FERRARI 250 GTO

The Ferrari 250 GTO, the words just melt in my mouth, was produced in the early 1960's. When I was a kid, many moons ago, I had a slot car set made by Strombecker. I don't remember the exact scale but the cars were huge, about 5 or 6 inches long and the tracks, which had 2 slots in them, were a bear to put together. One of my favorite cars which I bought for it was a bright red Ferrari 250 GTO Daytona coupe. I think this is one of the best looking cars ever, and, for its time, is one of the best performers.

The "250" was the displacement of each engine cylinder in cubic centimeters and the GTO was for "Gran Turismo Omologato", which translated, is "Grand Touring Homologated". The 250 GTO was based on the 250 GT SWB and Giotto Bizzarrini, chief engineer, had the 3.0 L V12 engine from the Testa Rossa installed in this car. A 5 speed gearbox was introduced, and, coupled with the fantastic balance and 185 mph top speed, it dominated the competition on the racing circuit. Between 1962-64, 39 of these beauties were made and now they command an unbelievable price at auction, well into the millions of dollars. Just looking at this car makes my heart pound. Can you imagine pulling up to Wal-mart in one on these? No, me either, but I can see myself taking a few laps at Le Mans.