Ferrari 488 GTO

Ferrari 488 Versione Speciale – GTO

When Ferrari evolve a standard platform to a hardcore variant the result is nothing short of automotive utopia. Time and time again the marque manages to allure hardcore petrolheads from all over the globe to fantasise about getting behind the wheel of their next lightweight, hardcore masterpiece.

The car going through the transformation this time round is the 488 GTB, an already ludicrously punchy, mid-engined, full-blooded prancing horse. The Car will have a healthy power boost to 700BHP, hugely revised aero and a stripped out interior but most importantly or controversially its likely to wear the famous GTO badge. In the past Ferrari have only crowned three cars to be worthy of GTO Status. The 250 GTO, 288 GTO and most recently the 599 GTO which was a road legal 599 XX. Prices are likely to have a fairly sizeable increase over the standard GTB as well. A non specced car is likely to start at just over £215,000. A small price to pay for perfection hey? 

The last car of its kind to breach the gates at Maranello was the 458 Speciale. To this day the car still holds the title of the ‘most driver-focused Ferrari yet’ and for good reason too. At its heart, the Speciale boasts the most powerful Naturally Aspirated V8 ever made, a 597BHP masterpiece which revs all the way to a heavenly 9000rpm. Teamed with a razor-sharp DCT gearbox and Ferrari’s black-art Slide slip control you’d be very hard pushed to top it. 

Whispers circulating tell us that a dealer preview is scheduled for mid-January 2018 followed by renders mid-February. However, the red silk will not be officially pulled off until the premiere at the 2018 Geneva International Motorshow in March.

GTO or not I’m sure this car will steal the crown for the foreseeable future. Weather It’ll snatch the crown from its true blood-line predecessor – The last stripped out turbo-charged car to come before it is another story altogether. 

Image credits:
https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/ferrari-488-gto-rival-porsches-911-gt2
https://s1.cdn.autoevolution.com/images/news/gallery/2019-ferrari-488-gto-spied-uncovered-prototype-reveals-aggressive-front-fascia_14
http://www.elitetraveler.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Ferrari-458-Speciale-Dashboard

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