The
Ferrari GTO (Gran Turismo Omologato) is an
automobile model produced between 1984 and 1985 by
Ferrari S.p.A. It was a
homologation of the earlier
308 GTB model, designed to compete in the
Federation Internationale de l'Automobile's newly established
Group B.
Notable primarily for its incredible performance, the Ferrari GTO boasts a 2.8
liter V8 engine (hence its unofficial "288 GTO"
sobriquet) with 400
horsepower and 366
foot-pounds of torque.
It is turbocharged, but manages to accelerate to 60 miles per hour in under five seconds, and 125 in fifteen -- remarkable, even for a car produced this year, over two decades later. Its highest tested top speed is 190 miles per hour, virtually unheard of until the release of the
Porsche 959 in 1986.
Only 272 Ferrari GTOs were ever produced. Due to this fact, they are very difficult to acquire, and their market prices are relatively high; in 2000 they tended to go for more than $300,000 at
auction, and their prices have only been soaring since (more modern trade prices are tough to come by, seeing as GTOs so rarely change hands).
In 1986,
Ferrari S.p.A. released a heavily modified version of the GTO, and labeled it "
Evoluzione". Only five were ever created, but they were all even more incredible than their predecessors; they had as much as 650
horsepower, launched to 125 miles per hour in under ten seconds, and topped off at 225 miles per hour. They were equipped with an aggressively molded
shell, and most of them where were used in
rallying racing and other sorts of competitive driving. The value of a GTO Evoluzione is, obviously, substantially greater than that of a standard GTO, but cannot be certified.
The GTO was the first in the series of Ferrari
supercars that have since defined the state of automotive technology. Without the GTO, the Ferraris
F40,
F50 and
Enzo would not exist as they do today; some consider the GTO to be
Ferrari S.p.A.'s first
supercar at all.
References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferrari_288_GTO
http://www.ferraris-online.com/Articles/SCM_199901_SS.shtml
http://www.qv500.com/ferrari288p2.php