Ferrari 500 Superfast: 1964–1966 V12 Grand Tourer

The Ferrari 500 Superfast was a rare luxury grand tourer with a large V12 and Pininfarina bodywork. Unveiled at Geneva in 1964, it carried forward the 400 Superamerica’s place at the exclusive end of Ferrari’s road-car range. This was a car built around long-distance performance and individual specification.

500 Superfast at a glance

Launch	1964 Geneva Motor Show.
Production period	1964–1966.
Production status	Completed; historic model.
Body style	Two-door Pininfarina grand-touring coupé.
Engine	Front-mounted, longitudinal 60° V12; 4,962.96 cc.
Power	294 kW / 400 CV at 6,500 rpm, according to Ferrari’s archive.
Performance	Ferrari’s model archive quotes 280 km/h. No factory 0–100 km/h time is provided in the cited archive.
Variants / transmission	Series I: four-speed manual; Series II: five-speed manual, introduced in 1966. Individual cars can have specification differences.
Production total	Source discrepancy: Ferrari quotes 37; RM Sotheby’s describes a 36-car run. See the note below.
Predecessor / successor	Derived from the 400 Superamerica. No like-for-like successor is assigned here; the later 365 California belongs to the same broader luxury tradition.

Why production totals differ

Ferrari’s model archive lists 25 first-series cars and 12 second-series cars, giving 37. Its magazine also quotes 37. RM Sotheby’s instead describes 24 first-series and 12 second-series examples, giving 36. These sources disagree on the first-series count. This guide preserves that distinction; it does not treat either breakdown as universally settled.

A bespoke grand tourer

The 500 Superfast combined an approximately five-litre engine with a hand-finished luxury brief. Surviving cars should be assessed individually: gearbox, interior details and body features may reflect factory specification, later work or changes made during the production run. A chassis-specific history is more useful than assuming every car in a named series is identical.