All, Many times I have read that it was a Bizzarini creation and that he and many others left Ferrari in the great walk out and formed ATS ... which failed. Bizzarini ofcourse then went on to make his own cars ... The 250 Breadvan was designed by Bizzarini and in many ways took the design even further. It has been mentioned in a thread in the General discussion section that Drogo designed the shape of the GTO ... is this correct?, I always thought Bizzarini was responsible for that too. Pete
The prospect of 1962 for Ferrari was pretty bleak. Between the '61 and '62 seasons, they lost Carlo Chiti (chief engineer), Romulo Tavoni (team manager) and Bizzarrini, who was indeed responsible for much of the GTO's development. But, thanfully, once he left, much of the development was already done. That said, a young man named Mauro Forghieri, an engineer, was able to pull things together. This is due largely to the fact that the GTO is quite similar to the 250 SWB. The first test car was a 250 SWB with Pininfarina body that ran in the 1961 Le Mans. The final derinvation, the 250 GTO, was the culmination of much of this earlier development and had Scaglietti bodywork. I plan to write an article about the GTO or some related topic for a monthly FChat newsletter.
Just to add a few things: The 1961 Le Mans prototype was 2643GT. A further prototype, a "muletta," went around Monza in Sept '61 and was 2053GT. The Drogo body, such as that of 2053 after it crashed at Nurburgring in May '62, was to Bizzarrini's design. Scaglietti was later charged with designing the final GTO shape. But all this was after Bizzarrini's initial work and subsequent influential input. In "Supercar Classics," November 1990, Bizzarrini said, "This was strictly my project, in fact the GTO was the only car that Scaglietti didn't know about. We hired a body man specifically to work in my department [the Racing Department] on the GTO."
Drogo did design a body for the 250GT ... three of them were built... look similar to a 250GTO, but a little more rounded front and looks like it got a good swift kick lifting up the rear.
The thrilling life of #2053 in some pics. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
#2053 is currently missing isn't she? Man I would love to stumble over that chassis and recreate the GTO prototype!!!!!!! Pete
I think after one final crash it was just never rebuilt - so, destroyed / parted out (?) I'm not 100% sure though
It may be interesting to have the following information added to this discussion: "FORZA The Magazine About Ferrari", Number 49, November 2003. "The Coachbuilder", by Winston Goodfellow. An interview type article with Sergio Scaglietti. When refering to the GTO, Mr. Scaglietti states: "Obviously, the frame was something Bizzarrini designed." Within the article there is mention of the "Walkout" and that He, Mr. Scaglietti, and the new chief designer of Ferrari, Mr. Mauro Forghieri were left to finalize the GTO. Mr. Scaglietti state that Bizzarrini's design was too complicated and indicates that after his work, the car's line and mouth was all new. Does anybody have a picture of a 250 GTO with a body makers badge on the car? Thanks Best wishes
Unfortunately that won't solve the issue of who designed the shape, as we know who built it Plus lets face it if you could increase your involvement with arguably the best car that ever squealed its tyres you would er, exaggerate your involvement wouldn't you Pete
The question of a body badge is just out of curiosity on my part ... I have seen several 250 GTO over the years and have not noticed a badge or marking which to me suggests that the body might be Scaglietti designed and built directly for the Ferrari factory. Further in the article noted in my post above, Mr. Scaglietti when speaking about the 250 GTO states: "I think it is a little bit ugly." "If we had more time, perhaps we could have made a windshield that would have been a bit different." From reading the eitire article, I don't think that Mr. Scaglietti gets a "big head" or extends his part in the development of any of the memorable automobiles that he was involved with beyond that which he sees as the truth. From looking at the pictures of the proto-types provided in this discussion, one may see some of the shape and detail of the final body, but the final body seems to me to be rather different than the proto-types. Best wishes
mmmm Does that mean #2053 had different bodies thru it's life? was it ever a Breadvan ? or what about the last pic?
The different bodies on the same chassis can be seen in the former picture display. There was only one "breadvan", and that's actually discussed on a simultaneous thread.
