GTO (Italy, 1984)

The GTO was announced in 1983 by Enzo Ferrari and unveiled at the 1984 Geneva Motor Show. The combination of a legendary name in the Italian brand, the design from Pininfarina, the engine and the use of composite materials, made the GTO at the time the closest to a racing car someone could drive on the road.

The Ferrari GTO had its production enlarged from 200 to a total of 278 units due to the high demand. All the cars had already been sold before the production had even started. The GTO was built between 1984 and 1986 and brought back Ferrari's tradition of limited production series of its models, making it a more exclusive brand.

The GTO can be seen as a starting point of production of supercars, with a low volume production, extreme performance sports car at a high cost.

The model was well received by the buyers although its design wasn't as radical as someone might expect. It wasn't very different from the mainstream Ferrari eight cylinder models of the period, looking like a 308 that had been pumped up, with larger wheel arches, a lower stance and bigger spoilers.

Although based on the 308 series silhouette, the GTO shared very few common components, the wheelbase was longer, the mid mounted engine was placed longitudinally in the chassis, and the majority of body panels were constructed from composite materials or resin mouldings.

The model was equipped with a longitudinal mid mounted 2.8 litres 90º V8 engine, with the forward end so close to the cabin bulkhead to optimise weight distribution, and a claimed output of 400hp. It was the the first time that a longitudinally mounted V8 engine was fitted in a Ferrari production road car, and also the first to be fitted with twin turbochargers.