A quartet of GTOs @ Maranello's 70th, 58137 nearest the camera sold twice over the years by Joe Sackey Classics Image Unavailable, Please Login
It's obviously the final stages of the production line for all cars, clearly illustrating 8 cylinders and 12 cylinders in the same line.
Final stages. Not the actual assembly. Got it. I kind of see where it makes sense for the V8s to be in one assembly line as they shared a lot of parts. The 12 cylinders were obviously 2 different configurations so it makes sense to separate them from the V8s. Although the Testarossa only shares a few front suspension parts with the GTO. Who took that picture by the way?
The thing to remember about the GTO is that it wasn't a typical series production car, so it's manufacture didn't always conform to the standard production protocol. For example, the first owner of 57223 told me that when he happened to visit the factory in 1985, he was taken to a separate area away from the standard production lines, where the assembly of two (2) GTOs was taking place, one of them his car. The other car was 57229. There are other examples. I'm not sure who took that image.
I'm, sorry Joe: that's NOT the assembly line. You already posted that picture some days ago and this is the second time you wrote this completely wrong thing. This proves you never visited the factory at those times and also that in this case you didn't look carefully to the picture you posted. That's the final check before shipping. You can see men polishing the body a lamp for a paint correction and the protection do access the interior to clean or fix it. The care were assembled and then (all, each one) road tested for more or less 100 km (62 miles): you could damage the body paint during the road test or the interiors or at least doing some schracthes during the testing process. So, before shipping, all cars were sent to that place where they checked, polished, cleaned and repaired if necessary. The assembly, of course, was completed before testing the car on the road... The correct name of that place is "linea di finizione" (Finishing line), that was oBviously common far ALL CARS (V8 AND V12), as there was just to inspect the body and the interiors. That a lamp to fix some paint correction for some schratches/paint damage done during the road testing at the pre shipping inspection point, the "linea di finizione" (Finishing line) As said above, you are right: that's not the assembly line, it's the "linea di finizione" (Finishing line) after road testing the cars. A completely different thing and the same for every Ferrari, V8 or V12. No 288 GTO ever saw the 12 cylinders line: theye were all assembled on the V8 line. This is official, I'm sorry, you are working with fantasy, in this case Here below a picture you posted: it shows the V8 assembly line (left, with Mondial and 288) and the 12 cylinder assembly line (right, with Testarossa and 400 i) : the man with the brown sweater is Giuliano Medici (both production lines boss, V12 and V8) and the one with the blue suit is Ermanno Ronchetti (mechanical part of the 8 cylinder line boss) doing his jub at the eight cylinder line. Hope you liked the history lesson about Ferrari production: it's for free Ciao Image Unavailable, Please Login
I wish I did. You were equally adamant about the yellow GTO - until you admitted you were wrong. As I posted: The first owner of 57223, Morris K, a well-known Ferrari collector, told me personally that when he visited the factory in 1985, he was taken to a separate area away from the standard production lines, where the construction/assembly of two (2) GTOs was taking place, one of them his car. The other car was 57229, VIP collectors Jon M's car. They both corroborated the same thing separately, and I'll take their word over yours any day. I also happen to know that GTO 58329 was not assembled on the V8 line, and I'm sure you know why. In summation, to say they were all assembled in the V8 line is simply incorrect, you were not there and nobody can deny that it's possible that some of these special series cars were not assembled on the standard production line. Conversely, can you prove that all GTOs were strictly assembled in the V8 line? Rhetorical question. Besides original GTO owners, at least one Ferrari SpA factory employee confirms that they were not all assembled on the V8 line. Current Ferrari SpA Engineering Director Franco Cimatti, who I am friends with and who helps me out with some of my VIP clients, started on the factory floor in the mid 80s. Some of you will recognize his name for the work he did with the Enzo & the La Ferrari. He was there at the end of GTO production, and he has detailed how random things were in that era. I did specifically ask, and indeed, GTOs were in fact built randomly inside the factory during their production and not strictly on the V8 line. Looking back over his files from the 80s, he has shared material that has never been published, for example, recently he sent me an email regarding GTO Evoluzione development: "Joe, one more bit that ran across my hands today: a sketch of one of the two GTO Evoluzione prototypes we used in the early stages of the F40's development. One, with a standard GTO engine, was used first as a wind-tunnel buck in Pininfarina for F40 aerodynamics work, and later for F40 tire durability runs; the other, with a racing-developed engine (still not an F40 engine - it had one throttle per bank, and no muffler) with 600+ HP was used for general vehicle assessment. One afternoon in March 1987, Dario was going to Fiorano for some high-speed laps on special tires (hand-carved slicks, if I remember correctly), and I asked our boss Maurizio Manfredini for permission to ride along. I had to wear a helment, because that car had no interior trim, and I would have risked banging my head on the unpadded roll-cage. I was loaned the helmet by Beppe Cornia, and got in with Dario. It was right after lunch, but I never suffered from motion sickness, and had gotten used to taking notes at high lateral g's. This ride was much much more extreme than anything I had experienced before. Thanks to the special, lightly-sculpted tires, I appreciated more clearly how Dario's experience could judge the transition from mostly lateral grip, to when he could floor his right foot because longitudinal grip would have been greater than the portion required sideways at the end of each corner" On another occasion, I asked him to clarify some details of Ferrari F1 star Michele Alboreto's GTO for my client Miles S. He responded thus: "About Michele Alboreto's GTO and its golden gearbox. At the end of November 1986, just a couple of months after we had dismantled the last GTO prototype, Michele brought his GTO in the experimental workshop (Reparto Esperienze, where I had started my Ferrari career) for some service. Battistino "Tino" Carniglia (recently deceased, sadly) had just joined us in "Esperienze" after a stint in "Gestione Sportiva", where he had also worked as a trackside engineer. Tino, ten years my senior and a true gentleman to everyone, especially us young workshop boys, was very friendly with Michele, and he filled the work order form for workshop foreman Danilo Agnani on Dec. 1st. Tino's and Danilo's signatures are the two signatures on the form. The car's chassis number, 56195, is on the top line. Agnani also wrote the car's owner name and the Montecarlo license plate number above the form's frame. The car that day had 14,278 Km on the odometer. The work order requests a check of the shift linkage to identify the cause of vibration on the gear lever, but nothing about gear ratios. I remember how Michele was talking about his new teammate Gerhard Berger, and how he was saying that Berger had begun to "put the wheels in the right places" around Fiorano. As far as I can remeber, the car's gearbox was in the standard grey color, this is something that a detail nut like me would have immedately noticed on the GTO in particular, the visible gearbox feature was something that had captured my imagination, as that also shows the ribbing and the oil pump and duct shapes on the gearbox's back cover plate (and I have become a transmission nut ever since). I also know there were special gearboxes available with sliding dogs instead of synchronizers, and I had the chance of driving one such gearbox on an F40 protoype. I later saw Michele's car at the end of 1988, right after the end of the Formula One season, when we made one final all-around service (oils, brakes, clutch, tires, the works) before Michele left Ferrari". "Meanwhile, I thought this further GTO information should reach you: In the same place I found this stuff, there was also a page from an early 1984 Autosprint magazine with GTO info. It shows a prototype (quite close to final configuration, with only black film as camouflage) at the Fiorano track gate, with Dario Benuzzi at the wheel, beside Dario is Mr. Serra of Weber. Dario is looking to his left, towards a Testarossa prototype that bears the Prova MO 1500 plate as used by test driver Beppe Cornia. Lower photos are the GTO entering Fiorano (MO prova 856 was Dario's plate), and the Testarossa exiting with Beppe at the wheel. I also remember seeing both these cars on the autostrada between Modena Nord and Modena Sud". FWIW I got to know Franco simply because he sent me this email out of the blue: "Dear Mr Sackey, my wife got me your Ferrari GTO book. It is a masterpiece! How cool to see so many pictures of Dario smoking the tires, and reading the foreword by Nicola Materazzi has brought back memories of one of my early teachers at Ferrari. I remember 6 veeeery hot laps with Dario at Fiorano in the GTO Evoluzione with the 650 HP engine. We didn't know, but it was the beginning of the fabulous F40. Could I ask you to write a dedication to me, dated September 17th (my birthday), that you could scan and send to me, so I would stick it inside the book? Congratulations and thank you very much - Franco Cimatti" FWIW, all the materials (illustrations and images) that I have gathered from inside sources since my book has been published are being saved for a future project. I never visited the factory during GTO production, but, I've spoken to multiple owners and a factory employee who were there. In summation, my assertion that GTOs were not only built on the V8 line is based on more than just looking at pictures. Pic of Franco these days below. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Joe I'm glad you know mr Miles Sandy: we had dinner together last tuesday (36 hours ago) at Pasticcino (the former Ferrari cook) restaurant here in Castelnuovo Rangone, just few miles aside Maranello. He gave me the pendrive with his wonderful Alboreto's 288 GTO and told me "I gave it to Joe Sackey for his book too, but since then I added some pictures". The world is small and the 288 GTO aren't many, isn't it? There was only an assembly line at Ferrari for the V8 cars, and it's the one showed in the left side of the picture here below, where the 288 GTO was assembled. Then there were Others points when they put hands on the car: one for example is the finishing line before shipping, the piture you posted and you said it was the production line (and you insisted, even if several here told you that is very strange that on a production line you can see a lamp for paint fixing…). My source is not one (or two) that visited Ferrari for three hour 30+ years ago: he is one that worked there from 1978 to 2017 and did (a part of) the preparation of the assembly times, single scheduled assembling process operations and single assembling station tooling for the 288 GTO on the V8 production line. He told me the cars were assembled there and NONE was assembled on the v12 line (And instead you wrote they were assembled there). I think this is enough to state which was the standard production process for those cars. Here below a (public) picture of the man, well known and very reliable: I have a recorded inteview with him when he says what I wrote. I think he knows very well what's happened, as it was his job at those times. He told me what the picture here below was, that what you believed to be the assembly line instead was the pre-shipping finishing line and told me the names of the two men working on the 288 GTO in the picture here below. As for the yellow 288 GTO, I think you don't know the full story of the car: I have a (recorded) interview that tells the full story from the beginning to the end, told by another man, the one that got it from Ferrari and told me everything. I even met and spoke with the mechanic that did the first road test with the Yellow 288 GTO when it was completed as we know the car today. It will be very interestint to read (in my opinion). Joe, Ferrari history is not so simple and easy: very often there is something to learn that can make you see in a different way what you believed to know very well. ciao PS What I learned talking with so many people who worked at Ferrari factory or with Ferrari outside the factory, is that nobody (really nobody) knows everything, as everyone knows a part, his part, I mean the one specific he was involved too and just during the time he followed that. This applies even to Materazzi, that is a milestone in Ferrari history. If you want to know better wat the story was, you have to talk with many, to get the puzzle completed Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Next october it will come out this new book about Ferrari, by the Italian photographer Francesco Reggiani and Keith Bluemel. Unfortunately I don't own the 288 GTO engine pictured on the book cover, but I own two of the others engines pictured on it. No affiliation with the author or the Editor, but I'm very proud to have two of my engines on this book ciao Image Unavailable, Please Login
Exactly! That's why when you make a definitive blanket statement such as they were all assembled on the 8 cylinder line, you are not correct, as confirmed by at least two (2) GTO owners who personally visited the factory to check on their cars. Besides Morris K and Jon M's GTOs not assembled on the 8 cylinder line, the Lauda GTO wasnt assembled on the 8 cylinder line either. Do you know the assembly history of the Ferrari SpA Turin Salon GTO as imaged below next to our Mimran Countach Downdraft? By the way, I think some are missing the point of my posting the image of the 2 GTOs in company of some TRs in the final finish area. Of course I know that picture his not of the assembly or construction area (!) but the fact that Ferrari SpA did not have a separate finish area for 8 cylinder cars versus 12 cylinder cars only underscores what I am asserting that things were not as definitive as some claim them to be. If their production methods of the era were so rigid and formal, they would actually have complete production lines from start-to-finish for each and every model, and there would have been a finishing line fir 8 cylinder cars only! So too, I must say, the notion that 8 cylinder cars do not share some components with 12 cylinder cars of the same year is incorrect, check the relevant parts books... Image Unavailable, Please Login
Guys it is clear you are both very passionate about the cars, why not keep it at that level rather than trying to out do each other. I am sure if you were both in a bar having a beer together you would be happily chatting all night long about the 288.
Totally agree, but there is a tendency by some to rewrite history and it's important to address that also - even whilst having a beer!
I don't wanna be a paint but I only see one Testarossa on that picture. I just wanted to point that out. The black car behind the TR is a Mondial. Note the side mirror location and front bumper turn signal lights. The car behind the is another Mondial with a black bumper that makes the black car look like it has wide rear fenders.
I will buy the first round as long as I can sit in the background and just listen, some great info coming out
The famous 288 GTO yellow prototype 47649 in 1998, Mugello Track, Italy. Picture Copyright: my friend Mauro Zerbini, from Modena, Italy. Maybe it's not a great picture and there will be tons of others done that day at the track, but this is the first time this specific pic comes out (scan did two days ago) ciao PS the story of this car is almost incredible and I just finished to write it: at this point my book will lose one exclusive pic, but I have another, better, taken the same day… Image Unavailable, Please Login
I have to say I'm loving all the behind the scenes info and photographs.......I just can't get enough of the stuff. I'm looking forward to Alberto's forthcoming book as well as any future offering from Joe that will attempt to put all this rich history into one book. Thank you both for your passion and efforts toward what I am sure is a daunting task especially for someone doing it in their spare time.
No worries, the point is still clearly made by that image, Ferrari's production protocols @ that period were not as strict as some have tried to make out. Greg, books are a tough thing these days simply because they are unfortunately a dying medium, when I published the Miura book 11 years ago here was still a big demand for them, by the advent of the GTO book, much less so, and that trend downwards continues. As such, in recent years I have focused on magazine publications of some GTOs in our care, the Lauda GTO and the Turin Salon GTO, hopefully you have seen these issues, July 2016 and May 2018 of Octane magazine, a quality publication I can attest Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Absolutely not true whatsoever: the history of G-MKVC, Charles Church Spitfire, RAF serial EE606, is proven from A to Z: it was a "plain vanilla" standard MkV, and rebuilt as such. The only departure from originality was the fact that it was finished in the colors of Douglas Bader's airplane. Otherwise, the plane was as authentic as they get. http://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=19065 Rgds
Perhaps the Alboreto GTO in the background. Though the F40 has unusual wheels with the polished rim and grey painted spokes. The center part of the wheel was typically painted bright silver at that time.
