---
title: Ferrari 250 GT Cabriolet Pininfarina · HICONIUM
description: "The Pinin Farina Cabriolet was Ferrari's factory open grand tourer, distinct from the California Spider. Series I cars are scarce; roughly 200 Series II cars add disc brakes, overdrive and better touring manners."
canonical_url: https://hiconium.dev/vehicles/ferrari/250-gt-cabriolet-pininfarina
image: https://hiconium.dev/og/vehicle/ferrari/250-gt-cabriolet-pininfarina.png
---

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> On this page: [The price and the proof](#the-price-and-the-proof) · [Model readouts](#model-readouts) · [Documented sales](#documented-sales) · [Ferrari's first series-built open car](#overview-heading) · [Technical specifications](#technical-specifications) · [Factory specification](#factory-specification) · [Series distinction](#series-distinction) · [250 GT Cabriolet Pininfarina register](#250-gt-cabriolet-pininfarina-register) · [The people behind the car](#the-people-behind-the-car) · [Battista 'Pinin' Farina](#battista-pinin-farina) · [Sergio Pininfarina](#sergio-pininfarina) · [Enzo Ferrari](#enzo-ferrari) · [Peter Collins](#peter-collins) · [Luigi Chinetti](#luigi-chinetti) · [Member instruments](#member-instruments)

![A Ferrari 250 GT Cabriolet by Pininfarina, front three-quarter view on a rose-gold field with horizon sparkle](https://hiconium.dev/images/cars/ferrari-250-gt-cabriolet-pininfarina/hero-wide-2560.jpg)

# 250 GT Cabriolet Pininfarina

The open grand tourer

The Pinin Farina Cabriolet was Ferrari's factory open grand tourer, distinct from the California Spider. Series I cars are scarce; roughly 200 Series II cars add disc brakes, overdrive and better touring manners.

1957 to 1962 · 40 + about 200 built · Maranello

## The price and the proof

Indicative road-car band $1.1M–$7M · 9 documented road sales · 9 recorded sales on file. Modeled values are not observed sales. Nothing here is investment advice.

Confidence: low. This is two markets under one nameplate. Series II is the liquid end — documented matching-numbers cars trade at $1.1–1.75 million at the premium houses. The forty Series I cars occupy $4.5–7.0 million, covered-headlamp cars on top, and can still fail against a $5.75-million reserve. The band spans both; read it with the series split, never as one curve.

Figures in USD for documented cars at premium houses, 2022–2026. Series II: $1.1–1.75M (Classic.com CMB $1.40M). Series I: $4.5–7.0M (CMB $5.48M; Hagerty's 2020 guide put #1 at $7.5M).

Series identity is the first question, originality the second: matching drivetrain, Ferrari Classiche certification and the factory hardtop carry Series II value, while covered headlamps, fender vents and bumperettes define the Series I ceiling. Beware California Spider contamination in the comparables — same platform, different car, five to ten times the money.

Valuation method and source rules: [HICONIUM standards](https://hiconium.dev/standards). Observed auction results across the wider market: [Market terminal](https://hiconium.dev/market).

### Model readouts

8 documented anchors. model v1 · seed ferrari-250-gt-cabriolet-pininfarina. Compound annual growth is modeled price CAGR; S&P 500 is a price index without dividends. Forecast quantiles are not investment advice.

| Window | This car* | S&P 500 | Gold |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1Y | +101.9% | +18.8% | +21.9% |
| 5Y | +19.1% | +11.4% | +17.6% |

| Series | Deepest drawdown | Window |
| --- | --- | --- |
| This car* | -25.8% | Aug 2022 → Oct 2022 · recovered Nov 2025 |
| S&P 500 | -20.3% | Dec 2021 → Oct 2022 · recovered Dec 2023 |
| Gold | -18.9% | Feb 2026 → Jul 2026 · not recovered |

| Horizon | P10 | P50 | P90 |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| +6M | $2'452'053 | $2'888'133 | $3'401'766 |
| +12M | $2'402'515 | $3'006'000 | $3'761'073 |
| +24M | $2'376'223 | $3'256'361 | $4'462'495 |

### Documented sales

9 recorded. Every public sale on this file, newest first. Amounts keep the recorded currency. Source links appear only when the catalog stores a public auction-lot URL.

| Date | Chassis / label | Class | House | Venue | Amount | Currency | Basis | Source |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2026-08-15 | RM Sotheby's · Monterey · incl. buyer's premium | Road | RM Sotheby's | Monterey | $4'927'500 | USD | incl. buyer's premium | [https://rmsothebys.com/auctions/mo26/lots/r0167-1958-ferrari-250-gt-cabriolet-series-i-by-pinin-farina/](https://rmsothebys.com/auctions/mo26/lots/r0167-1958-ferrari-250-gt-cabriolet-series-i-by-pinin-farina/) |
| 2026-04-25 | RM Sotheby's · Monaco · incl. buyer's premium | Road | RM Sotheby's | Monaco | €1'580'000 | EUR | incl. buyer's premium | [https://rmsothebys.com/auctions/mc26/lots/r0026-1961-ferrari-250-gt-cabriolet-series-ii-by-pininfarina/](https://rmsothebys.com/auctions/mc26/lots/r0026-1961-ferrari-250-gt-cabriolet-series-ii-by-pininfarina/) |
| 2025-08-16 | RM Sotheby's · Monterey · incl. buyer's premium | Road | RM Sotheby's | Monterey | $1'435'000 | USD | incl. buyer's premium | [https://rmsothebys.com/auctions/mo25/lots/r0047-1962-ferrari-250-gt-cabriolet-series-ii-by-pininfarina/](https://rmsothebys.com/auctions/mo25/lots/r0047-1962-ferrari-250-gt-cabriolet-series-ii-by-pininfarina/) |
| 2023-08-19 | RM Sotheby's · Monterey · incl. buyer's premium | Road | RM Sotheby's | Monterey | $1'380'000 | USD | incl. buyer's premium | [https://rmsothebys.com/auctions/mo23/lots/r0044-1962-ferrari-250-gt-cabriolet-series-ii-by-pininfarina/](https://rmsothebys.com/auctions/mo23/lots/r0044-1962-ferrari-250-gt-cabriolet-series-ii-by-pininfarina/) |
| 2022-10-09 | Bonhams · Zoute, Knokke-Heist · incl. buyer's premium | Road | Bonhams | Zoute, Knokke-Heist | €1'092'500 | EUR | incl. buyer's premium | [https://cars.bonhams.com/auction/27528/lot/120/1961-ferrari-250-gt-series-ii-cabriolet-chassis-no-2319gt-engine-no-2319gt/](https://cars.bonhams.com/auction/27528/lot/120/1961-ferrari-250-gt-series-ii-cabriolet-chassis-no-2319gt-engine-no-2319gt/) |
| 2022-08-20 | RM Sotheby's · Monterey · incl. buyer's premium | Road | RM Sotheby's | Monterey | $6'825'000 | USD | incl. buyer's premium | [https://rmsothebys.com/auctions/mo22/lots/r0008-1958-ferrari-250-gt-cabriolet-series-i-by-pinin-farina/](https://rmsothebys.com/auctions/mo22/lots/r0008-1958-ferrari-250-gt-cabriolet-series-i-by-pinin-farina/) |
| 2022-08-20 | Gooding & Company · Pebble Beach · incl. buyer's premium | Road | Gooding & Company | Pebble Beach | $1'600'000 | USD | incl. buyer's premium | [https://www.goodingco.com/lot/1960-ferrari-250-gt-series-ii-cabriolet-1](https://www.goodingco.com/lot/1960-ferrari-250-gt-series-ii-cabriolet-1) |
| 2022-08-20 | RM Sotheby's · Monterey · incl. buyer's premium | Road | RM Sotheby's | Monterey | $1'105'000 | USD | incl. buyer's premium | [https://rmsothebys.com/auctions/mo22/lots/d0013-1961-ferrari-250-gt-cabriolet-series-ii-by-pininfarina/](https://rmsothebys.com/auctions/mo22/lots/d0013-1961-ferrari-250-gt-cabriolet-series-ii-by-pininfarina/) |
| 2022-02-02 | RM Sotheby's · Paris · incl. buyer's premium | Road | RM Sotheby's | Paris | €1'141'250 | EUR | incl. buyer's premium | [https://rmsothebys.com/auctions/pa22/lots/r0014-1959-ferrari-250-gt-series-ii-cabriolet-by-pinin-farina/](https://rmsothebys.com/auctions/pa22/lots/r0014-1959-ferrari-250-gt-series-ii-cabriolet-by-pinin-farina/) |

RM Sotheby's, Gooding and Bonhams figures include buyer's premium. Guide figures are date-stamped snapshots (Classic.com and The Classic Valuer, August 2026), not appraisals. Production prints as 40 + 200 (Massini standard); registers run 36–40 and 200–212 — never collapse the family to one total.

## Ferrari's first series-built open car

The alliance behind the car was sealed in 1951, when Enzo Ferrari and Battista 'Pinin' Farina — neither willing to visit the other's city — met halfway and shook hands on a partnership the industry predicted would fail. By the mid-1950s Ferrari needed profitable road cars to fund the racing, and Pinin Farina got the brief for a proper open tourer: designed and built in Turin, not passed to Scaglietti. The prototype 0655GT entered the Pinin Farina plant in the last days of 1956 and stood at Geneva in March 1957.

The forty Series I cars — the first two effectively prototypes — came out of the coachbuilder's boutique shop with covered headlamps on the early cars and no two exactly alike. The Geneva car went to works driver Peter Collins, who fitted Dunlop discs in England; the factory took notice. At the Paris show on 1 October 1959 the redrawn Series II appeared — open lamps, upright screen, more cabin and boot, discs, overdrive and the outside-plug V12 — and production moved onto Pinin Farina's new Grugliasco line, where about 200 were built into mid-1962.

The 275 GTS took over the open-Ferrari brief in 1964, and memory of the Cabriolet was eclipsed by its glamorous sibling, the California Spider. The market has since re-read the family with precision: Series II cars trade as the accessible coachbuilt V12 Ferrari at $1.1–1.75 million, while the forty Series I cars — covered lamps at the top — occupy a market of their own, four times higher.

| Highlight | Detail |
| --- | --- |
| Not a California Spider | The Cabriolet was conceived for road touring, with a proper hood and a more formal body. The California used the same broad 250 platform for a lighter, competition-facing brief. Both ride the Colombo V12; the briefs never crossed. The Cabriolet stayed on the 2'600-mm long wheelbase throughout while the California went short in 1960 — and when new, the Cabriolet was the dearer car. |
| Two series, two markets | Series I rarity and hand-built variation command a different price level. Series II cars are the usable choice; matching drivetrain, hardtop and complete provenance carry the value. The gap is roughly four-to-one: documented Series II cars trade at $1.1–1.75 million while Series I cars print in the mid single-digit millions — $6.83 million at the top. |
| Peter Collins and the disc brakes | The 1957 Geneva prototype 0655GT went to works driver Peter Collins, who had Dunlop disc brakes fitted in England — and Ferrari borrowed the set-up back for the Testa Rossa. Series I customer cars kept drums to the end; Series II arrived with four-wheel discs as standard. The story is the shorthand for how road customers dragged Maranello into modernity. |
| Paris, October 1959 | Pininfarina judged the first car's lines 'a little heavy' and redrew the Cabriolet on the 250 GT PF Coupé — the Series II arrived at the Paris show with open lamps, an upright screen and a bigger boot. Underneath came the outside-plug engine, discs and overdrive. It is the moment the Cabriolet stopped being coachwork and became a series Ferrari. |

| Label | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Body | Pinin Farina cabriolet, 2'600-mm LWB |
| Engine | 3.0-litre Colombo V12 |
| Series I | 40 with the prototypes, 1957–59 |
| Series II | about 200, 1959–62 — counts run 200–212 |
| Successor | 275 GTS, 1964 |

## Technical specifications

### Factory specification

| Label | Value | Note |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Engine | Front longitudinal 60° V12 | 2'953.21 cc; Ferrari's 1957 archive specification. Series II moves to the outside-plug Tipo 128E, then 128F — twin distributors, coil valve springs |
| Power | 240 hp at 7'000 rpm | the factory figure is metric — about 236 SAE; one RM catalog prints 232 |
| Carburettors | Three Weber 36 DCL3 | Series II cars carry three Weber 40 DCL |
| Frame | Tubular steel, tipo 508 | 508B/C, late Series I 508D — the stiffer frame shared with the late Tour de France |
| Dry weight | 1'050 kg | factory archive figure — period kerb figures run to 1'296 kg |

### Series distinction

| Label | Value | Note |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Series I | Boutique coachwork | 40 cars with the two prototypes, hand-built in Pinin Farina's custom shop; covered headlamps on early cars, no vent windows, no two exactly alike |
| Series II | Grugliasco series production | redrawn on the PF Coupé for Paris 1959 — open higher-set lamps, upright screen, more cabin and boot; about 200 built |
| Series II brakes | Four-wheel discs | Series I customer cars kept drums; only the Collins prototype wore Dunlop discs |
| Series II transmission | 4-speed with overdrive | Laycock de Normanville — not a five-speed, whatever the listings say |

### 250 GT Cabriolet Pininfarina register

1 documented · public records only. Private, unpublished and member-only chassis files are omitted.

| Year | Chassis | Colour | Provenance | Last public sale | File |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1958 | 0809 GT |  |  |  | [Chassis file](https://hiconium.dev/vehicles/ferrari/250-gt-cabriolet-pininfarina?file=0809%20GT) |

## The people behind the car

### Battista 'Pinin' Farina

Coachbuilder · Carrozzeria Pinin Farina

The 1951 handshake with Enzo made his firm Ferrari's house stylist; the Cabriolet was unusual in being built, not just designed, in Turin. The firm and the family renamed themselves Pininfarina in 1961, mid-way through Series II.

### [Sergio Pininfarina](https://hiconium.dev/people/sergio-pininfarina)

Operational lead on Ferrari · Carrozzeria Pinin Farina

Handed the Ferrari account by his father after the 1951 meeting — 'from A to Z. Design, engineering, technology, construction — the lot.' Period sources name him on the Series I styling; he later joined Ferrari's board.

### Enzo Ferrari

Principal · Ferrari

Commissioned the series cabriolet to fund the racing; adopted disc brakes for the Testa Rossa after trying them on Collins's car.

### Peter Collins

Works driver, first owner of 0655GT · Scuderia Ferrari

Took the Geneva prototype to England and had Dunlop discs fitted — the first Ferrari so equipped. The car came back to Italy; the idea stayed.

### [Luigi Chinetti](https://hiconium.dev/people/luigi-chinetti)

US importer · Chinetti Motors / NART

Fed Series II cars to America while separately pushing Maranello to build the car that would overshadow this one — the California Spider.

## Member instruments

A HICON Bid is a confidential expression of buying interest on this file. It is not a binding purchase, and HICONIUM holds no funds. [Sign in](https://hiconium.dev/sign-in) to place one. Garage files for an owned chassis are member records and are not listed here. [How membership works](https://hiconium.dev/membership).