Ferrari 250: The V12 Family That Won Races and Built a Road Legend

For more than a decade, Ferrari's 250 family carried one 3.0-litre V12 through both racing and road cars. The GTO that came from it became one of the most expensive cars ever sold, and the series still draws attention decades after production ended.

Where did the Ferrari 250 come from?

From 1952 to 1964 the 250 range covered both road and competition machinery. The engine was a 3.0-litre (2,953 cc) V12 designed by Gioacchino Colombo, and the series was replaced by the 275 and 330 models.

Ferrari debuted the Colombo V12 on the racetrack before the road cars arrived, and the racing 250s came about three years ahead of the street models. That pattern was typical of Ferrari at the time, with competition used to prove the engine before it reached customers.

Nearly every 250 shared the Colombo Tipo 125 V12. Its light weight was one of its strengths, and it weighed hundreds of pounds less than its chief rivals, including a Jaguar XK straight-six that weighed nearly twice as much.

One 3.0-litre Colombo V12 carried Ferrari from the Mille Miglia to the most expensive GTO ever sold.

How did the 250 S and 250 MM start the family?

The 250 S was based on the 225 S, and its chassis was a Tuboscocca tubular trellis with an 88.6-inch (2,250 mm) wheelbase. Its dry-sump 3.0-litre engine breathed through three Weber 36DCF carburettors and drove a five-speed manual gearbox, while the front ran double wishbones and the live rear axle used semi-elliptic springs.

Bracco and Alfonso Rolfo took an experimental 250 S berlinetta into the 1952 Mille Miglia. Mercedes-Benz had strong opposition in the form of the 300 SL racers, which made 175 PS (129 kW; 173 hp), but the Bracco-Ferrari made 230 PS (169 kW; 227 hp) and used its power in the hills of the Futa Pass to win by about four minutes.

A more conventional chassis for the new engine was on display at the 1952 Paris Motor Show. Pinin Farina then styled a coupe with a modest grille, a short tail and a panoramic rear window. That car was launched as the 250 MM, a name that honoured the Mille Miglia, at the 1953 Geneva Motor Show.

The 250 MM had a 2,400 mm wheelbase and a power output of 240 PS (177 kW; 237 hp). Its coupe weighed 50 kg (110 lb) more than the 850 kg (1,874 lb) barchetta, and the production car dropped the dry sump and one gear from the transmission.

What were the 250 Testa Rossa and LM racers?

The racing 250 Testa Rossa was one of Ferrari's most successful racing cars, with three wins at Le Mans, four at Sebring and two at Buenos Aires. An example later changed hands at auction for $16.39 million, a record at the time.

The 250 P was a 1963 prototype with a rear mid-engined layout and an engine derived from the Testa Rossa. That year it won the 12 Hours of Sebring, the 1000 km Nurburgring and the 24 Hours of Le Mans, which gave the family its strongest season on the track.

The 250 LM followed in 1963, with Pininfarina bodywork by Aldo Brovarone. It was meant for production as a road-going GT, but Ferrari could not persuade the FIA that it would build the 100 examples needed for GT homologation. Eventually 32 were built up to 1965, and Ferrari withdrew from factory GT racing, which left the Shelby Cobra team free to dominate.

A 250 LM in the prototype category took the 1965 race. Only the earliest LMs earned the 250 badge, since the rest ran 3.3-litre engines and arguably belonged under the 275 name.

Why is the 250 GTO so valuable?

The GTO existed to satisfy the FIA's rules for Group 3 touring cars, and about 36 were made between 1962 and 1964. Its value rests on rarity, racing pedigree and a set of record sales that began with a US$38,115,000 auction price in May 2012.

The name is short for Gran Turismo Omologato, which translates as homologated grand tourer. A GTO cost $18,000 new in the United States, and Enzo Ferrari and North American dealer Luigi Chinetti had to approve each buyer.

Thirty-three cars were made in 1962 and 1963. The 1964 Series II brought a different body, with three new cars and four older Series I cars converted, which took the total to 36. Each car carried its own chassis history, and the auction results reflect how collectors have treated those histories.

Sales continued at the top of the market. A 1963 car, chassis 5111GT, changed hands privately in October 2013 for US$52 million, and a 1962 car, chassis 3413GT, sold at auction in August 2018 for US$48,405,000. Those figures place the GTO among the most expensive cars ever sold.

Critics have also rated it highly. In 2004 Sports Car International placed the GTO eighth on its list of the top sports cars of the 1960s, and it named the car the best sports car of all time. Motor Trend Classic ranked it first among the greatest Ferraris.

How did the 250 road cars develop?

The first road car with Colombo's 250 V12 was the 250 Europa GT, shown at the 1954 Paris Motor Show. Ferrari first applied the Gran Turismo badge to this model, and its 2,600 mm wheelbase and three Weber carburettors gave it a useful blend of pace and comfort for a grand tourer.

Before that, the 250 Europa had used a different engine, the 2963 cc Lampredi V12 derived from a Formula One design. Its power output was 200 PS (147 kW; 197 hp) at 6,300 rpm, and the car used a 2,800 mm (110.2 in) wheelbase. Only 22 were built, most of them with Pinin Farina coupe bodies.

Pinin Farina's 250 GT coupe prototype, shown at the 1956 Geneva Motor Show, became the 250 GT Boano. Demand forced production to move to Carrozzeria Boano, then to his son-in-law Ezio Ellena. Boano built 74 cars on the long-wheelbase chassis, and Ellena built another 50 coupes, many with a raised roof and no vent windows in the doors.

The 250 GT Berlinetta, nicknamed Tour de France after the 10-day race, was built by Carrozzeria Scaglietti to a Pinin Farina design. Seventy-seven were built, and the car won the Tour de France Automobile in 1956, 1957 and 1958. Its engine rose from 240 PS (177 kW; 237 hp) to 260 PS (191 kW; 256 hp) during production.

Scaglietti's 1957 California Spyder was designed for export to North America. Aluminium was used for the hood, doors and boot lid, and up to 240 PS (177 kW; 237 hp) came from the same 2,953 cc engine used in the Tour de France car. Fifty long-wheelbase cars were built before the short-wheelbase version replaced them in 1960.

What made the 250 SWB Berlinetta special?

The 250 GT SWB Berlinetta is remembered as a standout GT racer, and its 2,400 mm wheelbase sharpened the handling. It received FIA homologation on 17 June 1960, in time for the 25 June 1960 Le Mans race, and 176 examples were built in steel and aluminium forms.

Giotto Bizzarrini, Carlo Chiti and a young Mauro Forghieri shaped the car before they went on to the GTO. Disc brakes were a Ferrari GT first, and light weight, strong power and tidy suspension gave it real pace. It won the GT class of the 1961 Constructors' Championship.

The SWB also took the Tour de France Automobile in 1960, 1961 and 1962 before the GTO took over that role. Sports Car International rated it seventh among 1960s sports cars, while Motor Trend Classic put it fifth on its greatest Ferraris list.

What are the Ferrari 250 specifications?

The 250 family spanned a 3.0-litre V12 in several states of tune, two wheelbases and a range of bodies. The table lists the core figures for the Colombo engine and the main road and race variants.

How did the 250 influence Lamborghini?

Ferruccio Lamborghini owned several Ferrari 250s, and his frustration with the company's response to repeated clutch problems helped push him toward building his own cars. He later hired former Ferrari engineers to design and develop them, which gave the new firm a direct link to the 250's engineering culture.

What was the 250 GT/E?

The 250 GT/E was the first large-production four-seat Ferrari, built by Pinin Farina with 955 examples made from 1960 to 1963. Its 2+2 layout moved the engine forward to create interior space, although the rear seats were small for adults.

Production ran in three series: 299 cars came from the first, 356 from the second and 300 from the last. The third series appeared at Geneva in 1963, and the GT/E's volume made it a major contributor to Ferrari's finances in the early 1960s, at a list price of $11,500.

The visually similar 330 America followed it, using the GT/E's chassis with a 4.0-litre engine from the 330 range. That pairing kept the family look while giving the car a larger engine for its later years.

How did the GT Coupe and Cabriolet develop in the late 1950s?

Pinin Farina's GT Coupe was introduced at Milan in 1958, and 335 near-identical examples were built by 1960. It dropped the fender vents for a notchback look with a panoramic rear window, and disc brakes arrived in 1960, with Prince Bertil of Sweden among its buyers.

The Cabriolet of Series II was introduced at the 1959 Paris Motor Show and removed the side vents of the coupe. About 212 were produced, and the coupe's headlights were left uncovered, which set the two bodies apart in appearance.

A Superfast tail marked the last Coupe, which appeared at the 1961 London show. That final style brought the coupe's lines closer to the mid-1960s grand tourers that followed.

Frequently asked questions

What does the 250 in the name mean?

The number refers to the capacity of each cylinder, which is roughly 250 cc, in a 2,953 cc V12. Ferrari used that convention for its engines in this period.

How many Ferrari 250 GT/E cars were made?

Pinin Farina built 955 GT/E cars. They were produced in three series, with 299 in the first, 356 in the second and 300 in the third, and production ran until 1963.

Did a 250 win Le Mans?

Yes. The 250 P won the 1963 24 Hours of Le Mans, and a 250 LM in the prototype category won the 1965 race.

Who bought the only convertible in the Boano batch?

The sole convertible 250 GT built by Boano, chassis 0461 GT, was sold at the 1956 New York Auto Show to collector Bob Lee for $9,500, a price set at the direction of Enzo Ferrari. Lee still owns the car.