The Ferrari 296 GTS Hybrid Joins the Great Car Hall of Fame

Don’t make the mistake of patronizing the Ferrari 296 GTS. I know it’s tempting, because this $366,139 centerfold packs a V-6 hybrid setup rather than the 8- and 12-cylinder power plants that have made Ferrari NV famous. There’s a lot of pride and brand identity built into those internal combustion machines. “Ferrari doesn’t make cars, Ferrari makes engines,” as the saying goes.

The smaller engine is not without precedent. The company made road-going V-6s in the 1970s, though it doesn’t recognize those “Dino” models as official, brand-name Ferraris, even today. It’s a long story having to do with Enzo Ferrari’s deceased son, nicknamed Dino, and some sort of weird machismo about how many cylinders belong in an engine before it can be considered manly. (The models were designed and built by Ferrari but marketed as a new, entry-level brand called Dino.)