A Ferrari 288 GTO drifts and slides – then figure of 8’s round some pyrotechnic fountains. Fun for sure!
The Ferrari GTO (often referred to as Ferrari 288 GTO) is an exotic homologation of the Ferrari 308 GTB produced from 1984 through 1985, designated GT for Gran Turismo and O for Omologato (homologated in Italian).
The Ferrari GTO was built to compete in the new Group B Race series and a minimum of 200 cars were required for homologation. However, after the death of Henri Toivonen and his co-driver Sergio Cresto in the 1986 Tour de Corse, the FIA disestablished the class, leaving just the Group A Rally championship. As a result, the 288 GTO never raced and all 272 cars built remained purely road cars.
Some of the 288 GTO’s styling features were first displayed on a 308 GTB design exercise by Pininfarina shown at the 1977 Geneva Salon. This included the deep front spoiler, fender flares, rear lip spoiler, front lid radiator cooling louvers and quadruple driving lights.
The GTO was based on the mid-engined, rear wheel drive 308 GTB (which has a 3.0 litre V8 engine). The “288” refers to the GTO’s 2.8 litre V8 engine as it used a de-bored (by 1 mm) V8 with twin IHI turbochargers, intercoolers, and Weber–Marelli fuel injection. The 2855 cc engine capacity was dictated by the FIA’s requirement for a Turbocharged engine’s capacity to be multiplied by 1.4. This gave the GTO a theoretical engine capacity of 3997 cc, just under the Group B limit of 4.0 litres. The GTO was an impressive performer with 0-60 mph times in the upper 4 second range. Ferrari claimed 0-125 mph (201 km/h) in 15 seconds flat. Top speed was 189 mph (304 km/h), making it the first street-legal production car to reach 300 km/h (186 mph).
The Ferrari 288 GTO is the predecessor to the Ferrari F40!!
The Ferrari F40 is a mid-engine, rear-wheel drive, two-door coupé sports car built from 1987 to 1992. The successor to the Ferrari 288 GTO, it was designed to celebrate Ferrari’s 40th anniversary and was the last Ferrari automobile personally approved by Enzo Ferrari. At the time it was the fastest, most powerful, and most expensive car that Ferrari sold to the public.
The car debuted with a factory suggested retail price of approximately US$400,000 in 1987 ($820,000 today), although some buyers were reported to have paid as much as US$1.6 million. 1,315 F40s were manufactured in total.
Source: Wikipedia.
