The greatest Ferrari racing cars of all time

Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow, as it is today known, holds a record 16 Constructors' Championships and 15 Drivers’ Championships, with renown racers including Alberto Ascari, Juan Manuel Fangio, Mike Hawthorn, Phil Hill, John Surtees, Niki Lauda, Jody Scheckter, Michael Schumacher and Kimi Räikkönen behind the wheel.

And while Ferrari may not have made factory racing cars outside of F1 since 1973, in its earlier years the manufacturer was a worthy contender across multiple series.

But which are the greatest Ferrari racing machines? Read on to find out – at least in our humble opinion…

Ferrari 195 S – 1950

The Ferrari 195 S was an improved version of the 166MM, with its Colombo V12 engine featuring a 5mm increased bore, which made for a larger, 2.3-litre displacement (from 2.0-litres), and thus increased power of 170PS.

Two factory cars represented its race debut at the 1950 Targa Florio and Giro di Sicilia, although neither finished, with one developing an oil leak and the other stopping to help a crashed competitor.

Later that year, however, Giannino Marzotto and Marco Crosara drove the car to a place in the history books, when it became the first Ferrari to win the Mille Miglia, with an average speed of 123.5km/h (76.4mph) over the approximately 1,000-mile distance.

Twenty-two-year-old Marzotto, in turn took the title of the youngest winner in the race’s history, and did so in fine Italian style, reportedly wearing a double-breasted suit and tie despite the bad weather. The second place in that year’s race also went to an 195 S – a Berlinetta driven by Dorino Serafini and Ettore Salani, while a third factory car took ninth. 

Despite both Scuderia entries suffering mechanical failures and withdrawing from the 1950 Le Mans 24 hours, the 195 S took a brace of further race wins that year, including the Coppa della Toscana, where Serafini and Salani led Franco Cornacchia and Del Carlo to a 1-2 finish, and the 3 Hours of Rome race – the Notturne della Caracalla – in which Marzotto piloted the 195 S to a storming victory.

Another 1-2 podium finish came for Serafini/Salani and Cornacchia/Carlo at the 1950 Giro delle Calabria, before one of the Le Mans cars made its way Stateside, where Luigi Chinetti and Alfred Momo finished seventh overall and won the S3.0 class at the inaugural 6 Hours of Sebring.

Further race success followed into 1951, however the model was ultimately usurped by the 212 Export.

Ferrari Tipo 500 – 1952

1950 marked the beginning of the Formua 1 World Championship and Ferrari was among the best positioned teams in the new series, which comprised six of the major European Grand Prix, plus the Indianapolis 500.

While Alfa Romeo dominated the first year, the tables began to turn in the latter half of 1951, when Enzo Ferrari and his engine designer Aurelio Lampredi realised that the fuel-hungry 1.5-litre supercharged 125s were counterproductive, with any increase in power equating to more fuel weight and a longer pit time, and so introduced the new naturally-aspirated V12 4.5-litre 375s, which proved fierce opposition to the Alfettas towards the end of the 1951 season.

FIA engine regulations changed for the 1952 season, with the series adopting Formula 2 regulations for two years, and Ferrari responded with the lightweight inline-four 500s – the only manufacturer to have a specially-designed car for the job. When the cash-strapped Alfa Romeo retired at the end of the 1951 season after a refusal of the Italian government to fund a new car, it was Ferrari’s time to shine.
Alberto Ascari piloted the Tipo 500, as that first inline four was known, to victory in 1952, winning six of the eight races, before repeating the feat in 1953, with five of nine races.

Notably, during the 1953 season Ascari won seven consecutive World Championship races in the 500, a record which stood for 60 years, until Sebastian Vettel broke it in 2013. However, if the 1953 Indianapolis 500 is discounted (it was run to a different formula, and Ascari did not enter), his incredible run is extended to nine consecutive wins.

Ferrari 246 Dino F1 – 1958

For 1954, the FIA rules changed once more, this time to 2.5-litre naturally aspirated engines, and with it came new manufacturers to the series, including Lancia and Mercedes. However, this change had been on the cards since 1951 and manufacturers had had time to build and fettle their cars.

In 1958, the series underwent the change from alcohol fuels to avgas. Ferrari’s entry was the long-nosed 246 Dino F1, a beautifully proportioned car powered by a 2.4-litre, 280PS front-mounted Dino V6 – the first V6 engined Formula 1 car.

In its debut year, British driver Mike Hawthorn drove the Ferrari 246 F1 to a World Championship title – despite only taking on race win – with Ferrari securing a second place in the Constructors' Championship.

Not only the first V6-engined car to win a Formula 1 Grand Prix (Hawthorn’s 1958 French Grand Prix win), the Ferrari 246 F1 was also the last front-engined car to win a Formula 1 Grand Prix, at the 1960 Italian Grand Prix at Monza.

Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa ­– 1957

Around the same time that the 246 F1 was making its mark in Formula 1, a Ferrari of a different breed was dominating the World Sportscar Championship.

Launched in late 1957 in response to rule changes limiting engine capacity to 3.0-litres, the 250 Testa Rossa featured a 3.0-litre Tipo Colombo V12, and shared many components with other 250 models, as well as the 500 TR.

Noted for its continual development in the hands of Ferrari’s chief designer Carlo Chiti, the spider-bodied two-seater was successfully campaigned by Scuderia Ferrari until 1962, with 33 units built (including 19 customer models). During this time, the 250TR took 10 World Sportscar Championship race wins comprising the 1958, 1960, and 1961 Le Mans, the 1958, 1959 and 1961 12 Hours of Sebring, the 1958 Targa Florio the 1958 and 1960 1,000km Buenos Aires and the 1961 4 Hours of Pescara.

Its potent V12 proved so popular, that it went on to power subsequent Ferrari sports racing cars throughout the ‘60s, including the 250 GT SWB, 250GTO and 250LM, all of which saw success.

Ferrari 312T  – 1975

The late ‘60s and early ‘70s certainly weren’t Ferrari’s best years, with the manufacturer losing out on Formula 1 wins to the British competition, before ultimately dropping its iconic endurance sports car program in ‘73.

Little did the team know that the most successful car in the history of Formula 1 was just around the corner, and it had the famous red livery all over it.

With a young lawyer brought onboard as a team manager, and chief engineer Mauro Forghieri reinstated, the team set about sourcing British-built aluminium monocoques and redesigning the iconic flat-12 engine.

When it finally broke cover, the 312T featured a myriad of new features, including inboard front suspension and the transverse-mounted gearbox, which was positioned ahead of the rear axle to give a low polar moment of inertia. With Niki Lauda and Clay Regazzoni onboard as drivers and following extensive testing, the 312T debuted at the 1975 South African Grand Prix, where its performance belied its ultimate success.

Of the eight races the 312T contested in the 1975 season, Lauda won five and Regazzoni one, with Lauda taking the Drivers’ and Ferrari the Constructors’ Championships. The following year, Lauda lost the championship to James Hunt, following his near-fatal crash at the Nürburgring. However, the Austrian’s five wins, plus Regazzoni's win at Long Beach secured a second straight Constructors' Championship for Ferrari.

In its various guises, the 312T would win 27 races, four Constructors’ Championship and three Drivers’ Championship over its five-year career.

Ferrari F2004 – 2004

No name is as synonymous with Ferrari as Michael Schumacher, and it was in the F2004 that the German driver campaigned an incredibly successful 2004 season. Behind the wheel of the Tipo 053 3.0-litre V10-powered racing car, he took wins in 13 of the 18 races, securing his seventh (fifth consecutive) and final title. With Rubens Barrichello clinching two further races in the F2004, Ferrari took its sixth straight Constructors' Championship.

An evolution of the equally dominant F2003-GA, and the F2002 before that, the F2004 saw bodywork, exhausts and rear end revisions in order to improve the aerodynamics, and suspension upgrades to improve the vehicle’s dynamic handling and improve tyre wear. New materials were also used throughout in order to reduce the car’s dimensions and weight.

Another big change that year came to the engine’s longevity. As per the FIA's technical regulations for the season, it now had to last all weekend, and the gearbox, too, was redesigned to be more resilient.

Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 – 2009

The most modern car to make our list, the 458 Italia GT2 is a LM GTE derivative of the 458 road car that debuted at the 2009 Geneva Motor Show.

Unveiled in 2011, its high-revving 4.5-litre V8 engine produces 470PS – less than the road car and the 458 Challenge – and will be marked in Ferrari’s history as the last naturally aspirated Ferrari GT car.

Eventually by the turbocharged 488 GTE, the 458 had an impressive racing record, winning the GT class of the 2012 and 2014 24 Hours of Le Mans, the 2012 12 Hours of Sebring and the 2011 and 2012 editions of the Petit Le Mans. It also secured a number of GTE championships, and in total racked up a huge 104 wins and 103 poles of 617 races contested.

Images courtesy of Motorsport Images.