Ferrari 250 GTO - Overrated Collector's Item or the Ultimate Racing Legend?

When people mention super expensive cars or legendary racers, the 250 GTO will always appear in the conversation. It is now known for being a car which sells for tens of millions of pounds consistently, and in the newspaper articles quickly thrown together by a random man about the auction, they will simply mention that it won many races in its time for Ferrari, and then write a complete biography about the celebrity who bought it. But for whatever reason, despite this being a car which costs almost as much as a Boeing 737-600 passenger jet (I’m not joking), nobody really seems to expand on the car’s achievements. Ask anyone, even a car enthusiast, about the successes of the 250 GTO and they will most likely reply with “uhhhhhh…” or “it was a successful racer for Ferrari.” They will then proceed to tell you that it’s the most expensive car in the world.

And this is my problem. Even I, a Ferrari enthusiast, has the same amount of knowledge about the 250 GTO as Jonathan Legard has about F1. Above you can see a screenshot of what Google brings to you when you search “ferrari 250 gto”. Price, rarity, price, speed. It’s all everyone’s interested in. No mention of its races, “How many races did the Ferrari 250 GTO win?” Is not there, and if you keep clicking them, it never seems to even appear.

Again. Price, rarity, speed. And then price again. And again. And again. So, today, you and I. Let’s become one of the few people on the planet who can actually comment on a 250 GTO without talking about how much it costs, or how many were made, or how many are left, or whether Justin Bieber bought one or not.

Before I begin may I just make one final nitpick. It seems even Ferrari themselves couldn’t give a monkeys about one of their most successful cars ever, because Ferrari seem more interested in licensing cheap plastic models of the 250 GTO which are being produced in an emotionless and unloving factory, only to be smacked together by a 5 year old who has no idea what they’re holding, what they’re doing, or whether they’re even getting paid.

Anyway, rant over. Let’s begin!

The Ferrari 250 GTO started off as a project to build a high performance Grand Tourer, just a road car. It wasn’t until 1962 regulations changed for racing, meaning that the world champion constructor title could no longer be won based on points gained by sports prototype cars, it was now all about Grand Tourers (GT cars).

However, many of Ferrari’s best workers had called it quits, which poised a bit of a challenge for them. Regardless, Giotto Bizzarrini and his team got to work on the car. From here, there was nothing special, just Ferrari doing their stuff - engineering and developing a GT racer. Except they were on a time crunch. With limited workers, they really had to get a move on. The car was derived from the famous 250 GT SWB racer, using similar layout and parts, partly due to the fact that there was little time, and that Enzo probably wanted a few extra Euros in his pocket. It did of course, use a classic Ferrari V12 - a Colombo 60 degree 3.0L V12 developing 300hp at 7400rpm. Talk about the car was kept secret though, in an attempt to burst out and surprise their rivals with this, hopefully, brilliant GT racer. This was not only a competition for racing, but also almost a beauty pageant as Ferrari were desperate to dazzle people with looks better than that of the Jaguar E Type, although they were also quite worried as Ferrari sales manager Girolamo Gardini saw the E-Type being unveied in Geneva. When he returned to Modena, Bizzarrini claims that Gardini was panicking, saying “Jaguar are going to beat us with their new GT!” So Ferrari had to get cracking, and they had to do it well.

It seemed they may have hit the jackpot, because in testing (1961, pre-release) with Stirling Moss at Monza, the car was nicknamed “The Monster”, for obvious reasons I don’t think need explaining. By January 1962, the 250 GTO was finished and was revealed at a Ferrari press conference. The car looked great and was very promising, with more aerodynamic shape than previous models, better components and much lighter at a kerb weight of 880kg compared to the 250 GT SWB’s 957kg. The original model as pictured above had no rear spoiler. It was added later on in March of 1962, presumably because Stirling Moss had a hissy fit that The Montster kept throwing it’s tail out and almost killing him. In 1964, the 250 GTO’s body shape was modified significantly, and is often mistaken for the 250LM, when it is in fact a 250 GTO Series 2 (pictured below).

The car’s first race took place at 12 Hours of Sebring in March 1962. Expectations were high, but Ferrari lived up to those expectations by taking a 1-2 finish with the brand new GTO placing second, and the already proven 250 Testa Rossa taking first. More importantly however, it placed first in the GT racing class, which was what Ferrari was interested in. It would probably take years for me to filter through and describe every race the 250 GTO participated in, so I’ll list the ones that I can find that it won to let you marvel at it’s winning grace.

But the 250 GTO’s story doesn’t get through my cynical eyes completely clean.

Ferrari, as always, cheated. The car did not meet the new regulations set, and it seems that ignoring regulations is Ferrari’s favourite hobby. In order to enter, 100 models had to be built of the car in question. As demonstrated many, many times by journalists who don’t know whether it’s new year or New York, Ferrari only made 39… And that was from 1962-1964, not when they first entered. There were only 33 Series 1 cars (the style we are all most familiar with) from 1962-1963. Claims have been made that Ferrari edited the chassis numbers of the cars to make it appear that they made 100, but I have my doubts on that. Much like Lancia in Group B rally, the stories created by the opposition may also be lies. I believe this may be a case of agreements, perhaps even by contract, that have been made between Ferrari and the big businessmen at the top of racing regulation company ltd plc (rights reserved). You simply would not be fooled into thinking there were 100 cars. You just can’t. This is clearly Enzo and his buddies sitting round a table with some wine saying “ah, ah, yes, how would you like a fifty thousand euro cheque from me and we will go and sit on my yacht together, ahaha!!!” And mr racing businessmen replies “ah yes, of course, but how will we cover it up?” Enzo then says “ah we just change the numbers, nobody will care anyway hahahaha” and they all get drunk and Enzo steals their wallets at the end. I’m always skeptical of any car companies dodgy dealings - how they magically pass regulations and then reveal how they did it 20 years later. It’s too odd. Suspicious. But that’s just business.

And that’s why I feel the 250 GTO can’t be the ultimate racing legend, but a legend for sure. A legend needs to have a hard fought story behind it, something amazing, like how McLaren were able to assemble their race-winning cars in the 60s out of practically empty pockets - even without a workshop, and when they did get one, it was the corner of an industrial warehouse. But the 250 GTO stays as just a hugely successful racer. A legend, of course! For me, however… It just can’t take the number one spot.

Or at least that’s how I felt… Until I saw just how crazily good the 250 GTO really was…

Here’s my promised list of all the race wins I can find from the 250 GTO, so strap yourselves in and prepare to be blown away… This was an extremely good car.

1) 8th May 1962 - Silverstone / Scalextric Trophy
2) 25th May 1962 - Brands Hatch
3) 26th May 1962 - Brands Hatch / Peco Trophy
4) 11th June 1962 - Mallory Park
5) 15th July 1962 - Clermont-Ferrand / Trophée d’Auvergne
6) 15th July 1962 - Darm GT Solitude
7) 5th August 1962 - Nürburgring
8) 6th August 1962 - Brands Hatch / Peco Trophy
9) 18th August 1962 - Goodwood / RAC Tourist Trophy
10) 15th-23rd September 1962 - Tour de France Automobile
11) 29th September 1962 - Snetterton 3 hours
12) 7th October 1962 - Montlhéry / Coupe du Salon
13) 7th October 1962 - Preis von Tirol
14) 14th October 1962 - Monza / Autumn Cup
15) 21st October 1962 - Montlhéry / Paris 1000km
16) 3rd November 1962 - Kyalami 9 hours
17) 2nd December 1962 - Luanda / Angola Grand Prix
18) 3rd December 1962 - Nassau Tourist Trophy
19) 17th February 1963 - Daytona 3 hours
20) 7th April 1963 - Dakar 6 hours
21) 4th May 1963 - Japanese Grand Prix
22) 12th May 1963 - Spa 500km
23) 26th May 1963 - USRRC-GT Pensacola
24) 3rd June 1963 - Goodwood / Whitsun Trophy
25) 23rd June 1963 - DARM GT Hockenheim
26) 6th July 1963 - Silverstone / Martini Trophy
27) 24th August 1963 - Goodwood / RAC Tourist Trophy
28) 25th August 1963 - MWCSCC Lynndale Farms
29) 14th-22nd September 1963 - Tour de France Automobile
30) 2nd November 1963 - Kyalami 9 hours
31) 24th November 1963 - Coppa F.I.S.A.
32) 16th February 1964 - Daytona 2000km
33) 30th March 1964 - Goodwood / Sussex Trophy
34) 2nd May 1964 - Silverstone / BRDC Trophy
35) 17th May 1964 - Spa 500km
36) 31st May 1964 - Preliminary Bridgehampton
37) 14th June 1964 - Internationales Mainz-Finthen
38) 26th June 1964 - Circuito de Cascais
39) 28th June 1964 - DARM GT Avus
40) 5th July 1964 - Coupes Benelux
41) 26th July 1964 - Portugal Grand Prix
42) 2nd August 1964 - SCCA Divisional Thompson
43) 2nd August 1964 - Västkustloppet
44) 16th August 1964 - SCCA Regional Thompson
45) 23rd August 1964 - National Zeltweg
46) 12th-20th September 1964 - Tour de France Automobile
47) 8th December 1964 - Coppa F.I.S.A.
48) 25th April 1965 - Coupes de Vitesse
49) 9th May 1965 - DARM GT Nürburgring
50) 27th June 1965 - DARM GT Avus
51) 29th June 1965 - Hill Climb Coppa della Sila
52) 11th July 1965 - DARM GT Mainz-Finthen
53) 24th July 1965 - Trier
54) 19th September 1965 - Guanabara Grand Prix
55) 10th October 1965 - Coppa AMAG Monza

That’s all the race wins I could find, only wins! Not even podium finishes! Amazing, right! If that list can’t convince you, I guess only driving it for real could. A collector’s item, unfortunately is what it’s become now, the 250 GTO is a selling point for auction tickets, newspaper articles and all sorts of toys, models, t-shirts, posters, paintings, videos and marketing. But simply worth £30m because of it’s rarity and the Ferrari badge? Partly. But the fact that this is a rare, historic Ferrari which is road legal, has astonishing looks and is one of the most successful racers of all time is what makes it sell in the millions. It’s a true icon, a car which Ferrari may never be able to replicate in the present day.

And now when someone asks you about the 250 GTO, you can confidently reply with “Yes! Did you know Stirling Moss was the driver that test drove the car for Ferrari and named it “The Monster” because it was so quick?” or “Yes! Did you know that it’s actually quite similar to the 250GT SWB and uses many of the same parts despite being worth many times more?” Doesn’t that make you feel proud.

And all of the above… That, My friends, is why this car truly is the greatest race car… In the world.