Would you buy it or stay away? No stripe. Feels wrong, but such a great care, and rare...thoughts?
Great question. I think it depends on what you want. The stripe (aka race livery) was an approx. 9K option on the GTO when new. IMHO the stripe and "hotter" colors (ie. the beautiful reds, yellow, white exterior colors) say look at me I'm an F car (same with scuds or speciales). These GTO's really are standout looking cars and truly epitomize the F car "look". Some argue that the stripe has a modest financial benefit too. For example, there are 360CS and 430 scud owners (the speciale is to new to value) who will say that the stripe adds some very modest value to a car (maybe 10K-15K as a speculative guess on the 360CS and 430S). Then again, there are many GTO owners who like to fly under the radar (literally). I fall into the latter category. My GTO is a very dark color and she has no stripe and I actually passed on several striped cars (including the hottest colors with the stripe). My GTO has the massive unpainted carbon side skirts which give it an almost 2 tone look (with the nero setoso exterior). Clearly there is no wrong choice. The only issue is personal preference. If you are looking solely from an investment perspective I really can't answer that as ALL GTO's do (eventually) sell. Does a striped car sell more quickly ? Maybe maybe not as I don't think there is any empirical data to support an unqualified conclusion. Your spending $500K-$600K+ on your dream car. What is your fantasy ? If you feel that the stripe makes the car then only buy a striped car. If you want to fly under the radar then definitely do only a stripe delete car. However you ultimately decide, I guarantee you that she will be THE best driver you have ever owned. She will also be THE best sounding car you have ever owned. Get the car that turns you on. Everything else will fall into place over time. Lets see some pics when you pick her up.
Really great post and I agree entirely, buy what you like, at the end of the day few people buy cars because of what the next owner would like because who honestly truly knows what the next owner is going to like. Live in the moment not in the future, well that's what I believe anyway.
I would only purchase a 599 GTO withOUT a stripe. (If I wanted a Ford GT, I would also insist on stripe-delete.) Being old school, stripes belong on the racing cars to sell Martini & Rossi or to make it more noticeable to sell whatever product. Stripes are garish. But that is exactly what some other Ferrari owners want... If bright red or yellow cars aren't loud enough, they add racer-boy stripes to them. (I've even seen chrome and "gold-plated" looking 599s.) Lamborghini Miuras exploited the loud-color market with their lime-greens and oranges, though they never stooped to putting stripes on them. Ferrari adds stripes to the end-of-production-run models to differentiate them visually from the previous fair. But I apologize to all the racer-boys out there as I am a conservative geezer. It a matter of taste. As has been said before, buy what YOU like to project your personal style.
Im not quite so old school in my taste but to my eyes the stripe just doesn't work well on the GTO. The 599 shape is large and the stripe makes the car look larger. I think maybe a dark silver stripe on a black car is OK. But overall I would not want it. However, having bought many cars over the years, I've learned, at least for me, if something like the stripe is iffy for me, if the car is great (as the GTO is) then I usually at first live with it and then I turn around and think its awesome.
I love the racing stripes and historic livery. To me it makes the car. Especially when the stripes/livery are underneath the clear coat.
To me that just looks like a slightly modified 599 gtb/hgte. Depends on personal preference. Own the GTOness of the GTO.
Why does it "feel wrong" to you? Although the stripe seems to be the most visible distinction from a standard 599 for those not well versed. I would hazard to guess most 599 GTOs have stripes and most standard 599s do not. If it feels wrong then don't do it but you got to admit it looks good either way.
An owner here has a no stripe all yellow GTO, that is my favourite. But I also remember that it sat for a long time before it sold so different strokes for different folks and all that...
I personally love the dark roof, no stripe look and that is what I have. What I love almost as much are the racing stripes & historic livery. When looking to purchase a GTO it's not like there are a lot to choose from. The most important part of the GTO experience is driving it and they drive the same with or without stripes, dark roof etc.
I think she looks just right without ;-) Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
If you like it, buy it You can always add the stripe or buy it over the counter & keep it around to sell with the car in the future Someday someone will say stripe delete is rare & worth a bunch more money Someone tried that on me this week on a Ford GT40
Same layout but totally different cars. I did a little comparison on ********** if you go there. Thread was "never satisfied". After I sold my diablo.
I owned from new a 2009 599GTB. When I ordered my GTO I wanted it to look as different as possible from a 599. Hence black roof, wheels and stripe on Ferrari red.
