Ferrari V12 Berlinetta Buyer's Guide
This page covers Ferrari's two-seat V12 flagship line: the 250 GT and 275 GTB of the fifties and sixties, the 365 GTB/4 Daytona, the mid-engined Berlinetta Boxers (365 GT4 BB, 512 BB and BBi) and Testarossa family (512 TR, F512 M), then the front-engined return with the 550 and 575M Maranello, 599 GTB Fiorano, F12 Berlinetta and 812 Superfast. Our single sold result is an 18,900-mile 1998 550 Maranello at £101,250, and the live estimates around it sketch a market that runs from £50,000–75,000 to £250,000–500,000 within this one lineage.
Know your generations
The 250 GT (1954–1964) and 275 GTB (1964–1968, GTB/4 from 1966) are auction-house headline territory internationally; the 250 GT SWB is among the most valuable Ferraris of all. The 365 GTB/4 Daytona (1968–1973, 352bhp) is the last front-engined car of the classic era; two are currently listed with us without estimates. The 365 GT4 BB (1973–1976) began the flat-12 mid-engined line continued by the 512 BB and BBi (to 1984), then the Testarossa (1984–1991) and its developments, the 428bhp 512 TR and 440bhp F512 M, which closed the mid-engined chapter in 1996. The 550 Maranello (1996–2002, 485bhp) put the V12 back in the nose with a gated six-speed manual; the 575M (2002–2006) added F1 paddles and refinement. The 599 GTB Fiorano (2006–2012, 612bhp), F12 Berlinetta (2012–2017, 730bhp) and 812 Superfast (2017 on, 789bhp, with GTS and Competizione derivatives) complete the line.
What to pay
One sale: £101,250 for a 1998 550 Maranello with 18,900 miles in May 2026. Live lots calibrate the neighbours: 550s estimated at £75,000–100,000, £90,000–120,000 and £100,000–150,000, which brackets our result neatly; a 2002 575M at £50,000–75,000 (currently the cheapest entry to this entire page); a modified 2009 599 at £50,000–75,000; and 812 Superfasts at £150,000–250,000 and £250,000–500,000. The Daytonas and a 512 TR are listed without estimates, and nothing from the 250/275 era has crossed our block. With one hammer price, the summary is honest and short: low-mileage 550s are £100,000 cars on our evidence, the 575M is the value door, and everything older or more limited trades on the international market's terms.
What goes wrong
550/575M: the manual gearbox is robust but the car must be serviced as a V12 Ferrari, meaning belts on schedule and fluids without exception; sticky interior trim, cracked manifolds and tired self-levelling dampers are the known list, and the 575's F1 system needs its pump and actuator health verified. 599: check for the carbon-ceramic brake condition and the fragility of early F1 software; engines are strong. F12 and 812 are young enough that history and originality dominate. Boxers and Testarossas are engine-out-service cars (clutch and belts), which prices neglect brutally; corrosion in the Testarossa's frame outriggers deserves a lift inspection. Anything from the 250/275/Daytona era is bought on documentation, matching numbers and specialist inspection, not on this page.
Our view
The 550 Maranello is the modern pick of the line and the market keeps agreeing: manual, analogue, usable, and our £101,250 result for a low-mileage car looks like fair value amid £90,000–150,000 estimates rather than a spike. The 575M at £50,000–75,000 is the same car in a cheaper suit and the obvious buy for a driver. The 812 estimates at up to £250,000–500,000 show where the last pure V12 berlinettas are being positioned as the line ends. If keeping one running matters to you, the 550/575 generation has the parts network and the tolerance for actual miles; the older cars are custodianships, priced accordingly.
