Classic Car: Ferrari 288 GTO

Ferrari planned on creating a car to compete in Group B. The car was going to be based on the Ferrari 308 GTB. The car was called the Ferrari 288 GTO. This was the second Ferrari to be called a GTO. The first time Ferrari used the GTO designation was for the 250 GTO. Ferrari recently came out with the 599 GTO. Ferrari built 272 of these cars from 1984 to 1985. However, it never competed in a single race. The 288 GTO made car history by being the first street-legal production car to surpass 186 mph. 


I recently saw the 288 GTO at the December 2011 edition of Houston Cars and Coffee. This was parked next to a Ferrari 599 GTO and was not to far away from the Ferrari F40 and Ferrari Enzo. This car got a lot of attention. Only the Enzo got more attention than this car. I thought it was either a 308 GTB or a 328 GTB until I saw "GTO" on the back of the car. It looks very similar to the 308 and 328, except that the 288 GTO has four driving lights, a deeper front spoiler, fender flares, rear lip spoilers, and a different grill. It is a beautiful car.


The 288 GTO is powered by a twin-turbo 2.9L V8, paired with a five-speed manual transmission, that produces 400 hp and 366 lb-ft of torque. It goes from 0 to 60 mph in 4.9 seconds and reaches a top speed of 189 mph. One recently sold at an auction for $748,000. Sports Car International named the 288 GTO the second best sports car of the 1980s behind the Porsche 959. 


The 288 GTO has been featured in Too Fast To Race, The Greatest Ever, Motorweek, Dream Machines, and Top Gear. The 288 GTO is playable in Gangs of London, Test Drive: Ferrari, All Star Racing, OutRun 2006: Coast 2 Coast, OutRun2 SP, Crazy Cars, Top Gear, Forza Motorsport 2, Forza Motorsport 3, Forza Motorsport 4, Test Drive Unlimited, and Drunk Driver Championship. 

This is a very desirable Ferrari. The 288 GTO is rare, fast, stylish, and expensive. The cheapest I saw this car go for was around $300,000. When it was released, it was the fastest street-legal production car until 1986, when the Porsche 959 (top speed of 197 mph) was released. The 288 GTO gave way to the Ferrari F40, which was the first car to surpass 200 mph. For anyone who considers himself/herself an Italian car collector, a Ferrari collector, or a collector of rare car, the 288 GTO is a must own.

CarJunkie

Photo taken from a digital camera.

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