599 GTO import question

As they say about "construction"...you can do just about anything. All it takes is "money"

My guess, it would be cheaper to pay a current owner $250k over cost than pay for the "federalization" and licensing of a "grey market" GTO...but who knows?

 

there is one red/black in Italy and historic silver at the factory

 

Although few and far between. I think they are out there. I had an F chatter looking at one for $200k over, asking me questions the last couple of days.

 

Just curious as to why you or anyone would be willing to pay SO much for the 599 GTO when the 599's replacement is just around the corner. Surely, the replacement will be quicker and better than the GTO - rumours of 700+ bhp, etc, already...

Reminds me of the F430 Scuderia, which is now completely overshadowed by the 458.

I do love the 599 GTO, but at the end of the day it is just a souped up 599...

 

Indeed.

Sounds great to me.

 

It depends on your preferences. Ive driven the 458 and I would not ever trade my Scud for one. The 458 is real fast and real good and a wonderful car. Very pretty too. But, the Scud feels so much more dialed in to me. To me the 458 is so refined that its (for me) a little boring. Maybe someone likes the shape of the 599 but wants a more dialed in 599 and realizes the replacement will be amazing but very refined and not quite as raw and thats what they are looking for.

As to the originating question- at this stage of the game, I don't think you will save any money importing it and converting it and going through all the heartache- you might as well just pay whatever premium they are going for. I havent driven a GTO but the few people I know with them tell me the car is just amazing and they don't want to let it go.

I also understand how many people might think a GTO is just a tweaked 599 GTB- but thats not how I see it- too many systems are not just improved from the 599 but rather next generation (brakes/ suspension). To me the car is really a street legal XX and its almost another car wearing a more aggressive 599 style skin. I love it. If money and space weren't issues for me, Id have one.

 

I agree with what FJerry and Speed Racer wrote above. I would just like to add one additional comment to the fact that the car, as some say, doesn't look all that different from a regular 599 GTB.

At first sight that is correct but in detail a lot of things have changed (look at Speed Racer's summary). Looking at my GTO and HGTE sitting side by side in the garage one really tends to notice the differences. Having said all that: the fact that the 599 GTO still looks like the 599 GTB / HGTE was the real challenge to the design team. They actually managed to give us a car respecting the shape and design of the original 599 and managed to do so by avoiding having to put on spoilers and other aerodynamic gizmos. The end result is impressive: they managed to build a car generating twice as much down force compared to what a "regular" 599 generated yet respecting the beautiful design of the 599.

As long as people don't start to understand that the 599 GTO is a tweaked 599 XX but not a "tweaked" or "souped up" 599 HGTE, the discussion will be endless. Currently driving the 599 HGTE and 599 GTO and being lucky enough having spent some time behind the wheel of the mind blowing 599 XX, I can tell you that the GTO got its pedigree from the XX and not from the GTB / HGTE. Of course, the XX is more extreme and aggressive but only the systems and body parts that prevented the car from getting through homologation for the road were left out. All the rest of the DNA of the XX was incorporated in the GTO and packaged in the wonderfull design of the 599 berlinetta. That to me is the true strength of this car. It's looks, it's performance, it's handling and ... above all, the emotion it evokes with many Ferrarista's.

I'm convinced Ferrari hit a home run with the 599 GTO no matter how quick and fast the 599 successor will be. I'm hoping that the successor is going to be mind blowing but that won't take away anything from what the 599 GTO has done and still does to me.

As far as the GTO's available for sale in Europe: make a couple of phone calls and you may soon find out that not everybody claiming to have one available for sale could actually deliver one.

Cheers,

M

 

Because a Ferrari GTO is special...

 

It looks like there are some available overseas: http://www.autosalon-singen.de/en/moderne_listem.html?marke=Ferrari&modell=Ferrari+599GTO

 

I know the above post is a month old, but a recent post (#6 in this thread: http://ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=319304 ) suggests that Ferrari of Alberta in Calgary, Alberta, Canada has an unsold GTO ready for delivery.

You'd want to confirm, but there is a far better chance that a Canadian spec GTO is already US compliant and legal - since many manufacturers base their Canadian versions of a model on the US-certified version.

 

Does anybody know if these are real though?

 

North America is one market, or has been...

No you cannot modify and import any model that is avaible in USA DOT trim already....(per some discussion years ago)..

Someone brought in one of the first Euro 599GTBs and had to send it back.

That's a lot of money to lose shoudl they seize and crush it....