Horse Power - Ferrari, The Original Road racer 250GTO
What is the most desirable car ever? Perhaps the McLaren F1? A Ferrari F40? Maybe an original Mini? This is a tough one to answer, there is no right or wrong answer. Ask the same cohort of automotive aficionados if the Ferrari 250 GTO is one of the coolest cars and you’ll be hard pressed to find a no. Cars that could be driven on the street one day and the Mulsanne Straight at full chat that same afternoon, the 36 Ferrari 250 GTOs that were built between 1962 and 1964 are now some of the most valuable, rare and collectable cars ever to be built.
The 250 GTO was shown to the media during Ferrari’s annual press day on 24th February 1962. Known internally as Comp.62, it was British journalists who first referred to the car as the GTO, and though unofficial the name stuck. It had been designed to compete in the FIA's Group 3 Grand Touring Car category, and was based on the 250 GT SWB. Under its gorgeous hood was Giacchino Colombo’s legendary engine which was already a veteran campaigner with a 60-degree angle, twin overhead cam 2,953cc a V12 engine that produced around 300 horsepower, and was capable of reaching speeds of up to 174 mph.
The car was designed by Sergio Scaglietti and chief engineer Giotto Bizzarrini. Scaglietti’s artisans were tasked with building the cars and none of the 36 were identical to one another, something that was not unusual in the 60’s when the bodies were all hand-beaten in aluminum over wooden bucks. There were many differences, some cosmetic, others more engineering-focused. The first 18 cars were not equipped with a rear spoiler, but rather received it as a separate piece to be attached to the body. Additionally, one of the 36 vehicles produced had a unique body design ann there were also variations in the rear wing, radiator size, number of ducts, and other modifications among the cars. Just #FerrariThings.
Exactly one month after the covers at the show stand had been pulled back, it was out competing for the first time in a race at the 12 hours of Sebring. Phil Hill and Olivier Gendebien were being the wheel at the wheel and they drove the GTO to second place in the overall ranking (behind a Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa), winning their class without any problems. The same occurred at the 24 hours of Le Mans in the same year: Pierre Noblet's GTO, together with Jean Guichet won the class and finished second in the overall ranking (behind a Ferrari 330 TRI LM Spyder). A year later in Le Mans: Class victory for Blaton/Langlois van Ophem, ranked second overall (behind a Ferrari 250 P). The 250 GTO was a car you could finally drive on the road to the race, win and drive it back home with a trophy in the passenger seat, all in a day.
That final point and the letters G, T & O are one that makes up the fascination of the Ferrari 250 GTO: “GTO" stands for "Gran Turismo Omologato", which means "grand tourer homologated” and some owners used the car in everyday life, for travel. Monsieur Bajol from Toulouse owned his example for 27 years and drove over 300,000 kilometers in his car, unimaginable given values of GTOs today, a time where it is not unusual for a GTO to exchange hands for $50million.
The 250 GTO is one of the greatest race cars of its time, famed for its speed and reliability in period. It is not only a car, but a piece of art, a legend and a cult object of the motoring world.
Images by Alex Penfold