I was being sarcastic! 288 GTOs were built in 1984 and 1985. The last car (58345) was completed on September 23rd 1985 and arrived in the USA on November 14th 1985 for Ron Tonkin, the oldest Ferrari dealer in the USA. Enzo wanted to make sure that he got the last car because according to Tonkin he had lost his wife the year before There is absolutely no advantage of one year over the other. Its a bit like USA F40s where some clever salesmen brainwashed the public into thinking that 1992 cars are "better" for whatever reason, in order to move the slow-moving stock that last year when the economy had crashed. Complete myth. All that matters is the condition of the individual car...
Impossible to say how many will show. 3 or 30. Im not prepared to start posting registration numbers, but I will say that we have had interest from clear across the world in terms of shipping cars in for the event. The interest has been very gratifying indeed. I staged the world's first ever Miura Reunion in 2000, 9 years ago, and we had a car Fedexed by air in from Hong Kong, another from Switzerland etc. We thought we would get 20 cars, and we got 27, a world record gathering for the model. But it could easily have been the other way around because registering and showing up are two different things! The 288 GTO is the rarest of all Ferrari Supercars and this will affect numbers. But sometimes small is good... By the way, Fioravanti has been contacted, and although it is still in the works, he has indicated that he would like to come! Image Unavailable, Please Login
Thanks, Joe. I did think that the last of the GTOs were '86, so thanks for clearing that up. As for any model year of either F40 or GTO being better than another, I pretty much figured that the desirability depends on the individual cars, considering such factors as how they were driven and cared for. The GTO gathering sounds like a wonderful event. If I did have a GTO, rather than just a humble 308, I'd have been the first to sign up. It's great that you're doing this! Will the rally include any sort of Concours or showing of the vehicles that will be open to the public? (If not, then I humbly request that you at least post lots of photos, whether 3 cars or 30 show up!)
Yes the event has grown to be both Friday and Saturday and on Saturday the public will have access to the cars...
57493, a nice example encountered today... Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Here is an interesting detail - factory mounting holes for the EE plates. But where is the plate? Image Unavailable, Please Login
Another detail is that all cars came with lead seals marked "GTO" attached to their wastegates... this is 57493's Image Unavailable, Please Login
Joe thanks for your input. I agree with you it's difficult to know before the D-day ! I wish you lots of success and many many cars attending the event. Given the number of cars that live in CA, I think it will be a success anyway ! Olivier
Major Chilli: Thanks for affirming how the great "Tonkini" came to get the very last production 288 GTO chassis number 58345. Here it is, with the rest of Ron's Ferrari Supercar Collection at Portland's International Speedway. He is in our prayers... Image Unavailable, Please Login
The Tonkin family's Last-of-a-Series number 58345, still with EE.200.AK plates affixed... I should stress that this is the last "production" 288 GTO. Is it possible that Ferrari later made one more post-production GTO with an out-of-sequence chassis number for a racing driver, a movie star, Royalty, or my rich uncle? I will leave that to your imagination... Image by David Quick. Image Unavailable, Please Login
The first production 288 or so im lead to believe, at the Pond collection. Interesting side note both the first and last 288s share their homes with Vector W8s. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Alan: Im very familiar with this car. Years ago the late Bob Pond sold me Miura SV 5038 because I bugged him so much. "OK, OK you can have it!" I remember him saying. LOL. He also sold me his F40 for my friend Ron Edwards, all of which I am grateful for, and I have fond memories of this great man and his inspiring life story which includes being a USA fighter pilot in World War II and the formation of the Palm Springs Air Museum for his collection of 36+ war-birds (some of those things are worth many millions each!). I have a connection with Pond because my father-in-law and he were classmates some 65+ years ago in the Midwest. Small world! At any rate, I digress... the car you've shown is 56761, and unfortunately it is not the first production GTO - thats just misinformation. It was built in July 1985 and is some 200 plus cars into the production, and is one of the cars with orange (Daytona Style) seat inserts, factory AC, and power windows. I drove this car before it went back East to clothing tycoon Alex B who has it now. The bumpers have been dutifully returned to their satin black and he showed it thus at Cavallino in January 2008.
Tonkin's 58345 and younger siblings, an obvious but enjoyable repost... Image Unavailable, Please Login
Thanks Joe just goes to show, one should'nt believe what one reads on the net. Unless the source is verifiable!
The first GTO publication ... Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
