What we have here is probably the greatest road and track car ever made. It combines sexy styling, championship-winning engineering and exclusivity. Only 39 copies exist and each comes with her own history.

The Ferrari 250 GTO is the most desirable and valuable car in the world,and is surrounded with controversy and myth. Many people will argue that the best car in the world is the Ferrari GTO. While more modern supercars surpass the GTO in terms of performance, none excel better in both form and function. During its heyday, the GTO dominated the World Sports Car championship, and it is still one of the most beautiful shapes ever to grace a Ferrari chassis.

For these reasons, the GTO is one of the most desired and expensive cars. In fact, chassis 3729GT received a high bid of nine million dollars at Bonhams’ 1997 Gstaad Auction.Earlyer in the 1990s, when prices for rare and classic cars were at a fevered pitch, an example sold for $15,000,000.

The 250 GTO was designed to compete in GT racing.

The Ferrari GTO is a dual purpose car. These are cars that are designed for both the street and race track. In this great tradition, an owner could drive the car to the track, race it, and then drive it home. It is a fact that characteristics that make a car excel on the race track do not make for a good street car and what makes a good street car will make a car uncompetitive on the race track. In the early 1960s, technology was such that succeeding in both areas was possible.

The widely-admired body was developed from work done by Bizzarini and Scaglietti and perfected in wind tunnel and track testing. Unlike most Ferraris, it was not designed by a specific individual or design house. The first GTO was completed in 1962, having a body sculpted in-house and later revised by Scaglietti. In 1963 steps were made to improve the car, which included an all-new, Pininfarina-designed body. The car debuted at the 12 Hours of Sebring in 1962.

To many enthusiasts, a Ferrari is more an engine than a car. Nobody can deny that the Ferrari name is synonymous with the most exciting automotive powerplants ever produced.

The 3 litre(180 cubic inches) engine was a version of the Gioacchino Colombo short-block designed V12. Continuously developed from then on, this engine would power many racers and road cars. The engine was fitted in a simple but strong steel tubular ladder-frame that was suspended by wishbones with a single leaf spring at the front and a live axle at the rear. All 250 GTO engines were tested on a dynomometer and found to achieve between 290 to just over 300 horsepower, peaking at around 7500 rpm.

The five-speed gearbox( exotic stuff in 1962) was a step forward, if not really revolutionary; the metal gate that defined the shift pattern would in turn become a tradition that is still maintained in current models. The transmission case was exclusive to the GTO. Fifth was a direct drive. The differential was a ZF limited slip unit. All forward gears were synchromesh.

The interior of all Ferrari GTOs was minimal, in keeping with their race car destiny.The interior of most GTOs was sprayed with a light hammer gold paint. Note the exposed tubular space frame. Unlocking from the inside was via a simple cable mechanism and the sliding Perspex window system saved weight.

The 250GTO was an exceptionally capable racing car. At the time of its introduction it was (depending on choice of gears and final-drive ratio) most likely the straight-line fastest car on any race track. All GTOs have contemporary racing history and would require numerous paragraphs to describe each career in detail.

In the best Ferrari tradition, it made normal drivers look excellent and gave great drivers an unsurpassable advantage. It continued to win its class in every round of the world championship, including a clean sweep of the class podium at Le Mans. Ferrari won the season championship with a maximum score of 45 points. The GTO won the World Manufacturer’s Championship three years in a row: 1962, 1963, and 1964.

Ferrari was selective about potential owners, so if you were in the good graces of Ferrai Enzo, or his North American ambasador Luigi Chinetti, you would buy the best GT racing car available.

The 250 GTO was perhaps the last car that could compete on such a level and still act as a normal road car, it was one of the last front-engined cars to be truly competitive at such a level. Prices peaked around 1991; although specifics are discreetly glossed over, it is common knowledge that a 250GTO traded hands in a private sale around this time for no less than fifteen million dollars.