Ferrari Supercars
 There are few brands in the world that evoke passion in the extreme. Ferrari is one of them.
From the boy who dreams of winning the Monaco Formula 1 in a red Ferrari to the middle-aged executive, fully in the grips of a mid life crisis, beliving the yellow Spyder will make him young again - who does not want a Ferrari?
My first was a 1995 348 Spyder - red with tan interior - and it was a love/hate relationship from the start. Loved driving it, hated the time and cost of keeping it on the road! The day I picked it up from the dealer is a day I will not forget and, while I would definately not say it was the best car I have owned, it was certainly the most memorable.
Scuderia Ferrari S.p.A was founded by Enzo Ferrari (called "il Commendatore") in 1929 and was initially a company dedicated to racing. It was not until 1947 that Ferrari S.p.A was formed to design and produce street legal cars - which was basically done to fund their racing program.
While Scuderia Ferrari has been the most successful Formula 1 manufacturer and team ever, it is the amazing road cars, produced in the last 50 years, that stirs the imagination of most. But not just any road cars, Ferrari have made - and make - supercars. This is what this page is dedicated to.
The Ferrari Supercars
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| 250 GTO |
Made from 1962 to 1964, the Ferrari 250 GTO can be seen as the first Supercar made by Ferrari. It was produced to race in the FIA Group 3 Grand Touring racing category and made in very limited number. Only 39 GTO's were produced which was an issue for Ferrari as to be homologated for racing, the FIA rules sated that 100 had to be produced. Enzo worked his way around this rule my skipping chassis serial numbers so it looked to the FIA regulators that more cars were actually built!
This scarcity (and Enzo's unwillingness to let just "anyone with money" purchase his cars) meant that any prospective owner, fortunate enough to have the $18,000 purchase price, had to bee approved by Enzo as being the right sort of person for his cars. This trend was set to continue with later models only being sold to people with a track record of purchasing Ferrari cars.
The 250 GTO is named for its engine capacity (250cc) in each of the 12 cylinders and was rated at around 300hp. Front engined, real wheel drive, the 250 GTO sported a new-to-ferrari 5 speed manual gearbox (designed by Porsche) with a metal plate that defines the shift-pattern. This design has become a trade-mark with Ferrari cars.
This Ferrari has been named as the top sports car of all time and the greatest Ferrari of all time by different publications. It is not hard to understand why given it's racing success as the last of the front-engined GT racers and it's amazing looks.
Now, if you just happen to have a 250 GTO sitting in your garage and don't really know what it is worth, you are in for some good news. The last sale of a confirmed original 250 GTO was by a British DJ for $17,000,000. That's a lot of money.
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| 288 GTO |
Made from 1984 to 1986, the Ferrari 288 GTO was produced to race in the Group B race series where a minimum of 200 cars had to be manufactured. Ferrari made 272 of these amazing cars of which 5 were the Evoluzion model with upto 600hp.
The 288 GTO was based on the 308 GTB design and chassis but with a 2855cc engine that, because of the extra space needed for the twin turbo's and intercoolers, had to be mounted longitudinally using part of the 308's boot space. The 5 speed manual gearbox was mounted to the rear of the engine which caused the designers to extend the wheelbase by an additional 4.3in.
With 400hp and 366lb-ft of torque being produced, the 288 GTO recorded 0-60 times in the 4 to 5 second range and it was the first road-legal car to pass the 300km/h mark (top speed was 304hm/h or 189mph).
I don't know about you, but this is one Ferrari that I "lusted" after in the 80's - and can only think of one car in that period of time I wanted more - and that was the Porsche 959 (the car the 288 GTO was built to compete against). Even today, when one looks at the 288 GTO (and the 308/328), the appeal and beauty of the design is still readily seen. A classic if ever there is one.
While many will say the 288 GTO was a little overshadowed by the Lamborghini Countach and the Testerossa - and soon replaced by the F40 - I personally pick th 288 GTO as my favorite Ferrari of all time (second would be the 1964 Daytona Spyder).
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If you wish to read about driving in Italy please use the Driving In Italy page.
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