Ferrari had been doing well all through the 1950s with their 250 series of road and racing cars, and it seemed inevitable that a 2+2 would appear in order to broaden their customer base and further fund racing activities. Once again the Paris show was used for the unveiling, and in 1960 the Ferrari 250 GTE appeared. Based on the earlier Ferrari 250 GT coupe, this Pininfarina-designed steel-bodied 2+2 had the same Colombo 3-liter V-12, and 102-inch wheelbase as the earlier car. Today the car has an elegance to it, though at the time the 2+2 styling was questioned by many due to its roof line and slab sides.

Controversial styling notwithstanding, it was still a Ferrari that offered some practicality in the form of rear seats, and not surprisingly it set a sales record for the 250 series cars, with 950 being sold from 1960 to 1963. Ferrari 250 GTEs typically had 235 hp and all had disc brakes.

The production run is generally divided into three different series: Series I cars had fog lights in the grille, Series II cars had a different center console from the previous series, and Series III cars wore their fog lights being positioned outside the grille. At the conclusion of the 250 GTE production run, Ferrari built just under 50 330 America 2+2s. These cars had a 4-liter version of the GTE V-12, but were identical to the GTE in most every other way.