Photo: Ferrari
In a nutshell, yes. The Prancing Horse has created only three GTO until now, starting with the 1960s original, continuing with the twin-turbocharged 288 GTO, and ending with the 599XX-derived GTO. But is the 488 GTB special enough to get the GTO suffix?
The answer depends on how one sees exclusivity and pedigree in this context. From my point of view, it doesn’t even matter what us car-speaking folks think about the matter because there’s a multi-year waiting list for new Ferrari models. Yes, this applies even for the underrated California T.
It should also be highlighted that Fezza has a thing of slapping the GTO name to its cars toward the end of their production cycle. This stands true with the 250, 308-based 288, and the 599. The 488, as a brief refresher, is basically a development of the 458. The latter’s been introduced in 2009, which is a mind-boggling eight years ago. And that's a lot of time in car years.
Bearing in mind that even the timing is perfect for the best name in the go-faster biz to work its magic on the 488, I find it hard to think of a better way to send off the mid-engined supercar than by GTO-ing the hell out of it. And if Fezza will squeeze more HP from the 3.9-liter TT V8, then the honorific title of “most powerful V8-engined Ferrari” would suit the 488 GTO just nicely.
The thing, however, is that the Italian company never said that it’s planning on doing such a car. British publication Autocar reports that it’s definitely happening, sometime next year, as a rival to the 2018 Porsche 911 GT2.
A successor for the Ferrari 458 Speciale sure sounds like a great idea. But all things considered, calling it GTO would be [dare I say it] a bit of a stretch and a bit of an affront to the sporting legacy of past GTO models.
It should also be highlighted that Fezza has a thing of slapping the GTO name to its cars toward the end of their production cycle. This stands true with the 250, 308-based 288, and the 599. The 488, as a brief refresher, is basically a development of the 458. The latter’s been introduced in 2009, which is a mind-boggling eight years ago. And that's a lot of time in car years.
Bearing in mind that even the timing is perfect for the best name in the go-faster biz to work its magic on the 488, I find it hard to think of a better way to send off the mid-engined supercar than by GTO-ing the hell out of it. And if Fezza will squeeze more HP from the 3.9-liter TT V8, then the honorific title of “most powerful V8-engined Ferrari” would suit the 488 GTO just nicely.
The thing, however, is that the Italian company never said that it’s planning on doing such a car. British publication Autocar reports that it’s definitely happening, sometime next year, as a rival to the 2018 Porsche 911 GT2.
A successor for the Ferrari 458 Speciale sure sounds like a great idea. But all things considered, calling it GTO would be [dare I say it] a bit of a stretch and a bit of an affront to the sporting legacy of past GTO models.
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