Since the 1947 debut of Gioacchino Colombo’s landmark 125 S sportscar—the first to carry the Ferrari name—Maranello’s love affair with front-engined V-12 cars has endured.

The evolutionary 2.0-litre 166 Inter of 1948 employed a similar concept in coupé form to become the company’s first bona fide GT car, while in 1958 the 3.0-litre V-12-engined 250 GT Pinin Farina Coupé would effectively become the earliest series-production Ferrari.

Constructed around a conventional steel ladder chassis, onto which elegant Pinin Farina coachwork was mounted, the 250 GT Coupé had a kerb weight of just 1,050 kilograms and offered near-150 mph performance.

This was instrumental in the car becoming Ferrari’s most popular contemporary model, with 353 examples being produced between 1958 and 1960.

Significant technical improvements were incorporated throughout the car’s production life, with later Series II cars gaining four-wheel disc brakes, a four-speed overdrive gearbox, and the more powerful 240-ho...