1960 Ferrari 250 GTE

If you can’t afford a nice example, you really can’t afford a bad one

by Steve Ahlgrim

By the end of the 1950s, the success of rivals Aston Martin and Maserati in providing Grand Touring cars for the enthusiast with a family meant that Ferrari could no longer ignore this increasingly important market sector. There had been four-seater Ferraris before the 250 GTE, with Ghia, Touring and Vignale all producing 2+2 designs in the 1950s, but these attempts had been compromised by the necessity of using a chassis not conceived with passenger carrying in mind and were deemed less than entirely successful. Close collaboration between Ferrari and Pininfarina in the design of Maranello’s first series-production four-seater ensured that no such criticism could be leveled at the 250 GTE. First seen in prototype form at the 1960 Le Mans 24 Hour Race, where it served as the race director’s car, the 250 GTE had its official world premiere later that year at the Paris Salon. At 2,600 mm (102 in.) in the wheelbase, the multi-tubular chassis was similar to that...