, the 458 Italia is so fast, Ferrari promotes its ability to stop as a comment on its power. For most cars, the question is, “How fast can it go?” With this car, Ferrari wanted the question to be, “How fast can it stop?” It can go from 62.1 mph to zero mph within 32.5 meters. Then, in a heart-pumping 3.4 seconds, it goes back from zero to 62 mph.

The fast braking speed comes from the 458 Italia’s innovative braking system that uses a prefill function in the caliper pistons to keep the pads in close contact with the braking discs, which means it’s always ready to stop at a millisecond’s notice. But when this car is moving, it’s really moving, with a 562-hp V8 engine and direct fuel injection riding on an F1-inspired suspension and using a 7-speed dual clutch. Its top speed is 210 mph.

In terms of the look and design of the 458 Italia, it has a smooth, sporty, aerodynamic design that keeps the focus on speed. Ferrari worked with Formula One drivers including Michael Schumacher to add small details that make a big difference in the car’s aerodynamics. For example, it has an unusual front grille that includes flaps known as “aeroelastic winglets” which fold in at high speeds to reduce drag on the radiator intake. 

Ferrari 550 Maranello

The term “instant classic” is used a lot when it comes to Ferraris, and this is especially true for the Ferrari 550 Maranello. Sold from 1997 to 2002, this iconic Ferrari is one of the few grand touring cars that continues to reliably increase in collectible value over time. It’s meant to be driven and it’s simply fun to drive.

To understand the unique status of the 550 Maranello, you have to think back to the early 1990s when the economy experienced a recession that caused high-end vehicles to take a dip in value. As the world emerged from the recession, sports car buyers were looking for a driveable new vehicle that would maintain value in the long run – and they wanted to buy it from a company with a solid racing heritage. Ferrari rose to the challenge with the 550 Maranello.

Echoing some of the best cars of the 50s and 60s, the Maranello was designed to walk the line between zippy race cars and looming grand touring cars. There’s some room to move around inside, making it comfortable for a long, cross-country cruise, but it absolutely retains the look of an exquisite race-ready Ferrari.

Under the hood, there’s a 5.5-liter DOHC V12 that pumps out 479 hp. It has a rear-mounted transaxle and 6-speed manual transmission with the classic gated shifter that Ferrari fans enjoy. Its body is all aluminum, making the 550 Maranello feel light on the road as it hits 60 mph in 4.2 seconds. Its top speed is a screaming 199 mph, which you sure won’t reach in the typical touring car.

Ferrari Dino

In the 1960s, sports cars were becoming so powerful, Enzo Ferrari wondered whether the average consumer could really handle the power of a true racing-inspired Ferrari. He imagined a nightmare scenario where everyday drivers were racing Ferraris across the nation’s roads and creating serious safety issues.

So Enzo took special interest in a lower-powered 2.0-liter V6 engine his son Dino developed with the help of racing engineer Vittorio Jano. In partnership with Fiat, Ferrari put Dino’s engine in a Fiat-inspired body with a race car chassis and created the Ferrari Fiat Dino road car. To the horror of both Fiat and Ferrari purists, it was advertised as “almost a Ferrari” and hit a top speed of about 140 mph.

While the automotive world debated whether this car was even a Ferrari, the Dino failed to sell in high numbers at the nation’s car lots. Meanwhile, Enzo Ferrari took a step back from the automotive world and left the Dino as one of his final legacies. So, as you can guess, over time a Dino became a lucky find in the vintage car marketplace and began to fetch high prices among rare car buyers. Today,  you’d be hard-pressed to pay less than 6 figures for one.

Opinions about the Dino seem to have shifted over time. Although it was initially considered a freakish mishmash between two auto legacies, car experts today generally consider it an engineering masterpiece. The Dino holds an undeniably odd place in auto history, so seize any opportunity to take a spin in one of these unusual Ferraris.

Ferrari F40

The last car Enzo Ferrari produced before his death was the Ferrari F40, which celebrated the company’s 40th anniversary. It hit the market in 1987 during a moment in time when the company was battling strong competition from suave sports car options like the Porsche 959. 

The F40 let any driver feel like an 80s-era TV private eye while delivering true Ferrari aerodynamic performance. Ferrari gave it a twin-turbocharged V8 engine with 471 hp and set a staggering sticker price of $400,000, which was about 5 times the price of the company’s most recent car, the 288 GTO.

When he introduced the F40 to the press upon its release, Enzo Ferrari told the press it was a rolling work of art and “the best car in the world.” Any skeptics were soon silenced when it became an immediate sales success, selling out its initial run of 400 vehicles and leaving buyers clamoring for 900 more F40s in short order. 

Speculators tried to play the market, buying up F40s and flipping them instantly for twice or more in value, but the market went belly-up when the Ferrari company came to its senses and halted production. In fact, this started a trend of producing limited-edition low-number Ferraris that would prevent market saturation and help maintain the exclusivity of the brand.

For classic supercar lovers, it’s fun to compare the Ferrari F40 to other cars of the era, just as Enzo Ferrari did, and remember why 1987 was such a study in sports car contrasts. The F40 was a taut little red powerhouse that made a car like the bubble-shaped Porsche 959 look almost cartoonish by comparison. 

Only 213 of these cars ever made it to the United States, so it’s always been rare for an American to drive or even see a Ferrari F40 in person. Today, most of these legendary Ferraris are owned by private collectors who rarely share them with the public.

Ferrari F430

Between 2004 and 2009, Ferrari sold the F430 as a refreshing update to the 360. Ferrari increased the downforce of the vehicle through numerous aerodynamic changes but kept the same aluminium chassis, roofline, doors, and glass 360 fans preferred. The result was a car that felt true to the Ferrari bloodline but firmly grounded in the new millennium.

It has a 4.3-liter V8 483-hp Ferrari-Maserati F136 engine that was a departure from previous Ferrari engines. Although the engine was more powerful than cars of the Ferrari Dino era, new design specs prevented the engine from being too much heavier. This means the F430 packs a lot of power into a still-lightweight aluminum Ferrari frame, which can come to a halt with carbon ceramic brakes that are designed to offer superior wear resistance.

The exterior of the F430 is pure smooth-lined Ferrari, but on the inside there are numerous innovations that were new to the company at the time the line was introduced. These features vary by the exact type of F430. For example, in the F430 Coupe, a computer-controlled limited slip differential offers self-correcting skid control so the driver can take sharp corners without worrying about losing grip on the road. In the F430 Scuderia, a computer-controlled transmission recalculates shifting every 60 milliseconds.

If you were lucky enough to buy a F430 Spider convertible, you can watch in awe as the car makes its graceful conversion from closed to open-top. In a smooth two-stage folding action, the roof panel tucks into a hidden space behind the seats. The Spider is perhaps the most collectible of the F430s.

Ferrari F50

After enormous interest in Ferraris during the 1980s, buying faltered in the mid-1990s. In response, Ferrari went back to Formula One for inspiration and built a car to rekindle interest in the heritage of racing. When this car was released, Ferrari’s sales and marketing director described it as “an F1 car dressed as a road car.”

The Ferrari F50 has a mid-mounted F130B 4.7-liter naturally-aspirated V12 that is essentially a road-friendly version of a Formula One race car. It delivers 512 hp, with zero to 60 mph acceleration in about 3.8 seconds. It can hit a top speed of 202 mph with fast maneuvering using a 6-speed manual shifter. When it was introduced, it was Ferrari’s most powerful road car ever.

Like a race car, the chassis of the F50 includes an engine bolted directly in, which means the ride comes with a lot of vibration and isn’t for the faint of heart. A Ferrari buyer looking for a smooth ride on a long road trip is ill-advised to pick the F50. Automobile magazine describes it as a “stripped-out, ultra-harsh” addition to the Ferrari family.

However, Ferrari made some concessions to make the car appeal to the average buyer. It has electronically-controlled shocks managed that work in tandem with steering angles and lateral/longitudinal forces to make the ride a bit more comfortable and improve handling. It also has a longer body than many cars of the era, which was a way to work out the physics and meet crash-test requirements while maintaining the same power and driveability of Ferrari’s fastest cars.

Did you know every production F50 comes with a pop-out roof? This oddity found a way into the hearts of Ferrari buyers and remains one of the model’s most popular features. The roof lifts off of a hidden top roll bar that adds stability and roll protection to this spirited Ferrari.

Ferrari LaFerrari

When a car is so perfect it is the absolute embodiment of the brand, how do you give it the perfect name? Ferrari decided to name it after itself: The Ferrari LaFerrari. Introduced in 2013, it’s “the definitive Ferrari” and was the first production car in the company’s history to function as a hypercar with both a hybrid electric and gas powertrain. 

Ferrari designed this car to deliver maximum speed and performance while offering low emissions of just 340 g/km of CO2 without necessarily resorting to electric driving. A fully electric version of this car has reached as low as 220 g/km CO2, showing the promise of even more environmental friendliness in the future of Ferrari.

The LaFerrari’s engine is a mid-mounted 6.3-liter F140FE V12 electric motor and KERS that drives 949 hp and rides with a 7-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission. It has a compact wheelbase and what the company calls the world’s most perfect weight distribution, precision-designed by the famous Prancing Horse team. As a result, LaFerrari’s ride is almost supernaturally smooth even at top speed, with dynamic aerodynamic controls that constantly scan and adjust for ideal performance.

The LaFerrari was introduced at a cool $1.4 million and immediately attracted attention as a fundraising car for charity auctions, including earthquake relief funds for central Italy. It became “the most valuable 21st century automobile ever sold at auction.” LaFerraris have garnered top auction prices of $7 million, $7.5 million, and even $10 million for the last LaFerrari Aperta produced.

Ferrari Testarossa 

From 1984 to 1991 Ferrari produced one of its all-time most iconic cars, the Testarossa. It oozed exotic and erotic 80s auto style, making it a status symbol in the American market and turning it into a global phenomenon. 

What many people don’t realize is that the story of the Testarossa actually began in 1973. While the Ferrari 365 GT/4 BB was popular among buyers who didn’t mind its cramped cockpit, Ferrari heard feedback that drivers wanted more room and better handling. They began to envision a wider, more spacious version of the car that still seemed true to the Ferrari name, and this ultimately became the Testarossa.

That’s why the basics of this car are really so similar to the 365 GT/4 BB. It has the same desirable 4.9-liter flat-12 engine but it delivers a more powerful 380 hp. This means it’s bigger than its predecessor but still drives with the same kind of power, plus it has powerful torque for plenty of fast acceleration and precision handling. It can hit 60 mph in about 5 seconds and you can easily hit a smooth 180 mph in a Testarossa.

It’s almost difficult to list all the reasons the Testarossa’s body styling is so iconic. It’s somewhat wedge-shaped like the best cars of the early 80s, but it incorporates enormous side intakes covering mid-mounted racing-style radiators, often called cheese graters, which make the Testarossa look almost alien within the car landscape of the era. It also has a wide rear fascia, no rear wing, a flat front hood, and thin-grilled front fascia, giving it a unique stance among vintage sports cars.