The Ferrari 250 GTO went from $18,000 to $70 million
When new, a Ferrari 250 GTO cost $18,000, and Enzo Ferrari personally vetted who could buy one. Only 36 were built. In June 2018 a 1963 example changed hands privately for $70 million, the highest price ever paid for a Ferrari, for a car with no speedometer and no carpet.
The three letters abbreviate Gran Turismo Omologato, meaning a grand tourer approved for racing. Competition rules demanded at least 100 identical cars within 12 months for GT homologation, but Ferrari persuaded the officials to count the earlier 250 GT SWB, so the GTO needed only a tiny run. Between 1962 and 1964 the factory made 33 first-series cars and three second-series ones, with four early cars later rebodied to the newer style.
Underneath, the car was deliberately conservative. The chassis was a lighter, stiffer, lower version of the 250 GT SWB frame, hand-welded from oval tubes, with a live rear axle and disc brakes. Its three-litre V12, proven in the Le Mans-winning 250 Testa Rossa, breathed through six Weber carburettors to make about 300 horsepower at 7500 rpm, driving a new five-speed gearbox. The cabin was bare: cloth seats, no headliner and an exposed metal gear gate that became a Ferrari trademark.
The real novelty was the shape. Chief engineer Giotto Bizzarrini used wind-tunnel testing at Pisa University to craft a long, low aluminium nose with a small radiator opening, and testing added a rear spoiler plus a covered underside. Stirling Moss tried a prototype at Monza in September 1961 and lapped quicker than the SWB. Bizzarrini was among many engineers fired in 1962 after a quarrel with Enzo Ferrari; Mauro Forghieri and the coachbuilder Scaglietti finished the job, so no single person can claim the design.
Built to battle the Shelby Cobra, Jaguar E-Type and Aston Martin in GT racing, each car picked up its own crash repairs and modifications, so no two are identical. Magazines have crowned it the greatest Ferrari, the top sports car ever and even the hottest car of all time.
Source: Ferrari 250 GTO
