In Ferrari’s entire production history, only a single mid-engined road car combined a true V12 with a traditional gated manual transmission. That car is the Ferrari F50. Now, to truly appreciate why that matters, you have to understand how unusual that overlap really is.
Roots of Ferrari's Road-Going Mid-Engine Lineage
Back in the 1950s and ‘60s, Ferrari’s V12 identity lived up front, stretching ahead of the driver in cars like the iconic Ferrari 250 GTO, whose front-engine Colombo V12 layout has become the benchmark for blue-chip collecting, with private transactions now routinely exceeding $50 million. The Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona, which was Maranello’s response to the mid-engined Lamborghini Miura, represented the last of the classic front-engine V12 berlinettas before the Italian marque fundamentally rethought where the engine should sit. In the modern-context, it concludes with the 599.
Ferrari’s shift to mid-engine architecture began cautiously with the Dino 206 GT in the 1960s, but this V6-powered mid-ship didn’t wear a prancing horse on the nose. While it proved that placing the engine behind the driver improved balance and response, it did not yet carry twelve cylinders. The Ferrari 365 GT4 BB (Berlinetta Boxer) introduced in the early 1970s was the first mid-engined road-going Ferrari to feature a twelve-cylinder engine powerplant. However, it featured a flat twelve configuration derived from a conventional V12, a design Ferrari would continue through the 512 BB, Testarossa, 512 TR, and F512 M.
The F50 Remains Ferrari's First Mid-Engine V12 With a Manual
Ferrari’s true mid-engined V12 road car, the F50, did not appear until the mid-1990s. Styled by Pininfarina, with a design effort led by Lorenzo Ramaciotti, the F50 hails from the Luca di Montezemolo-era and was conceived to celebrate Ferrari’s 50th anniversary. More importantly, it was engineered around a 4.7-liter naturally aspirated V12 (Tipo130B) derived directly from the brand’s 1990 Formula One program (F1-90 that saw six wins) with connections to the likes of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell, and Jean Alesi.
Then Ferrari made the decision that now defines the car’s legacy: it paired that V12 with a six-speed gated manual transmission. Tipping the scales at just 2,712 pounds, owing to its carbon-fiber body, the F50 packs 512 horsepower, 347 pound-feet of torque, which helps it get to a top speed of 202 mph and a lap time of 1:27.00 around Ferrari’s Fiorano circuit.
This is important in the modern collector-car context because every other mid-engined V12 Ferrari that followed moved in a different direction, be it paddle shifters with the Ferrari Enzo, the hybrid-assisted Ferrari LaFerrari, or the modern naturally aspirated V12 Ferrari Daytona SP3, which is equipped with a dual-clutch transmission. As a result, the F50 essentially sits in a narrow window of time where Ferrari’s racing engine tech, analog control philosophy, and V12 exotic status aligned.
Ferrari F50: Market and Valuations
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For years, the F50 with its removable roof lived somewhat uncomfortably between the F40 and the Enzo, sometimes misunderstood, occasionally criticized for its styling, yet over the past decade sentiment has shifted as enthusiasts have come to appreciate what it actually represents.
Built between 1995 and 1997, Ferrari only produced 349 examples worldwide (only 55 were U.S. examples), with an original U.S. MSRP of around $480,000. The market has settled firmly in the $4 million to $5.5 million range for strong examples, with standout cars pushing beyond that at major auctions, with the F50’s current duPont Registry Index (dRi) value sitting at $6.47 million.
Two recent sales pushed those figures ever further. Ralph Lauren’s Giallo Modena (1-of-2 U.S. examples) 1995 Ferrari F50 sold at RM Sotheby’s auction in Monterey last year for $9.245 million. Last month, in January 2026, a red 1995 Ferrari F50 from the Bachman Collection set a new record when it crossed the block for $12.21 million at Mecum Kissimmee.
Clearly then, three-decades on, the F50 has become more than just “the only one” on paper, because as the broader performance world shifts toward hybridization, software, and automation, collectors continue to seek analog halo cars that cannot be replicated, and within that subset, a mid-mounted naturally aspirated V12 with a gated manual is about as finite as it gets.
Factors like rarity (F50 GT Prototype), the right color (1-of-4 Argento Nurburgring), the right documentation, a Classiche certificate, celebrity ownership, and a concours resume that includes Cavallino visibility will further impact valuations. Ferrari will build more mid-engined V12 cars, and it will certainly continue refining hybrid performance, but the combination that defines the F50 has already had its final chapter.
View All Ferrari F50s For Sale
Images: Ferrari
