Collecting Model Cars

Ferrari 250 GTO

The Ferrari 250 GTO was intended and designed to compete in GT racing. The Chief engineer Giotto Bizzarrini put the 3.0 L V12 engine from the 250 Testa Rossa into the chassis from the 250 GT SWB and collaborated with designer Sergio Scaglietti to develop the body. Soon after Bizzarrini and most other Ferrari engineers were fired in a dispute with Enzo Ferrari, development was handed over to new engineer Mauro Forghieri, who worked with Scaglietti to continue development of the body. Wind tunnel and track testing was performed. The Farrari 250 GTO unlike most Ferraris was not designed by a specific individual.

This Ferrari was typical of early-1960s Ferrari technology with a hand-welded tube frame, A-arm front suspension, live-axle rear end, disc brakes, and Borrani wire wheels. The transmission was a five-speed gearbox new to Ferrari GT racing cars; the metal gate that defined the shift pattern would become a tradition that is still maintained in current models. The interior was very basic, to the point where a speedometer was not installed in the instrument panel. Its switches came from the Fiat 500, and it was said that as the car was rushed into production, even the cloth seats were made from workers' overalls.

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