Ferrari 599 GTO revealed

It's a heady claim: Ferrari's fastest-ever road car. That's how Maranello is billing the 599 GTO. In plain English or italiano, this supercar is it, the best Ferrari can do.

Brace yourself. The latest berlinetta looks to be another stunner from the Prancing Horse, and we're getting our first glimpse of it today. The GTO is a blend of some of Ferrari's top technology from Formula One and road cars, and just 599 copies will be produced. It's essentially a street-legal version of the 599XX, the gentleman's racer that the company is also building in extremely limited quantities.

The GTO will be revealed live at the Beijing motor show at the end of the month, while select Tifosi will get an early preview in Modena next week. The three iconic letters, which stand for Gran Turismo Omologato, summon the spirit of the original 250 GTO from the early 1960s, which dominated GT racing in that era, and the 1984 model, which helped spawn the modern supercar era.

As with all Ferraris, the story of this car must begin with the engine. The GTO packs 670 hp at 8,250 rpm and 457 lb-ft of torque at 6,500 rpm, derived from a V12 with the cylinders banked at 65 degrees. As the name implies, displacement is 5,999 cc, or 366 cubic inches. The compression ratio checks in at 11.2:1.

The engine is paired with an F1 six-speed gearbox, which has the same 60-millisecond shift times as the 599XX. The car weighs 3,538 pounds at the curb.

Ferrari
The Ferrari 599 GTO gets a new sill design and new, double-curve rear diffuser.

This potency means the GTO is capable of impressive times--to the tune of 0 to 62 mph in just 3.35 seconds and a Fiorano lap time of 1 minute, 24 seconds. The GTO clocks a top speed of 208 mph.

Aero is helped by a front spoiler with a lower wing that increases downforce and increases the cooling flow to the radiator. There's also a new sill design and a new double-curve rear diffuser.

The carbon-ceramic brakes employ F1-derived doughnuts and measure 15.7 inches by 1.5 inches in front and 14.2 inches by 1.3 inches at the rear. Stopping from 62 mph is accomplished in 107 feet. The car rides on 20-inch rims. The chassis gets new springs and a stiffer antiroll bar, and the suspension works with vehicle dynamic control and F1-Trac traction control.

LAT PHOTOGRAPHIC
The Heritage: The Ferrari GTO traces its roots to the usually victorious 1960s GT racer.

Inside, the cockpit is marked by carbon-fiber paddles for racing-style shifting and what Ferrari calls a Virtual Race Engineer, allowing the drive to monitor the status of the car and its performance.

By Greg Migliore