Ferrari Naming Conventions: Part 1 – The Numbers

Automakers have many different conventions when it comes to naming their vehicles. Lamborghini, for instance, likes to name their cars after Spanish fighting bulls. Some companies, like Audi and BMW, use numbers such as A4, A6, A8 or 3 Series, 5 Series etc.

Ferrari, with a few exceptions, uses first a number that designates the model and then either an acronym (GTO or GTB) or word (Modena or California) to describe the specific body style or performance package.

So, what do those numbers mean anyway? Well, that’s a great question and will be the topic of this post. The answer, it really depends on the car.

From 1949 to 1976, Ferrari 12-cylinder road cars, with a couple exceptions, got their number from the unitary cubic volume of their engine or, the “cc” of an individual cylinder. So, the long running 250 model in its many forms, contained a 3,000cc (3 liter) engine. All you had to do was multiply the model number by 12 to know the total cubic engine capacity (250 x 12 = 3,000). Other models during this era included the 166 (2 liter), 195 (2.2 liter), 212 (2.5 liter), 275 (3.3 liter), 330 (4 liter), 342 (4.1 liter), 375 (4.5 liter), 365 (4.4 liter), 400 (4.8 liter), 410 (4.9 liter).

The only models to break from this naming convention in Ferrari’s first 27 years were the big flagship touring cars. The 410 SA (Superamerica) and 410 Superfast with 4.1 liter engines, the 400 Superamerica with a 4 liter engine, and the 500 Superfast with a 5 liter engine.

In 1967, Ferrari introduced the Dino 206 GT*. This model was a big departure from Ferrari road cars up to that point. It was the first road car to receive a mid-mounted engine, the first to receive and engine smaller than 12 cylinders, and the first to receive a new naming convention other than the aforementioned 400, 410 and 500.

The Dino 206 GT carried a 2.0 liter, 6-cylinder engine. So, the 206 stands for 2.0 liter 6 cylinder. In 1970, Ferrari enlarged the Dino engine to 2.4 liters and the name changed to the Dino 246 GT.

The 12-cylinder cars kept their naming convention until the non-number named Testarossa in 1984 but, then inherited the new liter + cylinder naming with the updated Testarossa in 1992, the 512 TR.

Ferrari decided to mix things up again in 1994 with the 355. You would think that after the 308, 328 and 348 that Ferrari had for some reason decided to make a 3.5 liter 5 cylinder. Not so, the 355 was still a V8 but now, the second 5 in 355 stood for the 5 valves per cylinder.

The convention changed again with the introduction of the 550 in 1996. This saw the return of the large front-engine V12 and a naming convention in which only the engine capacity was represented, in this case a 5.5 liter V12. This carried over to the 360 (3.6 liter V8), 575 (5.75 liter V12), 430 (4.3 liter V8), and 599 (5.99 liter V12).

Of course, just to keep up with the confusion during this time, Ferrari decided to throw in the 456 (unitary capacity), and the 612 (liters + cylinders). I think they just want to keep us guessing.

Finally, the F 40 and F 50 names were in commemoration of the company’s 40^th and 50^th anniversaries.

Whew! So, I hope that at least a few of you learned something new. In my next post, I’ll cover all of those letters and names associated with these numbers.

*I know the Dino was not actually badged as a Ferrari but, that’s a whole other blog post entirely. To make those of you actually care about this feel better, just consider the 1976 308 Dino GT/4 (when the Dino started receiving the Ferrari badging) the first non-12 cylinder Ferrari road car.

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