THE UNOFFICIAL
Ferrari Family Tree
Part One: The V-12 Road cars
 By L. Wayne Ausbrooks

By contrast, the post-war road car offerings of manufacturer Aston Martin followed a simple lineage, a single line of 2+2 grand touring coupes and convertibles, for over fifty years.  It has only been in recent years that the folks at Aston Martin have expanded their product line by offering three distinct models, each at a different price point.  Other manufacturers of sporty cars supplemented their prime product by offering 2+2 or down-market models, but none were as prolific as Ferrari.

While this array of early road-going Ferraris may seem confusing at first, it's really quite easy to grasp once one understands how each fits on the family tree.  Looking first at the V-12 cars, simply view them in terms of four distinct lineages:  the original grand touring coupes, the more luxurious "America" line, the sportier "Berlinettas" and the roomier 2+2s.  In addition, there have been convertible versions of each of these along the way (with the exception of the 2+2s).
 

THE GRAND TOURING COUPES
Pinning down exactly which car constitutes the first Ferrari road car isn't exactly a cut and dry matter, but the first model line to be specifically designated as something other than its racing cousins was the 166 Sport.  Labeled "Sport" in difference to the 166 "Corsa" racing cars and receiving odd serial numbers (something that would come to be strictly associated with the road cars), these early Ferraris have managed to earn a place on my family tree of street-going touring cars, even though both examples (s/ns 001S and 003S) were raced with success (003S was actually the 1948 Mille Miglia winner).

The next odd-numbered car, built on chassis number 005s, would be quite a different story, however.  This car first appeared at the Turin Motor Show in 1948 wearing tall and arguably unsporting coachwork by Touring.  While a factory brochure produced that same year used a drawing of this car to illustrate the "166 Sport" and a drawing and photo of s/n 003S to illustrate what was to be called the "166 Inter," it's obvious today that these were reversed, with "Inter" being the new designation of Ferrari's first line of production road cars.  Even so, a small number of Inters would be driven in competition, a fact that would also be true of the subsequent 195 and 212 Inter models.

With the introduction of the sportier Berlinetta line of cars in 1956, the grand touring coupes would gradually become more elegant and further removed from their competition cousins, culminating with the heavy yet comfortable 365 GTC/4 of the early 1970s.

THE GRAND TOURING BERLINETTAS
In 1955, the FIA (Federation Internationale de l'Automobile) announced a new Gran Turismo racing category to be comprised of production cars and divided into separate classes by engine displacement, one of these being the 2.0 - 3.0 liter class.  Ferrari was happy with the reliability that the Gioachino Colombo-designed 3 liter "250" motor had shown, both in racing (as used in the 250 Mille Miglia) as well as in the 250 Europa GT road car, and so a new line dual-purpose 250 GT "Berlinettas" cars was born.

The story of how the long wheelbase cars would come to be dubbed "Tour de France" by the public has been told too many times to be repeated here, as has the tale of the homologation of the 250 GTO, of which no actual road cars were ever produced.  With the refusal of the FIA to homologate the mid-engined 250 LM for the Grand Touring class, however, the days of the true dual-purpose GT car were over, even if the Berlinetta line of road cars was not.

Much more of a street machine than a racer, the 275 GTB's design was an evolution of the GTO theme.  While the factory did race a pair of special 275 GTBs and also built and sold a number of other competition versions of the car, the ever-widening gap between what could be driven on the road and what was capable of winning races, pushed the Berlinetta line closer to that of the more civilized GT.  In fact, many will say that the 275 GTB was actually the successor to the 250 GT/L but, while it might have been represented by the press (and possibly even marketed) at the time as being such, the spiritual replacement for the refined and elegant GT/L was, in my opinion, the 330 GTC, that would appear two years after Lusso production had ceased.  For those that disagree, drop me a line and speak your mind!

Another point open for discussion is my feeling that the introduction of the 550/575 models marked a return to the grand touring line that ended with the 365 GTC/4 and not, as claimed, an evolution of the Berlinetta theme and a throwback to the front-engined 365 GTB/4 "Daytona."  While even the Daytona moved the line closer to the GT cars, it was still a far cry from the luxury and comfort of the modern front-engined two-seaters.

THE AMERICAS, SUPERAMERICAS, SUPERFASTS AND A CALIFORNIA
While it's true that all 340 and 342 Americas were constructed using even-numbered chassis, of the 22 or so 340 Americas built, more than a handful were strictly road cars, as were the half dozen 342 Americas that followed.  The road-going 340s differed from their racing brethren not only in appearance and appointments, but also in the use of a wet-sump lubrication system.

With the introduction of the 375 America, this line of ultra-luxurious grand touring cars became little more than larger displacement versions of the 250 Europa and were, therefore, built using the same sequence of odd-numbered chassis.

The "America" name would eventually be expanded to "Superamerica" with the 410 and 400 models, and then to "Superfast" for the 500, borrowing the new moniker from a series of Pininfarina show cars.  The last in the line, though, was built in cabriolet form only and dubbed the "365 California," a name reminiscent of the sportier spyders that had gone out of production only a couple of years prior.  Due to the fact that this car was offered only as a drop-top and was designated "California," many assume that it was a replacement for the 250 GT California.  Once one understands that the legendary 250 GT California was a spyder version of the race-bred Berlinettas, it becomes clear that this large, heavy and luxurious cabriolet was not aimed at the same buyer.

THE 2+2s
This line of cars needs the least amount of explanation.  The unprecedented success of the 250 GTE did not go unnoticed by Enzo Ferrari.  There was obviously a substantial market for a roomier grand touring coupe.  For this reason, the 2+2 line of cars has been the most linear and consistent.

The chart below is intended as a guide to  enable readers to better visualize where each of these four lines, and the models that they comprise, fits into the family tree.  The production dates are not meant to be exact, but only a guide, as many model changes were made in mid-year.  There were also cases of preproduction prototypes being constructed and shown a year or more prior to actual production.  I've also given the drop-top versions of the GTs ("Cabriolets") and Berlinettas ("Spyders") their own columns, even though each belongs to the line of models in the column to their left.  I realize that some of my views might be controversial and, as always, I welcome comments and criticism.