Here we go again....Not a 599 shell at all. Different frame,different size and weight panels. All specific ONLY to the GTO. Wider in the front and shorter in the back. Just because the facory kept the same shape doesn't make it the same as a 599 .
. Almost everything under and including the skin is unique to the GTO. The Scud was a modified 430, the Special is a modified 458. All sit on the same frames as their earlier versions but not so with the GTO. An almost completely fresh build. It's been over 40 years since the 288 was crowned a GTO and it will be along time before another Ferrari after the 599 GTO wears that badge. The factory believes that it deservers its name and so do I.
I understand your technical point. However, take the average car guy. If you throw up a 288 GTO and a 308, they can see the DNA. Same with the 250GTO. Same with the 599 GTO. Heck, I have had a dozen guys call a few of my Ferraris 'corvettes.' Several guy a called it a 'Ferrara.' I really hate 'Ferrara.'
Try driving a GT4. Even Ferrari owners don't recognize it. I had forgotten how extensive the differences between the 599 and its GTO brethren were. The one difference (and I think its relevant given the O in GTO) is that the two earlier cars were designed as competition machines. The 288 never ran as intended but that was due to a rule change.
Your car is pure sex on wheels. If they ask what it is, just answer, "an orgasm." You are right, the "O" in GTO stands for Omologato or Homologation. For those who don't know (Vizsla, anyone with a picture of Fangio knows this), Homologation is a process by which a manufacturer makes a certain number of "souped-up" cars and sells them so that the car does not look like a street legal one-off racer. The Homologation is designed to give the car an appearance of larger production.
I think you need to rethink your statement about the commonality of the 288 and 308. The 288 engine was longitudinal, thus a small lengthening of the wheelbase. The body was clearly bases on a 308 with bigger fenders etc for bigger tires. The engine was definitely based on the 308 engine but sleeved to 2,8 litre to accommodate the racing class and turbo. Even the interiors are for all intense and purposes the same . Alcantera on the dash and what is now an option on every Ferrari made, Daytona seats. Wheels based on the pentastar design etc. I think if you look you'll find this factual. And yes I own a 308 but have spent countless hours in a 288 .
I'll go as far as saying that like the 250 the 288 was a homologation special. The most recent GTO wasn't. So how did it get the O?
I am well aware of what the GTO name used to stand for. Nowadays it is just a moniker though. I was not insinuating that the hard core F12 will be named GTO (but it might, you never know, especially if there is another F12XX programme down the line), rather that there will be such a car!!! MisterMaranello said that there won't be such a car. I beg to differ! As for the GTO name... the last GTO was not a homologation special either!
Agree. Spot on. Enough said. It's not us owners who gave it the GTO badge. The factory did and boy do those who own and drive it on a regular basis agree with them. ... touché Why do people who don't own and drive the 599 GTO keep saying that it is just a souped up 599? Because they "think" that's what it is? Because they've heard it through the grapevines? I owned a 599 HGTE (and drove it on a very regular basis) and the 599 GTO at the same time. Why did I end up selling my HGTE ... simply because the GTO is in another league. The driving experience is totally different. You can't compare the two. While driving the GTO you do constantly feel the DNA of the XX. I've only had the privilege of driving the 599XX once and from that experience I've even gone to appreciate the GTO more. Nothing reminds me of the HGTE while driving the GTO. I do think back of the XX experience while driving the GTO. Compared to you I'm not even in a position to comment further as you own both cars and will probably agree with me that the GTO is the civilised version of the wonderful 599XX and not a hardcore HGTE. An F40 tickles all your senses when you drive it. So does the 599 GTO and it never gets boring. In fact, the more I drive mine the more I love and respect it.
That's a common misconception. The 288 was built to compete in Group B racing, not rallying. The FIA had a common set of rules (called the Group B) for both rallying and racing. Ferrari wanted to compete in circuit racing. The 599 on the other hand, to which I was referring, was not a homologation special. Instead it was the road version of a track car. Hence, the term GTO does not apply strictly to "Omologati" according to Ferrari's recent parlance. Subsequently, an F12 GTO is not beyond imagination.
I stand corrected then. This is an academic/semantic discussion. The most recent GTO is an awesome car by any definition. And yes Ferrari can call its cars anything it wants.
The F12 has got enough problems putting those 730 hp to the ground as it is... I doubt there is much more potential in a front mid-engined car beyond that, no matter the diff or the tires(which still need to be street legal)... At best, Ferrari could produce a lightend, more hardcore version to combat Aventador SV(which will have around 800 hp and, more importantly, AWD).
I have not driven the 599GTO but a friend who owns one took me on a quite spirited ride and I think it was truly epic. Brutally fast acceleration in any situation., but on old back roads had a bit of a presence of being big. But a truly great ride. Unlike any of the many I have ridden or driven. I was privileged to have driven the 288 a bit and certainly compared to my 308 was a quantum leap ahead in acceleration. Have you driven the F12 and where would you put it in comparison with the 599 GTO?
Yes I have driven the F12 and it is a wonderful, fast, great handling car. I usually reserve judgement until I have driven a car for a longer period of time and both on and off the track but first impressions of the F12 were very positive. But to be honest ... it doesn't give me that feeling of "being on the edge", hard core, orgasmic, committed feeling the GTO gives me. Anybody can go fast in the F12 ... anybody can try to go fast in the GTO but she is a handful and makes you work for your pleasure. It is a mighty fast car and when pushed not for the average skilled driver. All these factors put together make the GTO so fantastic to drive. I classify the GTO as a keeper. The F12 not. While Ferrari released an amazing car with the F12 ... what they achieved with the 599 GTO is so much better. Now ... that's my opinion but if you hear what fellow GTO owners say, feel about their GTO's you will notice that practically all of them will agree with me. True Ferrari fanatics are keeping their GTO's. Yes, some are being sold because owners want to move on to the latest and greatest toy the shop has to offer. You will always have that. No matter how great the car is. I for one immediately committed to buying the GTO and my car was one of the first delivered in Europe. I had signed my order when people on this same board told me I was full of (you know what) and that Ferrari wouldn't release a GTO. I knew that when Ferrari decided to give it the GTO name they would produce something special and what they gave us in return is way past my expectations. The GTO is about passion. It isn't the fastest of the pack anymore but who cares. It still is and always will be fast but more importantly, it makes you feel alive and on the edge. That's feeling I don't get from the F12.
For many of us who own a GTO. There is no greater pleasure then being behind the wheel at speed in what is possibly one of the most driver involved cars that Ferrari has ever produced. An aricle in the official Ferrari Magazine stated that "The factory is making all its newer models easier to drive except the GTO. The GTO is a drivers car."
I resisted joining this discussion until now. I doubt the stripped out road racer F12 will be called the GTO. As with others on this forum, a good friend of mine attended the preview of the car in Modena, sat down with engineers and they explained what they had done and why they felt the car deserved the GTO badge. The distinct impression has been that the GTO name is not likely to be used again anytime soon. What continually amazes me is how people with little experience of the 599 GTO keep saying this and that about the car. Its a raw car, it doesn't cajole and comfort you, its intense almost all the time, yes you can cruise around but the V12 is never really quiet, the ride is never really soft and the whole environment is uncompromising. When you get into the car you know this is something different, when that V12 barks in life(louder than the F12, I have been around both) you again know this experience is on a higher plane. Experience, and event, both are words that describe the GTO. I have yet to experience an F12 but the telling thing is, in SA at least nobody who has a GTO is selling it for an F12. I am sure the F12 is a softer, more comfort orientated GT car. Life is more than a collection of numbers, more than a set of statistics, its an event and the GTO is just that, a huge event, one which never becomes boring, never ceases to bombard the senses.
I don't know where this perception comes from. I think the F12 has pretty admirable traction. I took a friend out has experience with many high hp sports cars and he was very surprised at how well the F12 puts the power down in our cold weather.
