Gran Turismo Omologato
| Of all of the alphanumeric abbreviations that float around in the greater automotive lexicon, few draw as unanimous a reaction of admiration and respect as GT0. So inspiring is the lore surrounding the moniker that it has been used no more than five times in various models over the last 50 years. Although Americans may connote the term with the recent (and short-lived) Holden-produced Pontiac or the original 1960s Pontiac muscle car that inspired it, both of those cars blatantly co-opted their names from the 1962 Ferrari GT0. |
To bring the uninitiated up to speed, Ferrari’s Gran Turismo (or Gran Touring) cars had been around for some time when the company chose to rework its popular 250 GT for improved racing performance. Under FIA rules, manufacturers had to homologate (read: approve) a proposed racecar, meaning that a prerequisite number of road-going examples had to be produced for the car to qualify for competition. Famed designer Giotto Bizzarrini redesigned the 250 GT0’s body with the assistance of a wind tunnel, resulting in a sleek looker that was christened the 250 GTO, the “O” standing for Omologato (Italian for homologated). Ironically, Ferrari never produced the 100 road cars necessary to satisfy the homologation requirements, although that didn’t stop the GTO from winning three consecutive Manufacturer’s World Championships.
Now considered to be one of the most sensational sports car designs of all time, a cachet that is amplified by the model’s racing success and paucity of production (only 39 examples ever made), the 250 GTO has reached an unheard of echelon of desirability. In today’s auction market, it would take between $5 million and $10 million for one of the cars to change hands. But other than a brief resuscitation in the 1980s that saw the name applied to a 308-derived supercar called the 288 GTO, Ferrari has kept its classic moniker in the garage over the years…until now.
In April 2010, Ferrari officially unveiled the 500 GTO, the third evolution in the nameplate’s rich tradition. Visually rooted in the company’s current 599 GTB Fiorano, the new GTO has received considerable technological input from the development of the new 599XX experimental track car. The 599 GTO is the company’s fastest road car ever, accelerating from zero to 62 mph in 3.35 seconds with a top speed in excess of 208 mph. Such gaudy numbers have been achieved through weight-saving measures like thinner-gauge aluminum body panels and thinner glass, as well as a host of redesigned scoops and intakes. A new crank shift and 60-millisecond shift times also contribute to the GTO’s blast-off power. Though the new car’s 12-cylinder engine shares the Fiorano’s 5,999 cc displacement, its 599XX-derived improvements have resulted in 58 more horses for a total of 670 horsepower. With plans to produce only 599 examples of the new GTO, all of which have already been sold, the word “exclusive” is apt.
