Can I get a history lesson on the meaning behind the model #'s

For a long time it was based upon the cc volume of one the cylinders.

250GTO was a V12 with 250cc each, yielding a 3.0 liter motor.

It got more restless after that...

A 308GTB is a 3.0 liter 8 cylinder, GT for Grand Touring, B for Berlinetta, (an S would be a Spider, open top

Others will chime in....

 

They ALWAYS have meaning.......the 412MI was built for the Monza/INdy car special race, the largest engine of the 315S, 335S, 355S series of sports racers.

Phil Hill's favorite cars.....that's saying something!

 

"Modernish" cars

365 BB --> flat 12, 365 is the size of 1 cylinder
365 GT --> V12, 365 is the size of 1 cylinder
206 --> 2 litre V6
246 --> 2.4 litre V6
BB 512 --> 5 litre flat 12
400 GT --> V12, 400 is the size of 1 cylinder
308 --> 3 litre V8 (carbs)
208 --> 2 litre V8 (available in turbo charged mode and normal)
308i --> 3 litre V8 (injected: all cars past this point are injected)
BBi 512 --> 5 litre flat 12 injected
400i GT --> V12, 400 is the size of 1 cylinder, injected
308 "QV" -- 3 litre 4 valve/cyl V8
288 --> 2.8 litre V8, turbocharged
F40 --> named for Ferrari's 40th anniversary
348 --> 3.4 litre V8
412 GT --> V12, 412 is the size of 1 cylinder
Testarossa --> still a flat 12, named for the color of the heads of the motor
355 --> 3.5 litre 5 valve/cylinder V8
360 --> 3.6 litre v8 (back to 4 valves again)
430 --> 4.3 litre V8, now with chain drive on the cams
612 --> 6 litre V12
599 --> 6 litre V12 (but a different block than the 612)
458 --> 4.5 litre V8


Corrections welcome

 

So, the 599 was a 5.9 litre 9 cylinder?

 

It's a 6.0 (5.99) V12. 12 cylinders.

 

I know, I know - just pointing that the number did not fit into any previous known pattern.

 

does the new California have a number as well, or is it just 'California' ?

 

Just California, I believe; to the public - I am sure it had some kind of project number private to Ferrari.

Remember, Testarossa was just Testarossa at first before 512TR.

 

What does Berlinetta actually signify? Just that it's a hard top? Is there a direct translation?

 

It means 'little saloon/sedan'. Berlina would be a 'normal' (i.e. non-little) saloon/sedan car.

 

The project number was F149

 

never knew that. thanks!

 

also, "QV" means specifically "quattrovalvole" (4 valves per cylinder as was noted)

 

And the other "B" in BB is for 'boxer' due to the arrangement of the pistons/ firing in the 'flat' or zero degree V 12s...
"Testa Rossa" is literally Red Head, due to the colour of the cam covers...
C4 in the 60s cars indicates 4 cams...
LM indicates some connection with Le Mans
MM indicates some connection with the Mille Miglie race

 

The 360 is still Cinquevalvole.

 

F355 = 3.5L and 5 valves per cylinder.

360 = 3.6L and no valves per cylinder.

 

Berlinetta means the car is a coupe; not a Targa, not a convertible - a coupe with no removable roof. Conversely, Barchetta, in Italian, means little boat - and refers to a car with no top, none at all; not a convertible top, not a Targa top, nothing (e.g., 550 Barchetta).

The chassis type for the California is F149 BDEL, and the engine type is F136IB.

The 250 nomenclature - as has already been explained - had more model variants through Ferrari's history than any other models (250 Europa, 250 Europa GT, 250 Boano and Ellena, 250 LWB Scaglietti Berlinetta (more commonly known as the 250 TdF), 250 Pininfarina Cabriolet Series I and Series II, 250 GT Pininfarina Coupe, 250 GTE 2+2 (2+2 referring to the car's two plus two seat setup), 250 GT LWB Spyder California, 250 GT SWB, 250 GT SWB Spyder California, 250 GTO and 250 GT Lusso).

If it was a Pininfarina (or PF) Coupe or Spyder, it was bodied by Pininfarina; if it's got Scaglietti, Vignale, Boano, Ellena, Bertone, Touring, Ghia, Stablimenti in the name, it was bodied by them.

Lusso means Luxury; the 250 GT Berlinetta Lusso was a luxury car from Ferrari, full leather, a/c, power windows, etc.

The ts and tb in 348 ts and 348 tb stands for transversale spyder and transversale berlinetta, because the gearbox is mounted transversely. The M in 575M stands for Modificata, because the 575M was a modified version of the 550 Maranello.

The F512 M and the 348s were the last cars from Ferrari to be offered with a five-speed manual gearbox. So whenever someone refers to a newer car as a six speed (they all come with six speeds now), they're referring to its manual box as opposed to the F1 transmission that debuted with the 355 and 575M.

The letter F has played a part, on and off, in the names of Ferraris, starting with the F512 M - which, when released, Ferrari said there would always be an F at the beginning of each car's name. That didn't last too long, and the F only belongs in certain situations. With the 355, an F precedes the 355 only if the car has a manual transmission (e.g., F355 Spider or 355 F1 Spider). An F precedes 430 and 430 Spider (irrespective of the transmission type), but not 430 Scuderia. There is no F in 360 Modena or 360 Spider.

The 208 GTB and GTS, 208 GTB and GTS Turbo, and the GTB and GTS Turbo, were all given two liter engines and made exclusively for the Italian market because, back then, tolls in Italy charged you an amount based on the size of your car's engine.

The GTC abbreviation depends on its model association. In 330 GTC, the GTC stands for Grand Touring Coupe. But in 348 GTC, it stands for Grand Touring Competizione.

A 348 SS is a limited production version of the 348; the SS stands for Serie Speciale, and 115 were made (100 series ones and 15 series twos). Ferrari did the same thing with the 355; a limited run called the 355 Fiorano; some were F1s, some were manuals, all were Spiders.

The Daytona, though not officially dubbed this by the factory, got its name after Ferrari's 1, 2, 3 win at Daytona. Ferrari planned to call the car the 'Daitona' (there's no Y in the Italian alphabet), but the press laughed at him so he scrapped the idea and went with 365 GTB/4. But the name (Daytona) stuck.

The 250 GT LWB Berlinetta got its more common name, the 250 Tour de France, after it cleaned up at the Tour de France races in the '50s. Technically, it was serial number 0557 GT that got the model its name, so any LWB Berlinetta made before 0557 can't be called a TdF.

LWB and SWB stand for Long Wheel Base and Short Wheel Base, respectively. Depending on who you ask, some people will say it stands for Long Wheelbase Berlinetta and Short Wheelbase Berlinetta - but that makes the word Berlinetta in 250 GT LWB Berlinetta superfluous, and makes the B downright incorrect in 250 GT SWB Spyder California.

Testarossa is completely different than Testa Rossa. In the late '50s, Ferrari made 20 pontoon-fendered racecars called the 250 Testa Rossas (not to be confused with the 20 500 Testa Rossas or the 17 500 TRCs all also made in the '50s); these cars are now worth millions. In the '80s, Ferrari made 7,177 Testarossas - worth slightly less than a million these days.

The Dino got its name from Enzo Ferrari's son, Alfredo Ferrari (nicknamed Alfredino or Dino), who died of muscular dystrophy in 1956.

Stradale means street in Italian, so the Challenge Stradale is basically a street-legal Challenge car. But it is not a 360 Challenge Stradale or a 360 Modena Challenge Stradale (as is often written in eBay ads) - the name is simply Challenge Stradale.

 

IMHO a berlinetta is a 2-seater with a fastback roof, for example a 250 GT SWB berlinetta. A coupe is often but not exclusively a 2+2-seater, but always with a sedan-like roof, for example a 250 GT Europa coupe.

p.s. most probably these nomenclatures stem from the horse drawn carriages. A coupe indicates something is cut off, probably the roofline, to accomodate a trunk.

 

Interesting stuff

 

Except that the flat V12s were not of boxer orrentation (unlike the Porsche flat engines that really are boxers).

A boxer crankshaft has two throws between pairs of crankshaft main beraings--so both pistons are moving in towards or away from the centerline simultaneously. The Ferrari flat V12s had but one throw sharing a pair of con-rods--so the pistons are moving left or right simultaneously.