How Much Did a Ferrari 250 GTO Cost New?
By the Price Time Machine team · Updated
The Ferrari 250 GTO original price was $18,000 in the United States in 1962. Adjusted for inflation, that is about $200,493 in September 2026 money, roughly 11.1 times the original price.
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Ferrari 250 GTO at a glance
- US launch price
- $18,000
- In today’s money
- ≈ $200,4931962 average (launch month not known) to September 2026 (CPI-U, BLS)
- US launch year
- 1962
- Where it was first made
- Maranello, ItalyBuilt by Ferrari at Maranello, Italy, with bodies by Scaglietti.
- Category
- Cars & transport
- Price source
- en.wikipedia.org
Today’s price is the US launch price adjusted for US inflation with the Consumer Price Index (CPI-U) from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, comparing the launch month with the latest published month. It updates automatically as new figures come out.
Why the 250 GTO was so exclusive
The 250 GTO was built to race in the Group 3 Grand Touring category, which required at least 100 cars to be made. Ferrari persuaded the rule makers to count its earlier 250 GT SWB cars, so only 36 GTOs were ever built, between 1962 and 1964.
You could not simply buy one. Every buyer was personally approved by Enzo Ferrari and, in North America, by his dealer Luigi Chinetti. GTO stands for Gran Turismo Omologato, Italian for “Grand Touring Homologated”.
The Ferrari 250 GTO original price in today’s money
Inflation means a dollar buys less today than it did in 1962. Using the US Consumer Price Index, the original Ferrari 250 GTO original price of $18,000 works out at about $200,493 in September 2026 money, around 11.1 times the original figure. That is what the same amount of spending power would cost now, not what the Ferrari 250 GTO sells for second-hand.
What the 250 GTO is worth now
The 250 GTO is one of the most valuable cars in the world. In June 2018 a 1963 car, chassis 4153GT, sold privately for $70 million, a record for any Ferrari.
Where was the 250 GTO made?
It was built by Ferrari at Maranello, Italy, with aluminium bodies made by Scaglietti. Development was led by chief engineer Giotto Bizzarrini, who shaped the body using wind tunnel tests at Pisa University. When Bizzarrini and most of Ferrari’s engineers were fired in 1962 after a dispute with Enzo Ferrari, Mauro Forghieri carried on the work.
250 GTO facts you might not know
- Its 3-litre V12 came from the 250 Testa Rossa that won Le Mans, and produced about 300PS at 7,500rpm.
- 33 cars had the 1962–63 body and three had the later 1964 body. Four older cars were rebodied in 1964.
- Motor Trend Classic named it the greatest Ferrari of all time, and Popular Mechanics called it the “Hottest Car of All Time”.
Frequently asked questions
How much did a Ferrari 250 GTO cost new?
It cost $18,000 in the United States when new in 1962.
How much is $18,000 from 1962 worth today?
Adjusted for US inflation, the 250 GTO’s $18,000 price is about $200,493 in September 2026 money.
How many Ferrari 250 GTOs were made?
Just 36, between 1962 and 1964.
What is the most a 250 GTO has sold for?
A 1963 250 GTO sold privately for $70 million in June 2018, a record for a Ferrari.
Want to compare the Ferrari 250 GTO original price with other launch prices? See what the Timex Sinclair 1000 cost, browse more famous launch prices, or play this question in Price Time Machine.
Sources
Launch prices and dates are checked against the sources below. Today’s price is calculated from official US inflation data and updates automatically when new figures are published.
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