Top 10 Le Mans Ferraris ranked: Testa Rossa, P4, 499P and more

Ferrari’s long-awaited return to the top echelon of sportscar racing – and the Le Mans 24 Hours in particular – finally happened in 2023. And, incredibly, it immediately added to its impressive list of successes at the French endurance classic.

Despite its half-century away from the front, the Italian marque is still the third-most successful constructor in the history of the 24 Hours. Its 2023 and 2024 victories took Ferrari to 11, behind only Porsche (19) and Audi (13).

There have been many great Ferrari GTs and sports-racers over the years, which made this list a tough one to put together. The 512, 333 SP and F40 all made big impressions on enthusiasts, while the 365 GTB/4 ‘Daytona’ and 512BB admirably flew the flag in private hands, but none of these quite make the cut.

For this list, we’ve looked at the success the cars scored, chiefly at Le Mans, the opposition they faced and their ‘x factor’. We’ve also placed an emphasis on outright results, rather than class victories.

A particular honourable mention goes to the Prodrive-developed 550 Maranello, which was 10th in our original list but has now been pushed out…

10. 250 GT Berlinetta

Stirling Moss, Graham Hill, North American Racing Team/R R C Walker Racing Team, Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta SWB

Photo by: Motorsport Images

Key years: 1960-61
Best results: GT win and 4th overall (1960), GT win and 3rd overall (1961)

Three ‘Interim’ Ferrari 250 GTs and a 250 GT California had filled positions three-six at Le Mans in 1959 and the following year’s ‘SWB’ (short wheelbase) 250 GT Berlinetta improved on the line of three-litre V12 GTs that had begun in the early 1950s. With disc brakes and improved handling it was the dominant force in its class until the arrival of the GTO in 1962.

Six cars started the 1960 24 Hours and four finished 4-5-6-7, topping their class. Of the two that retired, one was eliminated in an accident and the other suffered an engine failure in the 21st hour.

Pierre Noblet and Jean Guichet took another GT victory and finished third overall in their Berlinetta in 1961, covering a greater distance than the overall 1960 winner. But perhaps the most remarkable performance came from the Rob Walker/North American Racing Team entry of Stirling Moss and Graham Hill.

The two Formula 1 drivers rose as high as fourth and comfortably led the GT field before a broken radiator hose led to head gasket failure. They had troubled all but the fastest of the sports-racers – in a car that could genuinely be used as a road machine.

9. 250 GTO

#17 Ferrari 250 GTO: Glenn Roberts, Bob Grossman

Photo by: Motorsport Images

Key years: 1962-64
Best results: GT win and 2nd overall (1962), GT win and 2nd overall (1963)

One of the most desirable Ferraris ever, the 250 GTO picked up where the 250 GT Berlinetta left off. It kept Ferrari at the forefront of GT racing, which became the category for the world sportscar championship from 1962 until 1965.

The three-litre V12-engined GTO took three consecutive titles before being defeated by Shelby’s Daytona Cobra Coupe and its reliability helped it score some great overall results against sports-prototypes. Chief among those was the GTO’s first two Le Mans 24 Hours.

In 1962, Noblet and Guichet again won the GT class, this time finishing second overall and leading a GTO 2-3-6. Jean Blaton and Gerald Langlois van Ophem repeated the feat the following year, when Ferrari filled the top six with an assortment of models.

The GTO got a (less attractive) new body for 1964 and two finished in the top six at Le Mans, but they were behind the GT-winning Daytona Cobra Coupe of Dan Gurney and Bob Bondurant. The writing was on the wall and the American 4.7-litre V8 forced Ferrari into producing bigger-engined cars in an unsuccessful effort to respond.

8. 330 TRI/LM

Olivier Gendebien, Phil Hill, SpA Ferrari SEFAC, Ferrari 330 TRI/LM (Spyder)

Photo by: Motorsport Images

Key year: 1962-63
Best result: 1st (1962)

Changes to the world sportscar championship for 1962 meant that most points-scoring rounds were for GTs of up to three-litres capacity. Ferrari dominated the biggest GT class, but also campaigned ‘Experimental’ sports-prototypes and outright Le Mans victory remained key.

The 330 TRI/LM was a one-off, based on a 250 Testa Rossa chassis, but it was lengthened, had an engine that was 1000cc bigger and different bodywork, so we’ve listed it as a separate entry.

It took the lead on lap two and led the way for much of the 1962 Le Mans, challenged only by the 246 SP of the Rodriguez brothers in the first half, coming home five laps clear in the hands of Phil Hill and Olivier Gendebien. Hill also set the fastest lap, finally breaking the record set by Mike Hawthorn five years earlier.

So why is a Ferrari winner only seventh on this list?

Essentially, Le Mans had been largely left to Ferrari by 1962. The Jaguar challenge was confined to privateer GT entries, Porsche was still in the smaller-capacity classes and the Ford onslaught had yet to begin. Aston Martin (Project 212) and Maserati (Tipo 151) had rapid cars, but they lacked the development or the numbers to really make victory a serious possibility.

That meant Ferrari was bound to win with its array of models and it was the biggest-engined car driven by the most-experienced pairing that unsurprisingly took a comfortable victory.

The last front-engined machine to win Le Mans was subsequently run by NART, notably finishing third in the 1963 Sebring 12 Hours. Pedro Rodriguez then set the fastest practice time for the 1963 Le Mans, in which he shared with Roger Penske. The car ran with the leaders before an engine failure caused it to crash out.

7. 312 PB

Tim Schenken, Carlos Reutemann, Ferrari SEFAC, Ferrari 312PB

Photo by: Motorsport Images

Key years: 1971-73
Best result: 2nd (1973)

The 1971 312 P – generally referred to as the PB thanks to the existence of the 1969 model of the same name – had to play second fiddle to the five-litre Porsche 917 during its first season. That didn’t matter because Ferrari had its eye on the new three-litre regulations for 1972.

That policy worked as Ferrari trounced the opposition, winning 10 of the 11 world championship rounds. The one it chose to skip – Le Mans – was won by Matra, which missed the rest of the season.

PLUS: How Hill won what Alonso desperately wants

The Italian flat-12 and the French V12 finally battled for supremacy throughout 1973, with Matra generally having the marginal upper hand.

At Le Mans, where Ferrari entered three cars and Matra four, the fastest of the tweaked 312 PBs qualified 1-2. The lead swung back and forth as the various entries gained a slim advantage or hit trouble.

The Tim Schenken/Carlos Reutemann Ferrari looked strong in the lead during the night, but a surprise engine failure put it out, leaving Jacky Ickx/Brian Redman ahead in their 312 PB.

A broken exhaust, tail section replacement and then a fuel leak delayed the duo, helping Matra to the front. Ferrari was still in contention with an hour and a half left when the second-placed Ickx/Redman car also had its flat-12 let go.

Henri Pescarolo and Gerard Larrousse thus came through to win for Matra, with the Arturo Merzario/Carlos Pace 312 PB taking the runner-up spot in the Ferrari factory’s final assault on overall Le Mans honours for half a century.

PLUS: The greatest cars never to win Le Mans

6. 375 Plus

Jose Froilan Gonzalez, Maurice Trintignant, Ferrari 375 Plus

Photo by: Motorsport Images

Key year: 1954
Best result: 1st

This five-litre V12 monster was perhaps not the best tool for the wet conditions that faced competitors at the 1954 24 Hours. It did, however, have one major asset, aside from its prodigious power.

Jose Froilan Gonzalez was a driver with the presence (and ability) to match the 375 Plus. Supported by Maurice Trintignant, the Argentinian played a starring role as the Ferrari sledgehammer battled the new wind-cheating Jaguar D-type, a scalpel in comparative terms at ‘only’ 3.4 litres.

Three works 375s faced three D-types, as well as serious efforts from Aston Martin and Cunningham. The three Ferraris set the initial pace, with Moss chasing in the quickest of the Jaguars, and the Italian team looked in a strong position when the D-types had to pit for fuel-system adjustments.

Transmission problems put out two of the Ferraris and one of the Jaguars, while the Moss/Peter Walker D-type retired with brake issues. The Sunday therefore became a duel between Gonzalez/Trintignant and the Jaguar of 1953 winners Tony Rolt and Duncan Hamilton.

The V12 struggled to fire several times at pitstops but the exhausted Gonzalez held on to take Ferrari’s second Le Mans win, by a minute and a half.

Umberto Maglioli also won the punishing Carrera Panamericana in a 375 Plus at the end of the season and Ferrari beat Lancia to the world sportscar championship title.

5. 330 P4

Ludocivo Scarfiotti, Mike Parkes, Ferrari 330 P4

Key year: 1967
Best result: 2nd

Is this the greatest Ferrari sports-racer not to win Le Mans? It’s almost certainly the most beautiful.

Top 10: The best-looking Le Mans 24 Hours cars ranked

Finally defeated by Ford at Le Mans, Ferrari responded with the four-litre V12 P4, complete with three-valve cylinder head, for 1967. Despite giving away three litres to the V8 Ford MkIIs, the P4 was the better car and gained some revenge at Daytona, Ferrari putting on a formation finish as it scored a 1-2-3.

Ford’s advanced MkIV swung the advantage back to Detroit as the two titans contested the 1967 24 Hours. Ford’s incredible seven-car factory assault dwarfed Ferrari’s three-car team (plus a P4 for Equipe National Belge), but the Blue Oval’s enormous challenge almost faltered, largely thanks to accidents.

Ferrari pressed its attack in the second half of the race, but Gurney and AJ Foyt always had enough in hand to bring Ford a second Le Mans win. The second and third-placed Ferraris covered more ground in the 24 Hours than any previous Le Mans Ferrari, but heroically lost out to a record-breaking run from the sole remaining healthy Ford.

Ferrari didn’t end the season empty handed before the big bangers were banned. With the MkIV only appearing at Sebring and Le Mans, Ferrari beat Porsche and Ford in the points race.

Archive: When Ferrari almost stopped Ford's Le Mans steamroller

4. 166 MM

Hon Peter Mitchell-Thompson, Jean Lucas, Lord Selsdon, Ferrari 166 MM

Photo by: Motorsport Images

Key year: 1949
Best result: 1st

Debut wins for new manufacturers at the 24 Hours are extremely rare. McLaren took victory on the first Le Mans outing for its F1 GTR, but the multiple-F1 world championship-winning marque was hardly new.

Ferrari was still a young constructor in 1949 and its appearance at the Circuit de la Sarthe, as Le Mans restarted after the Second World War, helped forge the legend.

Just two privately entered 166 MMs lined up for the 1949 race and there were many rivals with bigger engines than the Ferrari’s two-litre V12. But both of the neat and light Italian machines mixed it with the leading Delahaye, Talbot-Lago and Delage entries from the start.

When the bigger French cars hit trouble and the Pierre Louis-Dreyfus/Jean Lucas Ferrari crashed in the first quarter of the race, Luigi Chinetti moved ahead. The future owner of NART drove for 22 of the 24 hours, entrant Lord Selsdon bringing him some relief.

The Ferrari’s lead grew to four laps at one stage but started to suffer clutch issues in the closing stages. A charging Henri Louveau, driving the three-litre Delage he shared with Juan Jover, brought the gap down but fell a lap short of denying the remarkable Ferrari, which also won the Index of Performance.

Previously, the car’s predecessor – the 166 S – had won the Targa Florio and a 166 MM had scored a 1-2 in the 1949 Mille Miglia (the race from which it took its name), while the improved 2.3-litre 195 S proved rapid at Le Mans in 1950.

3. 499P

Race winner #50 Ferrari AF Corse Ferrari 499P: Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina, Nicklas Nielsen

Photo by: Emanuele Clivati | AG Photo

Key years: 2023-present
Best result: 2 wins (2023-24)

Ferrari’s factory return to the top category of international sportscar racing was worth the wait as the 499P, surely one of the best-looking of the attractive crop of Hypercars, immediately made an impact. Pole first time out at Sebring in 2023 was followed by a sensational victory on its Le Mans debut, with Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado and Antonio Giovinazzi narrowly defeating World Endurance Championship benchmark Toyota.

That was the 499P’s only win of 2023 and possible victories were squandered in 2024, most notably at Imola, where Ferrari dominated but blundered on strategy. Amazingly, the 499P delivered again where it mattered most, this time Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina and Nicklas Nielsen beating the top Toyota by just 14.2s at Le Mans in a Ferrari 1-3.

The satellite yellow AF Corse 499P gave Ferrari its first non-Le Mans WEC victory at the Lone Star Le Mans in Austin in September, before Ferrari hit the winter off-season hard. The result was that the factory AF Corse team has won all three of the 2025 WEC rounds so far – at Qatar, Imola and Spa – and heads to Le Mans as one of the favourites.

The big caveat here is the Balance of Performance system, which aims to give all cars and teams the chance to win, a very different scenario to that faced by the other cars in this top 10. But the sheer level of the current Hypercar field – eight manufacturers will be at the Circuit de la Sarthe in the top class this year – and impact of the 499P demands it takes a high place on this list.

Another Le Mans win, and perhaps a WEC title that has so far eluded Ferrari, could push it at least one spot higher…

2. 250 P/275 P

Jean Guichet, Nino Vaccarella, Scuderia Ferrari, Ferrari 275P

Photo by: Motorsport Images

Key years: 1963-64
Best result: 2 wins (1963-64)

The 1963 and 1964 Le Mans winners have been counted in one entry because the 275P was largely an uprated 3.3-litre version of its three-litre predecessor.

The mid-engined 250P was the car to have in 1963. Although Pedro Rodriguez took pole in the bigger 330 TRI/LM and the lone Maserati 151 and Aston Martin DP215 entries were fast, 250Ps lined up 2-3-6.

Once the Maserati and Aston Martin had dropped out, Ferrari was left in control and victory looked like going to the 250 P of John Surtees/Willy Mairesse. But, late on Sunday morning, fuel was spilled during a pitstop and the car burst into flames after Mairesse left the pits.

With the lead Ferrari out, Ludovico Scarfiotti and Lorenzo Bandini moved to the front. The all-Italian combination never lost the lead thereafter, winning by six laps and taking the Index of Performance as Ferraris filled the top six places.

Ferrari faced a new challenge in 1964, Ford. John Surtees topped practice with the four-litre 330 P but the 4.2-litre Ford GTs were also quick. Richie Ginther grabbed an early lead and Phil Hill smashed the lap record for Ford but the American challenge was soon finished, largely though transmission problems.

The reliability of the big cars was poor, leaving Nino Vaccarella and Jean Guichet (who started seventh) to take victory in their 275 P, leading home two delayed 330 Ps.

Special mention here has to go to the 250 LM. Enzo Ferrari tried to homologate it for GT racing as a continuation of the 250 GT line, but even the official Ferrari website now concedes that it was “the berlinetta version of the 250 P prototype, sharing the same chassis and running gear with just minor modifications”.

The 250 LM (most of which had 3.3-litre V12s rather than three-litres as indicated by the ‘250’ moniker) had its day of days at Le Mans in 1965. As the faster factory Fords and Ferraris again fell by the wayside, three 250 LMs came through to finish 1-2-6, led by the NART example of Jochen Rindt and Masten Gregory.

1. 250 Testa Rossa

Phil Hill, Olivier Gendebien, Scuderia Ferrari,Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa 59

Photo by: Motorsport Images

Key years: 1958-61
Best result: 3 wins (1958, 1960-61)

One of the classic 1950s sports-racers, the 250 Testa Rossa won Le Mans three times in four years, albeit in tweaked form each time as disc brakes and bodywork developments were brought in.

The move to three-litre world sportscar regulations for 1958 could, or perhaps should, have played into the hands of Aston Martin, which had been building cars to that capacity for years. But the leading Testa Rossa, in the hands of Gendebien and Phil Hill, outlasted all the Aston DBR1s to win the storm-hit 1958 24 Hours by 12 laps.

The 250 TR had already won the Buenos Aires 1000Km, Sebring 12 Hours and Targa Florio, helping Ferrari to comfortably retain its sportscar crown.

Aston Martin took revenge in 1959, winning both Le Mans and the title largely thanks to the efforts of Moss. The TR/59 nevertheless still won at Sebring and Hill/Gendebien were well ahead at Le Mans until retiring with just over four hours to go.

The factory Aston team was absent in 1960 and, once the early Maserati and Jaguar challenges faded, the Gendebien/Paul Frere Testa Rossa took the lead.

A Ferrari miscalculation led to two of the TRs running out of fuel, but Gendebien managed to coast his car into the pits. The Belgian duo went on to win by four laps, with the NART TR of Ricardo Rodriguez and Andre Pilette in second.

Ferrari’s main threat came from within in 1961. The revised works TRI/61 finished first and second, after battles with the spiritedly driven NART example of brothers Ricardo and Pedro Rodriguez, and the sleek mid-engined 246 SP of Richie Ginther/Wolfgang von Trips, which pointed the way to Ferrari’s future.

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The Testa Rossa retired having largely ruled the roost for four seasons, with three titles alongside its Le Mans hat-trick, helping to establish Ferrari’s domination of endurance racing in the early 1960s.