www.QV500.com - Ferrari 250 GTO Part 1: 250 GTO

The 250 GTO needs little in the way of introduction. Combining timeless design, world-beating performance and iconic status, for many enthusiasts they remain the definitive GT Ferrari's. Values of the finest examples can today exceed £5m, around four times that of its closest cousin, the SWB. One of the few 1960’s Ferrari's not to have been designed or bodied by Pininfarina, the GTO was in fact styled by Giotto Bizzarrini, its distinctive silhouette remaining one of motorings most recognisable creations.

Following traditional Ferrari practice, the GTO was an evolution of the firms outgoing SWB Competizione. To qualify for the Group III Appendix J regulations that were so keenly contested during the 1950’s and 60’s, 100 cars had to be constructed for homologation to be granted. Ferrari though, convincing the FIA that his new car was really only a slightly modified SWB, consequently got out of having to build the mandatory 100 GTO's and vanquished the opposition. The chassis was visually almost identical to the welded tubular steel ladder-type Tipo 539/61 frame as used for Ferrari's 1961 SWB hot rods, nothing too revolutionary being introduced as they were trying to convince the governing body that this new Testa Rossa-engined machine was just a development of the existing SWB. But designated Tipo 539/62, the lightly revised frame did feature a little additional stiffening and some engine and damper bracing, any increase in weight being avoided by using lighter, smaller diameter tubing wherever possible. Like its chassis, the GTO's engine was also developed from the 1961 SWB Competizione, that cars Tipo 168/61 unit having been reworked to more or less the same specification as Testa Rossa sports prototypes. Modifications to make it more suitable for road use included larger valves, higher lift camshafts, new connecting rods and higher compression pistons.

With the chassis and mechanical specification more or less decided upon, Ferrari's first GTO muel began developmental testing in March 1961, Willy Mairesse driving a modified 250 GT SWB (chassis 2701 GT) at the Autodrome's of Modena and Monza. This work continued for the next few months, the autostradas of northern Italy also taking a pounding whilst Giotto Bizzarrini was carefully refining the gorgeous new bodywork. Collaborating with specialists from Milan's Politecnico during July 1961, the gifted Tuscan engineer made good use of the universities wind tunnel and produced a stunningly beautiful vehicle with remarkably little drag. There were cowled headlights, triple engine cooling louvres and a small oval grille up front, the side profile revealing engine vents and a single delta louvre carved from behind the front and rear wheelarches respectively. Some later cars would get a trio of engine vents to maximise cooling. Inside, the GTO's cabin was typical of a sixties Ferrari racing car with its crackle black dash housing all the major instruments in one simple binnacle. Also present was a wood-rimmed aluminium spoked Nardi steering wheel, a hefty open gated transmission and acres of bare aluminium. With heavily bolstered bucket seats, Plexiglas side and rear windows and barely a nod to any sound insulation, you could be in no doubt this was one serious piece of speed equipment.

Development continued apace with Stirling Moss testing the new car at Monza a few days prior to the Italian Grand Prix in September of 1961, but November brought what could have been a disastrous event for the factory. In one of his most infamous moves, Enzo Ferrari sacked a selection of his top competition executives, among them Giotto Bizzarini and Chief Engineer Carlo Chiti. As a result, the GTO development programme fell to Mauro Forghieri who was appointed Chief Engineer at the tender age of just 25. However, the first GTO (chassis 3223 GT) was ready by December and tested by Mairesse at Modena around the start of the month. Launched at Ferrari's annual press conference in February 1962, the new car was at this time yet to be fitted with its distinctive rear wing, both the first and second GTO's having to be retro-fitted with riveted aluminium-sheet spoilers.

Homologation delays meant the car was unable to participate in the first round of 1962's World GT Championship – February's Intercontinental 3 Hours at Daytona. The development mule mentioned earlier, chassis 2701 GT, was entered by the UDT-Laystall team though, the British outfit having been lent the car by NART's Luigi Chinetti who had purchased it that winter. Driven by Stirling Moss, the Englishman finished fourth overall and first in the GT class, a promising start. The debut race for a genuine GTO came in March at the Sebring 12 Hours. Olivier Gendebien and Phil Hill drove the second production car (3387 GT) to second overall and first in the GT class. These first two GTO's were the only ones fitted with Testa Rossa blocks, all subsequent examples featuring Silumin 128E blocks as used in the SWB. GTO’s were again victorious in Round 3 of the GT World Championship, the Targa Florio. This time it was the works car (3451 GT) of Giorgio Scarlatti and Paulo Ferraro that came in fourth overall and first in class. Soon after the Targa, a special GTO was fitted with a hot Tipo 163 engine from the 400 Superamerica. This was the first of two GTO's fitted with 4-litre engines and although sometimes referred to as 330 LM, they are more correctly identified as '250 GTO 4-litri'. With a displacement of 3967cc thanks to a bore and stroke of 77mm x 71mm respectively, the first 4-litre (3765 SA) was producing 340bhp at 6750rpm on its 1962 Le Mans test debut.

Prior to the 1962 Le Mans 24 Hours, 3765 SA's engine was further refined with a set of six Weber 42 DCN carburettors, this and an an increase in compression boosting power to an astonishing 390bhp at 7500rpm. 3765 SA was the only one of the two 4-litre GTO's to haved raced in period though, this car unfortunately crashing out of its highest profile appearance, the 1962 Le Mans (but not before posting some extremely quick lap times). 3-litre GTO's continued to set the pace in GT classes around the world throughout the remainder of that year, consecutive titles from 1962 to '64 providing Ferrari with a hat-trick of Manufacturers World Championship's. Highlights included outright victories in the Tour de France during 1963 and ’64 (chassis’ 5111 GT and 4153 GT respectively), the 1962 and 1963 Goodwood TT's (3505 GT and 4399 GT), the 1962 Nassau TT (3987 GT) and the 1962 and ’63 Kyalami 9 Hours (chassis’ 3767 GT and 4491 GT). Although there are detail differences between most GTO's, one car, chassis 4713 GT, received a body combining the cabin and tail of a 250 GT Berlinetta Lusso with the nose of a regular GTO. Much the same as Ferrari's four 330 LM Berlinetta's covered in Part 4, this was the only GTO completed as such. In total, 34 first series GTO's were built between that first car in December 1961 and the last in September 1963, eight of which were right-hand drive.