Why a Ferrari 250 GTO T-shirt?

The Ferrari GTO is a myth within the myth of the Ferrari brand. Few of us have had the chance to come across one, let alone drive one.

Its name is written in legend, the GTO has become a myth reaching all the heights, having become one of the most famous automobiles of all time.

It was designed in the early 1960s, and the first copies made in 1962, when the aesthetics and clean lines of a car could easily classify it at the level of works of art.

The 250 GTO is a real prototype, 36 units built when 100 were needed for homologation in GT, but the COMMENDATORE, master in the field and well helped by the all-powerful Italian federation of automobiles which could do nothing to him. refused, achieves one of his finest moves, convincing everyone that the GTO was just an evolution of the previous 250 GT.

Despite some unconvincing tricks, including license plates, it is a real racing animal; it does not even have a speedometer (very futile to participate in the 24 hours of MANS).

The 250 GTO: a true legend.

Considered one, if not the most beautiful car and one of the greatest sports cars of all time, the GTO continues to arouse envy, like all great works of art. In 2018, a Ferrari 250 GTO was sold for 70 million dollars, a real record that shows how much this car still arouses passions.

Its price in 1962 was $ 18,000, which is now $ 154,000. It was redeemed many years later, for millions of dollars … In 2004, Sports Car International placed the 250 GTO in eighth place among the best sports cars of the 1960s. Motor Trend Classic, meanwhile, named the 250 GTO number one on the list of “best Ferraris of all time. “.

Why “250 GTO”?

The GTO is equipped with the famous 3 liter V12 engine, the famous TESTA ROSSA (red head), taken from the color of the red rocker covers, the term 250 simply means that each cylinder has 250 cubic centimeters of displacement.

GTO means “GRAN TURISMO HOMOLOGATA”, approved in GRAND TOURISM.

36 copies only:

A total of 36 chassis will be built, 33 in 1962 and 1963, plus 3 more in 1964.

At the origin of the project, we find the chief engineer Giotto Bizzarrini whose idea was to start from the chassis of the 250 GT SWB, of which there were a few examples of the chassis in stock, and the 3-liter V12 engine of the Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa. Bizzarrini will not complete the project, following a quarrel with Enzo FERRARI and his departure from SCUDERIA, the project will be entrusted to Mauro Forghieri, who recently arrived at FERRARI, and to designer Sergio Scaglietti.

The sublime design of the curves of the 250 GTO therefore comes, at the beginning, from the work of Bizzarrini and then of Scaglietti; it will then be improved thanks to wind tunnel tests, then by test sessions on the circuit, with the use of the first 3 chassis which will serve as a mule.

It is the reflection of the extent of the technical know-how of the Scudéria at that time:

• 3 liter V12 engine, 300 horsepower at 7400 rpm, 4 camshafts, 6 carburettors, 1 igniter per row of cylinders. This engine, mounted in the front central position, is taken from the prototype 250 TESTA ROSSA, winner at Le Mans in 1958
• 5-speed manual gearbox, with its legendary selection grid, with the ^1st shifted down to the left, rear-wheel drive.
• Double wishbones at the front (revolutionary at the time), guided rigid rear axle
• Disc brakes associated with the famous BORANI spoked rims
• Tubular aluminum frame, aluminum body, ultra light since the weight is 100 kgs less heavy than the frame of the 250 SW everything is done by hand
• Maximum speed: 270 to 285 km / h
• Consumption: 40 liters / 100 kilometers

Awards

Titles won:

• 1962, 1963 and 1964 GT over 2-liter sports car world champions

Ferrari GTO awards in 1962:

• Coupe du Salon, Nassau Tourist Trophy, 12 Hours of Sebring category GT 3.0

RAC Tourist Trophy, 24 hours of Le Mans category GT 3.0

• Auvergne Trophy,

Ferrari GTO awards in 1963:

• 24 Hours of Le Mans GT 3.0 category, 9 Hours of Kyalami, 3 Hours of Daytona, 6 Hours of Dakar, 500 kilometers of Spa, RAC Tourist Trophy, 12 Hours of Sebring category GT 3.0
• Tour de France automobile category GT (with Jean Guichet and Jean Behra)

Ferrari GTO awards in 1964:

• 2,000 kilometers from Daytona, 500 kilometers from Spa, Goodwood, 6 Hours of Dakar, 24 hours of Le Mans category GT 3.0, Silverstone International,, Grand Prix of Portugal, Coppa FISA de Monza, 12 Hours of Sebring category GT 3.0
• , Tour de France automobile category GT (with Lucien Bianchi and Georges Berger)

Ferrari GTO winners in 1965:

• Grand Prix de Trier, Speed Cups in Montlhéry.

Honors of the Ferrari GTO in French rallies:

• Jean Guichet was a triple French GT rally champion in 1961, 1962 and 1963, including the 1963 tour de France automobile
• Fernand Tavano won the Limousin, Picardy and West rallies with a GTO in 1960

AUTOMOTIVE TOUR DE France:

• 1962 = 2 ^nd Jo Schlesser – Henri Oreiller, 3 ^rd Robert Darville – Gérard Langlois, 4 ^th David Piper – Dan Margulies
• 1963: 1st Jean Guichet – José Behra, ^2nd Lucien Bianchi – Carlo Abate, 3rd Gérard ^Spinedi – Mme Spinedi
• 1964: 1 ^st Lucien Bianchi – Georges Berger, 2 ^nd Jean Guichet – Michel de Bourbon-Parme