1973 2020: FERRARI’S V8 POWER CURVE

1973 308

GT4 Fashionably wedgy 2+2 308 GT4 debuts a new 3.0 V8 in 1973. It makes 252bhp – but only 168bhp when downsized to 2.0 litres to suit Italian tax regs in 208 GT4.

1982 208

GTB Turbo Bolting on a turbo to create 217bhp GTB Turbo saves Italian Ferrari drivers’ tra c-light blushes. Four-valve head for 237bhp 308 QV is good news globally.

1980 208 GTB

A switch to emissions-friendly fuel-injection for GTBi drops output to 214bhp. Think that’s bad? Tax-special 208 GB is a 153bhp pansy.

1990 348

GTB Having stretched to 3.2 litres and 266bhp for the 328 GTB, the V8 grows again to 3.4 litres and 296bhp – and then 317bhp for the facelifted 348 GTB.

1984 288

GTO Homologation special looks like a 308 on top but nothing like it underneath, and its 395bhp twin-turbo V8 makes almost twice the power. By 1987’s F40 it’s a 471bhp monster.

1999 360M

The final version of the Dino V8 measures 3.6 litres and kicks out 395bhp in the 360M, and an even tastier (and tastier-sounding) 419bhp in the Challenge Stradale.

1995 F355

A longer stroke squeezes another 100cc from the block, but the big news is the pair of five-valve heads that help send 375bhp to the rear wheels (paddleshift optional).

2009 458

An extra 200cc and direct injection help push output to 562bhp (597bhp in Speciale tune) for the 458, but cute and cruisy California gets a soft 454bhp 4.3-litre V8.

2004 F430

All-new F136-code 4.3-litre V8 is distantly related to the Ferrari-built Maserati V8, but with a flat-plane crank. Makes 483bhp – or 503bhp in Scuderia trim.

2018 488

Pista Clean-sheet twin-turbo V8 launches with 552bhp in 2014’s California T, but the following year it’s making 661bhp in the 488 GTB. Pista lifts that again, to 710bhp – same as the current F8 Tributo. SF90 ups that to 769bhp.