While 1984 was not an easy year for Ferrari in Formula 1, the same cannot be said for the production cars, with the dramatic return of two of the most iconic and evocative names in the history of the Prancing Horse: Testarossa – already featured in a monograph in this series – and GTO, the new Ferrari grand tourer, the latest in the long and glorious line of eight-cylinder cars which was launched at that year’s Geneva motor show.
The 288 GTO was derived directly from the 308 GTB Speciale prototype prepared by Pininfarina in 1977, in effect a “pumped up” 308 with even more aggressive bodywork and powered by a muscular 2.8-litre V8 capable of delivering around 400 hp, good for a top speed of a little over 300 kph.
Following the F40 and the Testarossa books in this series, this monograph on 288 GTO retraces the technical and stylistic genesis of the supercar, with contributions from several of the artificers of the model.
All this is accompanied by invaluable materials, many of which were previously unpublished, drawn from the archives of the magazine Quattroruote.
