ferrari gto

Larry Perkins, August 4, 1932-April 26, 2024

April 29, 2024 By pete

We have just learned that the irrepressible and multi-talented Larry Perkins passed away on April 26. Our sincere condolences to his wife Petra. We thought it fitting to republish this 2021 review/interview with Larry on the occasion of publishing his book Full Circle.

Review by Pete Vack
Full Circle: A Hands-on Affair with the First Ferrari GTO
Hardbound, 228 pages, Foreword by Denise McCluggage
ISBN 978-0578-97104-9
US $45
Order here: www.FullCircleFerrariGTO.com

Larry and Petra Perkins are no ordinary couple. They met while both were working at an aerospace company and began to share a life of travel, sailing, cycling; they married in 1991. Then one day Petra overheard Larry talking about a Ferrari GTO he raced at Sebring in the 1960s. She had attended one race there, and hoped it would be her last. It was the year of the scary fire in the pits; earlier in the day she remembered watching a red number 82 car go round and round and so asked Larry if he was at that race. Larry was taken aback.

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Michael Lynch and the First GTO

November 29, 2021 By pete

When Pebble Beach announces a special display, the enthusiast community immediately comes to life. No one who saw the six Bugatti Royales at Pebble Beach in 1985 will ever forget the spectacle. A class for Bugatti Type 57s with coachbuilt bodies in 2003 was extremely impressive, with a large entry and car histories on placards mounted on standards. (This article originally was published in September 2011.) [Read more…] about Michael Lynch and the First GTO

The GTO and the Hole in the Donut

October 29, 2019 By pete

Larry Perkins takes the GTO through Webster. Dave Friedman photo used with permission.

Story by Larry Perkins

We were off to the races.
And I had piles. [Read more…] about The GTO and the Hole in the Donut

Ferrari Fever: A Life

March 18, 2014 By pete

A photo taken before the 1984 Mille Miglia. Paul Schouwenburg with the champagne, son Lennart in the foreground. This is his life.

Review by Pete Vack
All photos courtesy Eau Rouge Publishing and Paul Schouwenburg

Retail Price Standard Edition: £ 85.00
ISBN-10: 0957397828 Eau Rouge Publishing, U.K. www.eaurougepublishing.com
ISBN-13: 978-0957397828
Retail Price Deluxe Edition: £ TBA

The book is available in two hard copy formats, Standard and *Deluxe, both with dustjackets and slipcases.

Right from the start you realize that Paul Schouwenburg is a fellow traveler. The minute he writes of finding that an Alfa 1900 is strangely out of time due to the distributor being inserted into the block at 360 degrees out you know he’s a car guy. When he takes a much modified Mini Cooper and terrorizes half of Holland you can relate; he has problems with the Bosch solenoid on his Ferrari, you recall having the same adventures in good starting; testing an old aluminum head, he pours water into it to do a pressure test and finds it would make a great sprinkler, we sympathize; when he restored cars on his own, towed them with ropes, or drove them home on a wing and a prayer, you’ve been there; the pain is understood when he is beaten in a deal to buy an ultra-rare Ferrari. When he had to borrow money from his father to buy that 212 Inter with engine problems, it rings bells. [Read more…] about Ferrari Fever: A Life

Marshall Buck Reviews a Tamiya Ferrari 288GTO

December 21, 2011 By pete

Ferrari built 272 examples of the real thing. Tamiya built this one…

Review and photos by Marshall Buck

To my eye, the 1984-86 Ferrari 288 GTO is one of the most beautiful modern sports car designs ever penned. Though it was based on another great design, the new for ’84 GTO was once again perfection from the house of Pininfarina.

I am more of vintage car guy; my main interest is sports and classic cars from the 1930’s through about 1970, but this one rings every bell for me, as does the beautiful 1:12 scale model.

The 288 GTO was designed and built specifically to compete in a new Group B racing series. At that time the requirements for this particular series were that a manufacturer must produce a minimum of 200 cars for homologation.

“Best laid plans…….” Unfortunately the new Group B series was abandoned before it ever got on the track since only Ferrari and Porsche built cars for the series. None of the 272 cars which Ferrari built were ever raced; they all remained road cars…… very fast and scary road cars at that. Most were sold in Europe as they were not certified for sale in the USA, though there were many that were imported and federalized by specialists such as Amerispec.

Scary fast…… The 288 had the power to back up its looks. The heart in each one was a mid mounted V-8 with twin IHI turbochargers. Top speed in Europe was an eye watering 189 mph. Here in the US the top end was reduced to somewhere around a mere 175 mph.

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Lynch on the First Ferrari GTO

September 21, 2011 By Lynch

Ferraris also have had their days at Pebble. An exceptional turnout was guaranteed every ten years when Ferrari was the featured marque at the Monterey Historic Automobile Races and Pebble Beach added more classes for the products of Maranello. Hopefully, the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion will continue this tradition. Other years have yielded some gems as well. In 2009, there were Pebble Beach classes for ten Ferrari 166 Barchettas and all four remaining 250 TR/59s. Last year, there were eight iterations of the 250 Short Wheelbase on the field.

A contemporary image of 3223 GT at the 1966 Daytona 24 Hour. This is the livery as it appeared at Pebble Beach this year.

This year provided one of the best, if not the best, Ferrari entry ever, and the highlight was a 50th Anniversary class for 250 GTOs. It had 21 cars aligned along the shoreline. Heading the line on the right was Bruce McCaw’s 250 Sperimentale, one of two SWBs used in developing the GTO. There were also two four-liter GTO variants with hopped up Super America engines. [Read more…] about Lynch on the First Ferrari GTO

A Singular GTO: Vanhoolandt and 3223

September 21, 2011 By vanhoolandt

Michael T. Lynch provided the background story to this GTO. Here Hugues Vanhoolandt gives us a full round of the ex-Perkins GTO.

[Read more…]

Ferrari GTO S/N 3987

August 16, 2011 By pete

Stephen Mitchell recalls his youth in California during the 60s and his GTO.

Filmmaker Stephen Mitchell recently wrote “Rendezvous Redux” for VeloceToday. Below, for the first time, is the full story behind Stephen Mitchell, the amazing YouTube videos and GTO 3987. And whether you view the two film clips before or after reading the article make sure you do and watch them all the way through. You will be amazed. Trust me.

GTOs at Willow Springs

The Great Putdown

In early 1964, Car and Driver’s Editor David E. Davis thought it would be a great idea to compare the new Pontiac GTO with a real Ferrari GTO, and bet the March cover on it. Came the big day and a Ferrari GTO couldn’t be found. Uh-oh.
[Read more…] about Ferrari GTO S/N 3987

Driving the Ferrari GTO

August 16, 2011 By pete

Aside from the videos (which you don't want to miss) there are few still shots of Mitchell actually driving his GTO. But here is Tom Price enjoying his GTO in 2009. Photo by Richard Prince.

By Stephen Mitchell

Seen in the context of its time, there was nothing quite like the GTO.

When entering the cockpit, I never got used to the fact that the pedals were so close. I’m 5’10″ and my knees were splayed around the steering wheel in an effort to fit into the car. Anyone who has ever made this complaint about a Lusso (which I also owned at the time) or GTE never sat in a GTO! This lack of legroom was probably a result of the rearward placement of the engine for better weight distribution. The bulkhead behind the seat limited aft seat travel, so there was no way to adjust for comfort. I always had it in mind to have the pedals moved forward, but never did. You adapt to the GTO, it doesn’t adapt to you. I’ve heard similar remarks made about the Old Man.

Headroom was fine and the seat was comfortably wide. One of my favorite things about the car was the position of the gear lever in relation to the steering wheel. Visually, that marvelous aluminum gear knob looked as though it would be too high for comfort. One is accustomed to having to reach down for the lever to shift. With the GTO, the knob was only inches away from the wheel, so shifts could be made very quickly with a short lateral move of the hand. In front of you, the tachometer had a telltale that would move to…and remain at…the highest revs attained. I never exceeded 7500 rpm.

GTO shift lever and knob was more than prominent but well placed. This is the interior of chassis 4399 as photographed by Hugues Vanhoolandt.

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Design Critique: Ferrari 599 Before the Aperta

November 10, 2010 By Wally

599 GTB: Cleaner and more beautiful than the Vette. Photo Ferrari Media.

By Wallace A. Wyss
A commentary on the Ferrari 599 GTB , introduced in 2007, and its subsequent versions.

Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano
When Ferrari sought to design a new front-engined car to replace the 575M Maranello, they wanted to have one that would be a comfortable grand tourer, and yet incorporate what they call “cutting edge downforce “figures, i.e. stay glued to the ground. Hence the long hood, sloping downward into a built in front spoiler. [Read more…] about Design Critique: Ferrari 599 Before the Aperta

Design Critique: Ferrari 599 SA Aperta

November 10, 2010 By Wally

The new Aperta, meeting with mixed reviews. Photo Ferrari Media.

By Wallace A. Wyss

And now, the third iteration of the streetable 599, following the GTB, the halfway new “ Handling Gran Turismo Evoluzione”,and the GTO, introduced last April, is the Aperta, or “open” 599.
[Read more…] about Design Critique: Ferrari 599 SA Aperta