<< Prev Page 3 of 3 GTO Variants In 1962 and 1963, the factory completed 33 cars, of which 32 featured the basic Comp/62 design. In the 1963 24 Hours of Le Mans race, Luigi Chinetti's North American Racing Team (NART) entered a 250 GTO fitted with a special body. It was similar in design to the 330 LMB GT/Prototype racers and is commonly referred to as the 250 GTO LMB. For the 1964 season a completely new car was developed to race in the GT class, resulting from the 1963 Le Mans winning 250 P. Being mid-engined, this new 250 LM shared no road going counterpart and therefore its homologation was refused by the FIA. Ferrari hastily assembled three new 'Series 2' GTOs, fitted with a Pininfarina styled body with clear 250 LM touches. This brings the total production of the 250 GTO to 36. Another three cars featured GTO style bodies, but used a different chassis and a 4 litre engine. These are known as the 330 GTOs. To add to the confusion, four customers returned their GTOs to the factory to have a 1964 style body fitted. So today there are 28 chassis fitted with the Comp/62 body, one GTO LMB, four re-bodied with a 1964 design and three chassis originally equipped with a 1964 body. Ferrari's stop gap measure partially paid off, with them winning the world championship for the third year running. At Le Mans the first real crack in the armour was visible when the aerodynamically superior AC Cobra Daytona took the class victory after the five year Ferrari dominance. In a final attempt to retain their stronghold, Ferrari constructed a racing version of the new 275 GTB model, but was too extreme in the eyes of the FIA and homologation was again refused. Disappointed, Ferrari withdrew from GT racing and concentrated on sports cars and Formula 1. The end of an era.
Conclusion A combination of racing history, beauty, rarity and perhaps hype has made the 250 GTO one of the most valuable cars in the world. In recent years several examples are believed to have been sold for astronomical sums with the record now reportedly in excess of $50 million, and there are no signs of the prices dropping yet. Compared to other highly successful, beautiful and much rarer Ferraris, the GTO's outrageous value seems hard to justify. None of these, however, are so universally admired as the 250 GTO. Many of today's fortunate owners of the 36 cars appreciate this and regularly exercise their prized possessions in the big historic events and races. In a comment about racing such a valuable machine, one owner pointed out that due the value, it is today impossible to write off a 250 GTO. << Prev Page 3 of 3
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