Ferrari Reveals 599 GTO, Its Fastest Road Car Ever

The new Ferrari 599 GTO may not have the supercar looks of a McLaren MP4-12C or a Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG, but it should be right up there with those two in terms of speed and quickness.



Ferrari revealed the 599 GTO on Thursday in pictures, videos and specs over the Internet. Only a very limited number will be built. It is a homologation model for the Ferrari 599XX racecar, which has been sold to a few customers for GT competition.

“On the 599XX we have managed to make a vehicle that nobody else has ever made,” said Amadeo Felisa, the chief executive of Ferrari, in a video on the Ferrari Web site. “With structure and an architecture with the front engine, we have obtained a vehicle that nobody else will be able to equal in performance.”

In February, the 599XX was tested in Valencia, Spain, by Felipe Massa, Ferrari’s Formula One driver. It is a race-modified 599 GTB Fiorano that puts out 700 horsepower. The GTO 599 road car is only slightly less capable. It is powered by a 6-liter V-12 that makes 670 horsepower at 8,250 r.p.m. and 457 pound-feet of torque at 6,500 r.p.m. (And it sounds like this.) Ferrari says the 599 GTO will accelerate from zero to 62 miles an hour in 3.32 seconds. It will have a top speed of 208 miles per hour. Ferrari says it is the fastest road car that it has ever built, which implies that the 599 GTO is faster than even the Enzo.

“One of the most significant innovations on the 599 GTO,” Ferrari said in its news release, “is the close correlation between the chassis set-up, which is close to the handling limit, and the input from the electronic controls, which are developed to increase overall levels of performance.”

The GTO badge has only been used two other times in Ferrari history. The 250 GTO of the 1960s was built off the short-wheelbase 250 GT and used for GT racing. In the mid-1980s, Ferrari created the 288 GTO (based on the 308 GTB) for Group B racing. Both cars were produced in limited numbers, just enough, in fact, to make them eligible for racing; GTO stands for gran turismo omologata, or homologation.

Ferrari is planning a small preview for clients next week at the Military Academy in Modena, Italy. The 599 GTO’s official debut will take place at the Beijing auto show at the end of the month.

Source: wheels.blogs.nytimes.com