{"id":3224,"date":"2019-09-28T08:29:35","date_gmt":"2019-09-28T08:29:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.carandclassic.co.uk\/magazine\/?p=3224"},"modified":"2024-09-12T10:23:36","modified_gmt":"2024-09-12T09:23:36","slug":"the-homologators-ferrari-288-gto","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.carandclassic.com\/magazine\/the-homologators-ferrari-288-gto\/","title":{"rendered":"The Homologators – Ferrari 288 GTO"},"content":{"rendered":"

Some people go all weak at the knees for the Ferrari F40, and rightly so. It is an icon, it\u2019s a formidable force in the world of supercars. It still has the power, pace and looks to cut it today. It is the poster-child for performance. But for many, it\u2019s not quite \u2018the one\u2019. No, when you ask aficionados to wax lyrical about their favourite Ferrari there\u2019s only one model that comes to mind, and that\u2019s the Group B race car that never was – the Ferrari 288 GTO of the mid-1980s.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This is for us, and for many others, Ferrari at its finest. It was and still is a snarling, raw, visceral machine that was only ever meant to exist on the road to satisfy a need to be on track. Yet in a cruel twist, it never saw competition. As such, it\u2019s a car that was, essentially, homologated for no reason. But if it was never raced, why does it exist?<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Ferrari,<\/p>\n

In 1982, when Group B rolled around, the manufacturers lifted their heads and raised an eyebrow. This was an opportunity. The rules and regulations of Group B were so relaxed they made a kid\u2019s party at Burger King look regimented. The manufacturers jumped at the chance to build utterly loony cars for competition, with each one generating a token couple of hundred road versions.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Nobody cared about the road cars, at least not from the manufacturer side of things. They were a tick in the FIA rule book that green-lit the competition cars. The fact that they were all pretty hateful to drive on the road didn\u2019t matter, either. They didn\u2019t need to be comfortable, they didn\u2019t need to be safe, and ironically the road cars didn\u2019t even need to be fast, they just needed to exist.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As the 1980s progressed, the motorsport world looked on at the World Rally Championship and it began to ponder. Could Group B be applied elsewhere? Yes, as it happened, it could. Group B, said the FIA, could be applied to circuit racing, too. Ferrari was very, very interested in this. So interested, in fact, that they decided to tie the build of its halo car in with this new, exciting form of circuit racing. The 288 GTO was born.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Ferrari,<\/p>\n

Based loosely around the 308, the 288 was built to be an all out assault on speed and handling. It was wider, it was lower and it was more powerful. Unlike the 308, the 288 was built around a high-tensile tubular steel space frame, atop which the fibreglass and steel panels were draped. The bulkhead and bonnet, to further add lightness were made from a Kevlar glass fibre honeycomb composite. It was a proper, full bore race car. But if Ferrari was going to put the letters GTO (Gran Turismo Omologata) it very much had to be.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Power came from a V8 that was, curiously, smaller in capacity than that of the 308. The 308 was 2,927cc, whereas the engine in the 288 was 2,855cc. This was deliberate, as it met FIA\u2019s 1.4 multiplication requirement, which was in place for turbocharged cars. This meant the 288 GTO would come in under the 4-litre engine-size limit – when you multiplied the 2,855cc capacity by 1.4 you got 3,997cc. No, we don\u2019t know either.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Ferrari,<\/p>\n

What we do know is that while it may have been smaller on cubic centimeters, it did pack two more turbos than the 308. Which had none. Making the 288 a twin-turbo V8. But of course, this is a Ferrari twin-turbo V8, so it made for 395bhp and 388lb ft. In 1984, that was a lot. That said, it\u2019s still a lot now. It\u2019s just the delivery that is different in the 288\u2019s contemporaries. In the \u201880s we lived for lag. Plant your foot in a 288 GTO and something happened – it was a V8 – but not a lot. Then the turbos kicked in and all hell broke loose. And all that power went through the rear wheels. No traction control, no clever electronic brain monitoring torque and power distribution. Just raw, unabashed grunt. Yes indeed, this was a proper Group B car. Except\u2026 it wasn\u2019t.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As Group B evolved the danger, as we all know, increased. Culminating in the deaths of spectators and drivers. Group B then, was gone. The circuit series for Group B cars was gone too, but the 288 GTO had been developed. It was a tangible machine, not just an idea. What was Ferrari going to do? Build them anyway, that\u2019s what.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Ferrari,<\/p>\n

The buzz built up around the 288 GTO was so great that it became a viable proposition for Ferrari to build them as road cars. But, Ferrari being Ferrari, it wasn\u2019t just going to cobble them together like every other Group B homologation. Instead, it did it properly, and built the cars to a reasonable standard, trimmed them nicely, dialed down the suspension a tad so it didn\u2019t shatter spines at the mere whisper of a bump in the road. And the finished car was spectacular. It was a halo car for the brand, a nasty, angry, no holds barred machine that was built to be driven and driven hard. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"Ferrari,<\/p>\n

The rules, not that they mattered anymore, stated that 200 roadgoing cars had to be built to satisfy Group B regulations. Such was the popularity of the 288 GTO, Ferrari actually built 272, including 5 \u2018Evoluzione\u2019 versions with a terrifying 650bhp (Ferrari had planned on 20, but what with Group B vanishing\u2026). <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Some people go all weak at the knees for the Ferrari F40, and rightly so. It is an icon, it\u2019s a formidable force in the world of supercars. It still…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":3230,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[225],"tags":[984,12,13,987,182,983,985,986,982,226,457,455],"yoast_head":"\nThe Homologators - Ferrari 288 GTO - Car & Classic Magazine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Any car built for homologation is pretty special, but when that car has the prancing horse of Ferrari sat on its nose, it\u2019s another level of special\u2026\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.carandclassic.com\/magazine\/the-homologators-ferrari-288-gto\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Homologators - Ferrari 288 GTO - Car & Classic Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Any car built for homologation is pretty special, but when that car has the prancing horse of Ferrari sat on its nose, it\u2019s another level of special\u2026\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.carandclassic.com\/magazine\/the-homologators-ferrari-288-gto\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Car & Classic Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-09-28T08:29:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-09-12T09:23:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.carandclassic.com\/magazine\/app\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Ferrari-288_GTO-1984-1280-01.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"960\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Car & Classic\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Car & Classic\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.carandclassic.com\/magazine\/the-homologators-ferrari-288-gto\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.carandclassic.com\/magazine\/the-homologators-ferrari-288-gto\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Car & Classic\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.carandclassic.com\/magazine\/#\/schema\/person\/9faf82502e956d89ea59bb842c637f39\"},\"headline\":\"The Homologators – Ferrari 288 GTO\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-09-28T08:29:35+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-09-12T09:23:36+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.carandclassic.com\/magazine\/the-homologators-ferrari-288-gto\/\"},\"wordCount\":922,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.carandclassic.com\/magazine\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"288 GTO\",\"carandclassic\",\"carandclassic.co.uk\",\"F40\",\"Ferrari\",\"Ferrari 288 GTO\",\"Ferrari 308\",\"Ferrari F40\",\"Ferrari GTO\",\"Group B\",\"Modena\",\"supercar\"],\"articleSection\":[\"The Homologators\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.carandclassic.com\/magazine\/the-homologators-ferrari-288-gto\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.carandclassic.com\/magazine\/the-homologators-ferrari-288-gto\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.carandclassic.com\/magazine\/the-homologators-ferrari-288-gto\/\",\"name\":\"The Homologators - 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