Ferrari 250 GTO - World's most celebrated car!
The 250 GTO was a function-driven vehicle with a long, low bonnet and streamlined Plexiglas headlamp covers. It was nicknamed the 'Anteater'.
'GTO' stands for Gran Turismo Omologata, or Grand Touring Homologation, a hint that the 250 GTO was made to meet FIA Group 3 Grand Touring Car homologation requirements. A more aerodynamically efficient body was key to beating the AC Cobra, Jaguar E-type, and various Aston Martins on the racetrack.
It wasn't a clean-sheet project. Its predecessor, the 250 GT 'SWB', was launched in late 1959 and had some motorsport success, but as competition intensified, Ferrari had to step up.
Style-wise, it went with the GTO. Based on the SWB's engineering and layout, the 250 GTO had a front-mounted Colombo V12 engine with 250 cubic centimetres per cylinder, a two-seat Berlinetta body, and a lightweight tubular chassis.
The 3.0-liter V12 was tuned, lowered and moved further back in the body for better handling, the chassis used smaller-diameter tubing to save weight, and the new aluminum bodyshell glided through the air easier. A 250 GT 'SWB' prototype was developed from an existing model.
With the GTO, the grille and three removable D-shaped cooling vents were brought closer to the headlights, and the rear wheel arch was reprofiled to flow more gracefully into the Kamm tail that encircled the rear lights.
It was a relatively subtle change, but it resulted in a more curvaceous and aesthetically pleasing car that was also aerodynamically efficient.
In the production GTO, weight-saving was the order of the day, so there are cloth bucket seats, no carpet, no headlining, just an exposed metal gear gate that would become a Ferrari trademark.
In 1962, '63 and '64, the 250 GTO won the over 2.0-litre class in the FIA's International Championship for GT Manufacturers three years in a row thanks to its 300hp, 282km/h top speed, and feathery 880kg without fluids (a big improvement over the 250 GT SWB).
There were only 36 examples made between 1962 and 1964, all road-legal, all still around today, and all among the most valuable collector cars ever made.
GTOs don't all look the same, though - 33 of the first 33 Series 1 cars had triple D vents above the front grille and twin shark-gill vents behind the front wheels, while three Series 2 cars had no vents on the nose but a gill behind the front wheels in 1964. Others were modified, while others were rebodied with Series 2 coachwork.
Though they're very different propositions, they're still works of art.
You can read more of this article or watch a video here at Ferrari’s website.
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