The Era of the $37,500 Ferrari Is Upon Us, Would You Dare Embrace It?

That’s kind of a tricky one, because if you dream of the 812 GTS or F8 Tributo, then the answer is definitely yes. The same goes for the LaFerrari, Enzo, F50, and F40, and for the 250 GTO as well, which still holds the record for the most expensive car ever sold, as far as we’re aware of, at a jaw-dropping $70+ million.

Now, you don’t need to be the CEO of a humungous corporation nor a drug lord in order to jump behind the wheel of a Prancing Horse whenever you desire. That’s because if you don’t aim for the sky, then you could land a used Ferrari, in decent condition, for about the price of a brand-new 2022 Toyota Highlander, which is a $35,000+ affair stateside, before destination, handling, dealer fees, and options.

For that, you may want to forget about your local Ferrari dealer and check out the used car market instead, which is where we found this 1975 Ferrari Dino 308 GT4. That’s right, you can have a Dino that’s not as exciting as it used to be for a small fraction of what the Portofino costs. Said to have had a lot of work done, it is currently waiting for a new owner at BeverlyHillsCarClub, accompanied by a $37,500 sticker price.

It may not be the most desirable Ferrari ever made, with the angular styling that had Bertone’s Marcello Gandini behind it, and it wasn’t even branded as a Ferrari until 1976, but the Dino 308 GT4 still looks exotic, even by today’s standards, albeit with a classic car twist. Power is supplied by a 2.9-liter V8 engine, with Weber carburetors, hooked up to a manual transmission. Disc brakes on both axles were part of the build, and it had a modest 202 hp (205 ps / 151 kW) available via the right pedal.

Its ability to hit 62 mph (100 kph) in a little over 7 seconds made it a performance model back in the day, but it’s more in the decent car territory in the 21st century. The warmest of hatchbacks could probably beat it in a straight-line sprint, but the Dino is capable of something that your run-of-the-mill Golf isn’t: giving the driver an adrenaline rush and filling the cockpit with a sweet V8 sound.

Finished in white and black, on top of the tan leather and suede interior, this old timer looks very clean inside and out. The same can be said about the underbody too, as well as the tiny frunk and trunk, and the engine compartment. This Ferrari came to life when people wanted back seats in their exotic machines, so it has those too, yet they’re mostly suitable for children.

We reckon that it would be the perfect project car for certain enthusiasts who are not afraid of a little elbow grease, and they should not forget that parts won’t come cheap.

A second identically-priced Ferrari that we found for sale on the same website could interest them too. It’s a 1985 Mondial Cabriolet, said to have been well-maintained over the years, which features power windows and air conditioning, true luxury items nearly four decades ago, and it is accompanied by service documents and receipts from 1997 to 2021.

Now, besides the obvious reliability issues, both would be interesting weekend cars, so if you had to choose, which one would it be? I’d probably go for the Dino in a heartbeat.