Most. Best. Fastest. Coolest. Such superlatives should be used sparingly in the automotive world, because companies like Ferrari have a disturbing tendency to introduce new products that blow away the previous ones, a knack for making what was exceptional last year appear almost mundane today. Indeed, forget the 599 GTB. Forget the HGTE, too. Welcome to the louder, shinier, crazier and much, much faster world of the 599 GTO.
My first pedal-to-the-metal acceleration run in the GTO reminds me of my first teenage kiss: a pent-up rush of pure adrenalin. I’m truly shocked at how the car explodes foward, and left grappling for adjectives. In a straight line, a 458 Italia astonishes—the GTO terrifies. It’s vicious, almost preternatural, in its fury.
I nervously let my eyes drop to the wildly arcing needles framed by the steering wheel, and realize that I am doing 105 mph on a public road limited to, well, significantly less. The GTO’s vital statistics bear out my surprise: It takes just 3.35 seconds to reach 62 mph from a standstill, 9.8 seconds to hit 124 mph. Top speed is over 208 mph.
Ferrari is to build exactly 599 units of its latest supercar—make no mistake, we are truly talking supercar here, rather than a mere evoluzione of the GTB—and, despite rumors to the contrary, has already sold the full allotment. Having spent a day in one, I can’t imagine a better car to spend $450,000 on.
GRAN TURISMO OMOLOGATO is not a moniker Ferrari applies to its cars lightly; the company has used it only three times in its 63-year history. The first was the 250 GTO in 1962; the second was the 288 GTO in 1984. While the 599 GTO is not a homologation model in the traditional sense (a road car built to legalize a race car), Ferrari has cleverly redefined the issue by describing it as a 599XX homologated for road use. And the latest GTO certainly delivers all the technology, engineering sophistication and outright speed that this description implies.
It isn’t a case of love at first sight for me, however. From the outside, the 599 GTO doesn’t shout that it is a radically transformed machine. While handsome and clearly functional, the new bodywork—bulged hood, side skirts, rear diffuser—only modestly distinguishes it from the GTB. I wish the styling had been more profoundly revised; after all, the shape of the 250 GTO departed enough from that of the 250 SWB to make it one of the all-time automotive masterpieces. Perhaps that challenge will be taken up by a brave owner and Ferrari’s Special Projects department.
My aesthetic discontent disappears, however, when I discover that the aluminum skin is thinner than that found on the GTB. This in itself speaks volumes about how extensively Ferrari has reworked its newest creation.
