Which Ferrari would you buy?

Here's a new-versus-used conundrum with a bit of a difference.

I've just spent spent a couple of very enjoyable afternoons inspecting a 1972 Ferrari Dino 246 with a fortunate mate who might buy one.

The prices of these hugely pretty mid-engine V6 machines have vaulted into orbit over the past 18 months, the £120,000 that would have bought you a decent example back then more than doubling since. 

Anyway, between the first ogling visit and the second his copy of Autocar arrived, featuring the road test of the Ferrari F12. Which we both realised costs broadly the same money. It also goes just a little bit faster and is better in almost every conceivable way, apart from looking less beautiful.

So there's been a bit of weighing up, and questioning of the sanity of the prices of some classics. But in the end the choice is easy when either of these cars will be used as a (very) indulgent toy. While the Dino's value is likely to at least hold or appreciate (unless there's another classic car price crash, but that's a different story) the F12's value is only going to go one way for the next decade at least.

So it's the Dino that he's still pondering. Word is that this same thought process is quite often seeing classics favoured over new supercars these days.