One-of-five Ferrari 288 GTO Evoluzione up for public sale

Ferrari would not usually dabble within the mundane, however a few of its vehicles are rarer than others. An ideal instance is the 288 GTO Evoluzione, a race car-turned-test bench that the corporate constructed 5 models of within the Eighties. Whereas these hardly ever come up on the market, one is presently being auctioned.

Many fanatics are acquainted with the 288 GTO, however the Evoluzione mannequin stays considerably extra obscure. Ferrari initially developed it to compete within the Group B rally class’s tarmac occasions. You did not must be a seasoned car-spotter to inform the Evoluzione aside from the usual 288 GTO: it featured a particular, Pininfarina-designed physique made with Kevlar and fiberglass and a carbon fiber rear wing. Energy got here from a 650-horsepower evolution of the street automotive’s 2.9-liter, twin-turbocharged V8 engine. Ferrari quoted a high velocity of 230 mph.

Had it raced, the 288 GTO Evoluzione may have given Ferrari’s rivals a critical run for his or her cash. It did not get the possibility to compete as a result of the Fédération Internationale de l’Car (FIA) eradicated the Group B class from worldwide rally occasions in 1986. Ferrari as a substitute used the 288 GTO Evoluzione to check a few of the options it later dropped at manufacturing within the F40, and it is not a coincidence that a number of styling cues hyperlink the 2 vehicles.

In-built 1987, and assigned chassis quantity 79888, the 288 GTO Evoluzione listed by RM Sotheby’s is the fourth instance constructed. It was completed in 1988 and offered to Belgian pilot Jean Blaton in December of that yr. The promoting seller bought it in 1992 and stored it till a personal collector in the UK purchased it in 2006. The automotive then went via the palms of present Aston Martin chairman Lawrence Stroll, Rick White, David SK Lee, and David Raisbeck. It has been housed in a personal assortment positioned in Europe since 2019.

RM Sotheby’s notes that Italian seller and restore heart Michelotto not too long ago carried out a €133,000 (about $130,000) service on this 288 GTO Evoluzione. The record of elements changed contains the gas traces, engine oil traces, brake traces, driveshaft boots, seatbelts and home windows. Each turbochargers, the water pump, elements of the suspension syste, and the brake calipers have been overhauled as properly. And the transmission and clutch have been serviced, the tires have been modified, and the physique was repainted within the unique Rosso Corsa colour.

Act quick if you would like it: the public sale closes on October 21, 2022, at 6:00 p.m. Paris time (that is midday in New York and 9:00 a.m. in California). RM hasn’t supplied a pre-auction estimate however this may not be a cut price. The agency offered an ordinary 288 GTO for $4.4 million in August 2022.

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