Vehicle Description
One of the Worlds Best 288 GTO Examples
• 2-Registered Owners
• 1 of the most documented 288's on the planet
• Paperwork back to new
• 2- Red Book Classiche's
• One of 2 288's Certified at the Factory
• Copy of Original Sales Contract from Charles Pozzi
• Copy of Original PDI
• Copies of service records back to 1986
• Full Major service in 2023 at the Factory in Modena
The 288 was born out of a vision to go FIA "Group B" racing. The
308 GTB was the basis for the 288. With Ferrari being under the
Fiat umbrella during this time, Enzo was disappointed with the
products that were coming out of Ferrari. Unfortunately the "Group
B," class was canceled in 1987 before the car was completed, but
Enzo pressed on anyway. He enlisted the help of some of the
engineers from Lanica to help turn the 308 GTB into a Group B racer
with no limits. In order to have cars, "homologated," to go racing,
the manufacturer had to produce a certain amount of cars. They
produced 272 288 GTO's in total which is the fewest amount of all
of the super cars. If it wasn't for the 288 GTO, there wouldn't be
an F40 and there wouldn't be an F50.?The 288 GTO was priced at
$85,000 new. The 2 8 8 GTO is one of the most collectible modern
super cars and it bears the, "GTO," badge.
The 288 GTO was born, "GTO" standing for "Grand Turismo Omologato,"
which equates to, "Homoligation." This was the second time in
Ferrari's history that the, "GTO" moniker was used. The first being
the 250 GTO back in 1962.
The 288 was designed to push the engineering envelope. While doing
that Enzo had a vision to make the car as light as possible. The
288 was the first Ferrari to incorporate the use of Carbon Kevlar
composite body panels. This material was used on the hood and roof.
The doors were aluminum and fiberglass was used on the front fascia
and rear fascia. They managed to get the weight down to 1,160kg
(2,555lbs), about 550lbs lighter than the 308 GTB.
The 288 was shortened up, while the wheelbase was lengthened by 8".
The GTO had functional aero on the car with brake cooling scoops in
the front and rear, vents to feed the IHI Turbo's and a dovetail
spoiler for downforce which is also reminiscent to the 250 GTO rear
as well as the 3 vertical vents on the rear quarter panel.
The engine was a de-bored version of the 308 Tipo F160-V8, it was
debored to 2,855cc's (2.9ltr) and renamed the F114B. The engine had
dual overhead camshafts, 4 valves per cylinder, mated with
lightweight connecting rods, nickisel coated liners and heads (to
reduce friction). Ferrari looked to Japanese turbo manufacturer IHI
to engineer the Turbos for this car as they did most of the rally
cars. All of this equated to 400hp, 0-60mph in 5 seconds, 0-125mph
in 15 seconds and a top speed of 190mph; effectively making this
the fastest road going car.
The engineers had to turn the engine from being, "horizontally,"
mounted to, "longitudinally," mounted in order to make additional
room for the Turbo's.
The suspension was planted at each corner with, "Koni" coil overs.
While the brakes were Brembo disc brakes.
The 288 was a road going race car and one of the most special
Ferraris produced. The 288 cemented Ferrari's platform on the world
stage as the cars at that time were far from optimal. As much of a
race car for the street as they are, they are very amazing and
docile to drive on the street. The 2-8-8 is very easy to drive
normally, but depress the throttle hard and you feel the twin
turbo's spool and plant you back in the Daytona Seats as you row
through the 5-speed gated gear lever.
Of the 272 288 GTO's produced, we have been involved with about 18
cars that we've had the pleasure of touching. For every one we
acquire, we pass on probably 4 of them. Most of these cars were
driven and have lots of mileage and have old repairs of damage that
we discovered, in some cases the current owners never saw the
damage as it was masked fairly well. Many of the cars we have
inspected with low mileage have been clocked where odometers were
unplugged, odometers replaced and no service history where you
cannot corroborate the mileage.
I've had the privilege of studying 288's and touching many
examples, preparing them for many concours events such as
Cavallino. I was invited by Cavallino to speak on a panel about 288
GTO's at the 2024 Cavallino Classic.
In my professional opinion approximately 10% of the 272 examples
are considered, "Investment Grade," examples. What I mean by that
is, having less than 10k kilometers, having documented service
history and not having any negative connotations that accompany the
car. Of that subset, about 10% have 5k kilometers or less, and all
their original paint. When looking at 288's the rougher the paint,
the more authentic the example as they were not a highpoint in
paint finish for Ferrari.
The 288 GTO is truly the first real Ferrari "Super Car / Halo Car".
These will be the first of the Halo cars to reach $10m, as they
made the least amount of the 288 than any other Halo Car; the true
"investment-grade" examples will be the first and will always carry
a premium over the "non-investment grade" examples. There have been
some public sales over the past two year;, we personally looked at
two of the examples that made their way to the states and they all
had negative issues on them from paintwork, mileage discrepancies,
one had fire damage and it was still Classiche Certified.
This particular example is a 2 registered -wner example. It was
delivered new out of one of the oldest Ferrari dealers, Charles
Pozzi. Pozzi was so close to Enzo that he named a famous color
after the dealership, "Pozzi Blue". This car was ordered with
factory air-conditioning which is a must have option as well as
Black Daytona seats.
What this car has that most cars don't, paperwork. When all of the
experts are gone, what is left to document a car? Paperwork, and if
a car doesn't have it, you will have an uphill battle describing
its history.
This car has a copy of the original sales contract from Charles
Pozzi to the original owner, it has receipts and warranty receipts
from Pozzi back in 1986. It has fastidious service history, 100%
original paint, factory inspection marks that are still visible and
it only has 5,400 kilometers. This is also accompanied by its books
which are stamped throughout its service life.
This 288 underwent a full major service at the Ferrari Classiche
Department in Italy in January 2023; it is in fact the "Only 288"
to be certified at the factory. It has 2 Classiche Red Books, the
most recent certification being performed at the factory. The
second owner whom we acquired the car from was an "Executive Board
Member" at Ferrari for 11 years and started, "Ferrari Financial
Services". He confirmed that this 288 GTO is in fact the "ONLY" 288
GTO to be certified by the Factory Classiche Department.
This is hands down in the top 1% of 288 GTO examples for the world
and is an automatic entry into any world concours event and is a
significant piece of Ferrari history. There is not another example
that we have seen as authentic as this.
