Our buying guru focuses on the Ferrari 250GTE in his Hot Tips in the latest issue. He reckons that these elegant but discreet 2+2 grand tourers are more engaging and better value than their James Bond-hyped Aston Martin rivals.
Their latest movements, highlighted in our monthly roundup of Price Guide Movers On The Up, show a 5.9% increase – buyers are catching on. That places rough examples typically at £175k, with presentable, usable cars needing another £50k and mint condition ones more like £275k. Concours contenders can command £360k.
Those figures represent a 36% increase over 10 years – market forces have been as subtle as the Pininfarina styling. Of course, that subtlety has been the damping force on price movements for these cars, and the relatively numerous build of nearly 1000 cars over four years, substantial figures by the standards of Fifties/Sixties Ferraris but broadly equivalent to Sixties Astons.
Freshly flush classic Ferrari buyers inevitably head straight to the competition-bred two-seater models for their heroic histories and visceral driving experience, but not everyone actually enjoys such intense driving characteristics once the novelty has worn off. The refined GTE is the sort of machine that you’d be happy to drive great distances and there’s room to bring along a couple of kids or plenty of luggage.
This was the model favoured by Enzo Ferrari himself as a daily driver, a man who began his career as a fiercely competitive driver until the desire to run his race team and build the cars took over. If it’s good enough for him…
To read Quentin's comments on the 250GTE, check out the latest issue.
Price Guide Movers On The Up is part of 16 regular pages of market tips, analysis and buying advice in the latest issue ofClassic Cars.