A Ferrari Mother Load

black mamba

All the cars you see clustered across the pond represent some of the rarest and most valuable Ferrari's ever assembled in one place. There are 12 of them gathered in that spot. They are all examples of the Ferrari 250 GTO. If there is a single, most iconic, model of Ferrari ever produced, it is the family of GTO's. Much is known of these cars, yet they are still shrouded in mystery and mystique.

Amazingly, considering each and every one of these cars was raced, all of them survive to this day. However, there is strong debate among knowledgeable folks as to how many GTO's were actually produced. Some people say 36 is the real number, others say there were 39 made. The difference of three cars is, I think, based around an interpretation of some design features and mechanical specs.

All GTO's share some common features....tubular steel space frame construction, potent 2953 cc 60-degree V-12 engines putting out around 300 HP, 5-speed manual transmissions, and weighing around 2500 lbs. Though most of them look very similar, there are some distinct differences you will notice as I present them over several postings.

All GTO's were made in either 1962, 1963, or 1964. Internally, they were called the 250 GTO Comp/62. But the world came to call them simply the 250 GTO ( which, incidentally, stands for Gran Turismo Omologato ).

I will be featuring a couple of these cars at a time in following posts. The news was released at this show that a 250 GTO sold recently in England for the staggering sum of over 31 million dollars. Each of the cars I'll show you would certainly command a price of at least 25 million dollars.



This car is a 1961 250 GT and is known as the " Sperimentale ". It is generally accepted as being the prototype to the following run of GTO's. It is the first car to combine the 250 SWB ( short wheel base ) chassis and the 3.0 Liter V-12 race-spec engine. The rear end design of this car proved to be unstable at extreme speeds and the GTO's that followed show significant changes in that area.















This car was one of the very few GTO's ever raced in any color other than Ferrari red. In one of the pictures, you will note some yellow plates resting on the ground at the front of the car. These plates were inserted, as needed, into the nose of the car to control air flow to the engine.

lensmole

I am amazed at how big the wheels are on these cars and the similarity between the corvette body shapes.I tried shooting some cars at an indoor car show once and it was a disaster.I can't recall ever seeing a car show in a setting like this. Nice work ! and thank you for the background history.

jasonstone

Thanks for sharing that - I learnt something new about the 250 GTO series!
Highlight for me was some years ago (1997 or 1998) I attended the Ferrari meet at Silverstone, UK. If my brain hasn't failed me I remember there being some 20 or so 250 GTO's in attendance, not to mention the (relatively speaking) many F40's.

Nick Mason (Pink Floyd) took his, as did a few others, out onto the track. Nick was really giving that thing some stick too!!! ahh to be rich and have the luxury of thrashing a $20 million car around the track for fun

Look forward to your next posts!

black mamba

lensmole wrote: »

I am amazed at how big the wheels are on these cars and the similarity between the corvette body shapes.I tried shooting some cars at an indoor car show once and it was a disaster.I can't recall ever seeing a car show in a setting like this. Nice work ! and thank you for the background history.

I quit shooting indoor shows a long time ago. Too many headaches ( awful mixed lighting, poor car positioning, crowds that have no room to spread out, enough reflective surfaces to drive a cat crazy, etc., etc. ) for the few keepers you would get. The professionals have to go to those things....thankfully, I don't.

Tom

leitmotif

Good Job! Awesome Wheels!

ian408

Awesome! Look forward to more

DaddyO

Yes, I too am looking forward to more pictures and the highly desired as well background stories you kindly provide. JasonStones note interesting too. Maybe he got pics he'd like to share

jasonstone

DaddyO wrote: »

Yes, I too am looking forward to more pictures and the highly desired as well background stories you kindly provide. JasonStones note interesting too. Maybe he got pics he'd like to share

Thanks re photos... hmmm have to see if i could dig some up... they were before i was a decent photographer (well i hope i am one now ) so all snaps and all prints.... come to think of it - i think they're buried in storage somewhere.... hmmm see what i can do - but no promises!

AceCo55

Thank you for the background information - the photos mean a lot more now ... and this old man has learned a little bit more.
Very entertaining and enjoyable post.

black mamba

jasonstone wrote: »

Thanks for sharing that - I learnt something new about the 250 GTO series!
Highlight for me was some years ago (1997 or 1998) I attended the Ferrari meet at Silverstone, UK. If my brain hasn't failed me I remember there being some 20 or so 250 GTO's in attendance, not to mention the (relatively speaking) many F40's.

Nick Mason (Pink Floyd) took his, as did a few others, out onto the track. Nick was really giving that thing some stick too!!! ahh to be rich and have the luxury of thrashing a $20 million car around the track for fun

Look forward to your next posts!

Hi Jason,

Thanks for looking in. Nick Mason has quite a collection of cars. He and his family continue to run them in vintage race events. Why have the things if you can't enjoy them in their natural environment?

Tom

black mamba

leitmotif wrote: »

Good Job! Awesome Wheels!

Thanks for the kind words. It's hard not to get excited when you're surrounded by cars of this caliber.

Tom

black mamba

ian408 wrote: »

Awesome! Look forward to more

It's great to hear from you, Ian. I appreciate your support.

Tom

moose135

Very nice work, Tom! Looking forward to more of your photos from the show. I've always like Ferraris, and the GTO was a superb car.