I have a list. It’s called my ‘Things To Do Before I Die’ list. Morgan Freeman made such things more popular with The Bucket List, but I’ve had mine long before the movie.
You’ve probably got one too, even if only mentally. Mine has on it things like ‘Fly Aeros with The Red Arrows’, ‘Drive a Class One Offshore Powerboat ‘, ‘Date With Kelly Brook’ and ‘Fly in a Lancaster Bomber’,
In idle moments, glass of something in hand, I add things to it. Some, as you’ve gathered, are totally unattainable, but others I’ve been lucky enough to tick off. But one, right up there with my Kelly Brook thing, I’d always dismissed as probably never going to happen, until last summer, the call came, “You can drive a Ferrari 288GTO”.
You see, I have a photograph dating back to 1985, it’s in a book called Car Photography. It shows a 288GTO in power oversteer, the brace of four front driving lights blazing at the camera as it powers out of a turn on the Fiorano test track in Italy. It’s one of those shots, like that black Porsche Turbo poster and that one of Linda Lusardi (remember her?) that we all have fond memories of….
You see, Ferrari 288GTO’s are rare. If you weren’t paying attention in 1985 and don’t know much about them, perhaps a brief bio is called for. Firstly, it’s NOT just a Ferrari 308 with a turbo and big wheel arches. The 288GTO was built to Group B race / rally regulations, but never raced. The regulations are the same as those governing the iconic Audo Quattro and Metro 6R4 rally acrs, requiring just 200 units to be produced.The story goes that 201 were built instead of the 200 units required for homologation. The reason why is that Nicki Lauda called to order one to find out they were all sold, “but as it’s you, Mr Lauda….” So 201 were made.
The engine is a twin turbo 2.8 litre V8 with the tiniest of Japanese IHI turbos. The small size giving excellent throttle response at a time when early generation turbo technology meant that drivers had to live with turbo lag and the on-off nature of the power delivery. The 288GTO engine would stand comparison with any modern turbocharged installation today and develops 400Bhp. While the body is indeed based on the Ferrari 308, extensive modifications were made not just to the bodywork, but to the engineering too. The 308 engine was transversely mounted, the GTO has the engine mounted inline, making room for the additional engineering required for the twin turbos.
Market value today, if you can find someone willing to part with it, is around £450,000.
I’d never actually seen one for real before. It’s a car I’d lusted after, knowing that, up there with the McLaren F1, I’d no friends that owned one, so that was the end of that…. Then I get the call. To shoot and drive a Ferrari 288GTO.
As I climb in, I’m in awe. Looking out forwards, it’s a fairly standard 308 type view. A glance into your peripheral vision to the left, though and you can see that iconic wing mirror, sitting tall to give you a view over that wonderfully curvy rear wheel arch. It’s more comfortable than you might think inside, the superb leather buckets holding you far better in place that the thin 308 seats, the view out beyond the alcantara clad dashboard and beyond the sculpted front wings is excellent. With the two wing mirrors in the corner of your eye, the red front wings curving down to the road, the only thing missing is a tree lined French Autoroute. Today, however, we have the superb Yorkshire Moors as our playground.
Turn the key and there’s that turbine-like starter motor whine unique to period Ferraris. Throttle response is razor sharp, the cold engine making a lovely, urgent, fast but uneven idle, very similar to the lumpiness of a Formula One engine of the period.
The open gate gearshift, with first on a dog leg to the right and backwards, is the usual stiff and obstructive when cold, best to miss out second for a while and go straight from first to third. Once the fluids are warmied though, it’s got that lovely, unique Ferrari action that makes changing gears a joy. It reminds me that both customers and Ferrari themselves are making a real mistake in moving over to paddle shift gearchanges on the modern cars.
The traffic clears, the temperature gauge is moving up nicely. Squeeze the throttle, the engine clears it’s throat and there’s a lovely
surge forwards accompanied by a whistle from the turbos. The steering comes alive, nicely weighted with great feel. Stability is quite remarkable, the car having the tightness and feel of a modern supercar, not one created way back in 1985. The traffic is still very light as we accelerate out across the North Yorkshire Moors, the wide open moorland giving excellent visibility, passing the light traffic as if they’re parked. The now
thoroughly warmed gearbox has taken on that lightning fast characteristic, changing just as fast as you can move your right hand, through second, third, fourth, driving on the rev counter and only occasionally glancing over at the speedo with reluctance.
For more than an hour, the sweeping, undulating moorland roads encouraging the GTO onwards until it’s time to return to Specialist Cars of Malton, the people generous generously able to arrange this test. The car sits at idle, the smell of hot oil wafting through the open drivers door as we wait for the turbos to cool before shutting down the engine, leaving only the tick, tick of cooling metal. I realise that the hairs on my forearms are stirring and there’s an affection for this car I’ve only ever felt on rare occasions before.
I was nervous before I drove it. I’ve held the design in high regard for decades, feeling that it’s probably one of the most beautifil cars ever designed. But technology advances remorselessly and I’d had that ‘Never Meet Your Heros’ phrase in my head. My fears are unfounded. My affection for this car has advanced beyond my wildest expectations and todays drive will be one I’ll recall with great regard for many years to come.
