FERRARI 288 GTO

Wasn't there a 288 GTO that was specially prepared for Nikki Lauda as his personal car - back in the day when he drove for Ferrari?

 

Yes.

And there is a picture of him with the car.

In this thread.

 

This was at Champion Motorsports, Pompano Beach, Florida not New York.

 

Thank you for the clarification...

 

Very interesting. Thanks for sharing that.

 

GTO = Get Tools Out...
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Here is a better pic of one of them as seen before...
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Thanks for sharing this one. Ive seen other pics of this car but am not sure of its s/n...

 

thats a first lol

 

From the archives... the early days of chassis number 55729.
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In the pits - 54235.
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54235 again - 92nd GTO built in rare lightweight trim (no AC, manual windows), delivered new to collector Albert Obrist.
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MANY I dont know...

 

54239 is owned by JW Marriott nowadays...
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Delivered new in Germany.
Marcel Massini

 

Thanks Marcel. Yes Ive noticed she still has the mesh intake screens as mandated for the German cars... Maryland USA registered today. One of multiple German-delivered cars residing in the USA today.

 

Marcel's and Joe's knowledge never ceases to amaze me.

Joe, i hope you understand i was just giving you a hard time

Keep up the good work.

 

If i got my memory correct there was one new GTO sold in Sweden back in the late 80th, anyone know about this one? There is one GTO in the garage at Ross AB aswell, the same?

 

34 new Ferrari 288 GTOs were delivered new in Germany. At the time, there were two official Ferrari importers in Germany, Auto-Becker in Düsseldorf (Helmut Becker) and Autexpo in the South (Romano Artioli, later of Bugatti fame). Both Auto Becker and Autexpo received 17 new GTOs each. On 9 January 1985 the first 3 new GTOs arrived in Germany at Autoexpo (53321, 53759 and 53767). On 19 January 1985 the next four GTOs arrived in Germany at Auto Becker's in Düsseldorf (53763, 53771 and 53777 plus a 4th one). By April 1985 three GTOs had been involved in various fires in Germany and were sent back to the factory. In April 1985 the first 288 GTO was stolen in France. On the 19th of May 1985 a second 288 GTO was stolen in Cannes, France. During that same week three new Testarossas plus a RHD 275 GTB/4 were also stolen in Monte Carlo and on the French Riviera (during the F1 GP week).

Marcel Massini

 

One 288 GTO (56197) was sold new in Sweden and arrived 2 May 1985, for Helge Pehrsson of Stockholm, the former Ferrari importer for Scandinavia (in the 1960s). This car is no longer in Sweden today. But there is another one in Sweden now.

Marcel Massini

 

Is there a story behind those thefts? Sounds interesting.
Thanks for your contributions to a fascinating thread.

 

There were many thefts in those days, especially in the South of France. More than 1'000 Ferraris were stolen over the years. I have tons of documents from the factory and the police where they inform dealers all over the world, supplying all the data of the stolen cars and what to look for. Often cars stolen in Italy or France (in the mid-1980s) were driven overnight to Spain or Portugal, then put in a container and soon turned up in Arabian countries and in Japan. Both aforementioned stolen 288 GTOs were found. The one stolen in Cannes (France) which belonged to a famous German collector (and owner of a real 250 GTO), who had picked it up brand new in Maranello a few days before, was found in Phoenix/AZ, USA. The one from Paris was found in a river-bed in the suburbs of Paris.

There was also a specialised gang (17 people) who stole 52 Ferraris within a relatively short time (8 months) in Italy (Florence, Merano, Bolzano, Milan, Verona, Lake Garda, Venice, etc.) and France and drove them all to Spain and other places. These cars were shipped to UAE and Japan. Some of these guys were caught, I have the entire 100+ page police report (from the Italian Police of Lecce) for this big case giving all the details, every single car described and the people involved as well. One of the thieves was killed in a crash when the Italian police chased him in a stolen Testarossa (and the thief's colleague escaped in a stolen Mercedes 600 SEC!!). Several F40s were involved as well. These 52 stolen Ferraris belonged to Italians, Germans, Austrians and Swiss.

And then there was a silver F50 (103794) which belonged to a friend of mine in Austria. I later sold that car to a collector in the UK who had it repainted dark red and then on the 20th October 2001 it was stolen from the car park of Grand Hotel Villa d'Este near Como-Cernobbio, Italy. It turned up in Japan, now painted white, and it is impossible to get it back to Europe, since the Japanese just don't co-operate.

But let's go back to the 288 GTO thread.
In the first ten years, between 1985 and 1995, the following five 288 GTOs were stolen: 53775, 54779, 55165, 55177 and 55223.

Marcel Massini

 

Did they ever found Philippe Bouvard's F40 ?

 

Bouvard found his f40 3 or 5 days later. His gardener was with the gang.

 

THANK you Marcel. You are a fountain of knowledge for the cars from Maranello, including and especially the GTOs, one of the most fascinating cars built under Enzo Ferrari's guidance & control.

By the way, I noticed Enzo Ferrari himself signed the warranty book for 56331. Did he do so for all GTOs??