The Tool Kits and Accessories of the Icons... 288GTO, F40, F50 & the Enzo

Hi everyone, after promising many times to start this thread, let's give it a go!

Regulars will know I spend a lot of my time around these cars, one area that I love is the tool kits and accessories that go with them.

I am very fortunate that I have worked on some of the best examples of the Halo cars in existence, and also inspected some of the worst! The crucial part of any inspection is the actual vehicle: its presentation & condition, its mechanicals, its bodywork, originality, history & provenance and documentation. With the Icons, I also put a huge value on the original tool kits, accessories, books/manuals and media/promotional material.

I have inspected so many cars with incorrect tool kits, missing accessories or just plainly the wrong items being passes off as original to the car.

I have collected many original items pertaining to these cars over the years, I also have access to one of the finest collections in the UK for reference: "The Ferrari Bloodline Collection".

The lessons are: the list is never exhaustive, every day you learn something new and no one knows it all - so I am relaying on corrections and contributions from all the owners and members on here.

So, I guess we should start at the beginning and have a look at the 288GTO, I will try to steer away from the actual car on this occasion and just focus on the items mentioned above.

Here is an overview of a complete tool kit for the 288GTO, I will drill down in to each of the parts within the kit, and discuss as the thread develops.

The 3 parts of a 288GTO tool kit: The small vinyl bag containing the torch, the jack bag and the tool roll.... Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login

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On initial glance the tool kit could easily be mistaken for a similar tool kit found in the 308/328, later 512BB or the Testarossa, but there are many differences that I will try to highlight as we go through the detail.
Below for reference only is a 328 tool kit with spark plug tool and a Testarossa tool roll Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login

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Starting with the 288GTO jack bag:

The jack bag itself is very distinctive, very similar to a 512BB bag, but also very different from the one used in a 308/328 or Testarossa - they have a softer, more "floppy" bag.

The 288GTO bag is a much stiffer vinylette material, much stronger stitching, much higher quality leather handles and straps. Also, inside the bag there is a very strong ridged liner that holds the shape of the bag....

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For reference only here is the floppy bags without the stiff liner, they are found in a 328 and TR... But often make their way into a GTO Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login

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The wheel nut tool is made by Stafor and has the part number 125758 stamped on it.
This is the correct one for a GTO, I have often seen the solid black tool from earlier cars make their way into a GTO set.

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For reference this is the older style black solid tool, that is not part of the GTO tool kit

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The jack, ratchet and extension are similar to those found on several other Ferrari cars.

The correct jack for the 288GTO is as pictured below, finished in a satin black paint, with an open structure top edge (you can see the threads on the corkscrew), compared to the closed structure on other/later Ferrari cars.

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For reference this is the later jack used in many Ferrari cars, this is not correct for the GTO set.

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I have seen 2 different kinds of warning triangle, both always in a blue case.

The most common triangle I see in the GTO has a black plastic edge around the reflector and black plastic legs, but I have also seen the clear/white edge with metal legs on a few occasions - both could be correct?

But it's always a blue case from my research.

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For reference these are incorrect emergency triangle cases (wrong colour, should be blue), but this is the other l triangle I have see on a few occasions, looks like an older design. But I have seen it in a blue case, in a GTO - not convinced it was original?


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In the Jack bag, there are generally 3 or 2 auxiliary belts for the car - I believe the originals had Gates label's on them like these from my GTO collection. It is unusual to still find the labels attached as the glue disintegrates over time and the labels fall off.

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The bulb holder is very distinct, it is a certain shade of green as I will show next.
The most unusual feature is it has a plastic layer/shelf inside the tub the holds the fuses - I have seen this in some other Ferrari's, but it is always present in a 288GTO bulb holder, as far as I know.

I am not too worried about the arrangement of bulbs or fuses as they change over time and with use.

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On the left side of the photo are 2 correct shade of green GTO bulb holder tubs, on the right are 2 incorrect tubs, see the different shades of green and they don't have the shelf I mentioned above.

But they make their way into GTO kits!

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The USAG Ratchet, UJ, extension and spark plug socket should look like this with a black plastic insert on the head of the ratchet (F40 had a red plastic insert will show later).

The ratchet can be found in the tool roll or jack bag - seen it stored in both, although the factory schematic shows it in the jack bag:
Eurospares are the worldwide number 1 supplier of the complete range of new and used Ferrari 288 GTO parts Toolkit 042

Also note the ratchet head is round and not shaped like the later Kraftwerk ratchet found in some TR and early 348 tool kits.(will show later).

The 3/8 ratchet, 3/8 extension, UJ and spark plug socket are made by USAG and carry the following markings:
18mm spark plug socket - VANADIUM USAG EXTRA // USAG 279 MG
3/8 EXTENSION - VANADIUM USAG EXTRA // USAG No. 235 3/8
UJ - VANADIUM USAG EXTRA // USAG No. 241 3/8
Ratchet - VANADIUM USAG EXTRA // USAG No. 237 3/8 (black plastic insert / black rubber handle)


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Below is the F40 tool set ratchet (with red insert), incorrect for the GTO set.
and
The Kraftwerk ratchet found in other Ferrari tool sets, also incorrect for a GTO

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going to have a little break now, will be back shortly with the rest of the tools in a 288GTO tool set, wow this is a lot more work than I initially thought!

 

The lead hammer, if it has any paint left on it from use and years of rattling around the bag, should have a yellow head and grey/blue shaft.

It is not uncommon for the hammers to have new lead heads moulded to the shaft (as in the first picture), as they disintegrate and get heavily damaged through use - I would not get to worried if this had happened - the old story of grandpa's axe!


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The torch, as pictured below, is used in several other Ferrari cars of this period, distinctive with the Cavallino pressed into the black plastic, and the old-style tie clip retaining the cable that plugs into the cigar lighter.

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The tool roll, overview............

The vinyl of the tool roll once again feels thicker, stronger and of better quality then a similar 308/328 or TR, I have seen a few 512's with a similar quality tool roll.

Note the correct number of pockets to house the tools - same as a 328 (4 screw driver slots + 11 slots for other tools), the Testarossa tool roll has one less slot.

The last photo below shows 2 x 288GTO tool rolls together

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Screwdrivers: there should be 2 Philips head and 2 straight head, one large and one small of each.

There should be no markings or Ferrari logos present, and the handles should have 6 knuckles / undulations on the grip.

They should also be an amber colour when held up to the light, they look much darker when in the tool roll....

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If you see this style of screwdriver, with the Ferrari logo in a 288GTO tool kit, they are totally incorrect.

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The pliers are made by Kravm, and have the Ferrari logo in black, this is very unusual as most other Kravm pliers used in Ferrari tool kits have the logo in white, not black (I will show next).

The metal of the jaws should be the black anodised finish, not silver/chrome as found in other kits.

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These are examples of incorrect pliers that sometimes find their way into a 288GTO set.

First 2 photos have the correct black anodized jaws, but the incorrect white log.
The third photo is a much newer design of plier used by Ferrari, chrome jaw and with logos - they are also incorrect.
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There is also an emergency window crank handled for those cars that had the optional electric power windows.

I have seen this handle in both tool kits for cars with electric windows and cars with wind-up windows, so I am not clear if they were originally present in the tool kit regardless of the window option. Given the number I have seen in the tool rolls, I would say all cars had them?

This is the only design I have seen in a 288GTO tool set, therefore, I believe it to the the correct one.

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