Classic Digest

The Ferrari 250 GTO is a work of art. Valuable art has been forged throughout the ages, the history of the 250 GTO also includes a series of scams that are even more amazing than fiction, but true!

In motorsports, the one who cheats the best wins.

In 1962, the international motor sports association FIA divided sports cars into two classes, prototypes that can be built more freely and touring cars based on production cars, i.e. the GT class. You read that right, a motorhome, i.e. "Gran Turismo" is a fast and comfortable 2-4 seater coupe.

Il Commendatore Enzo Ferrari immediately saw in the rule reform an opportunity for sure success. Namely, he wanted to stretch the rules and compete with a "prototype" in the GT class. Thanks to Enzo's position and relationships, the Italian team, if anyone could pull off such an eye-rolling trick, it was said that FIA is short for Ferrari Internal Affairs.

When introducing the 250 GTO "Gran Tourismo Omologato", Ferrari did everything possible to make the GTO look like just one version of the 250 family, hence the body numbering of the 250 GTO did not differ from the tamer 250 models. This later facilitated the creation of 250 GTO fakes.

Il Commendatore was assured by the FIA that the 250 GTO, of which 36 were built, was merely a new development version of the 250 GT family and thus eligible for the GT class, where 500 completed cars were required to compete. The argument in itself was not completely blown by the wind, because the body and chassis of the GTO were largely based on the 250 GT "SWB" Berlinetta presented in 1959. The engine, on the other hand, was taken almost as is from a 250 Testa Rossa racer.

The streamlined body of the GTO was a completely new Ferrari. Back in the 50s, Enzo is said to have said that aerodynamics is for those who don't know how to build engines. After looking directly at the rear lights of the Jaguar D-type Mulsanne of the time, even Ferrari was finally forced to admit that it was impossible to succeed in the long run without working aerodynamics.

Deviating from tradition, the 250 GTO was designed in the factory's own working group under the leadership of Giotto Bizzarrini. Bizzarrini tested the aerodynamics of the future GTO both in the wind tunnel of the University of Pisa and by building a prototype body on the chassis of his own Ferrari 250 GT Boano. The chassis number of Bizzarrini's car was 2643GT. It is telling that in some sources the identity of the GTO proto is stated as 0523GT. Despite the rough execution, the shape of the final car was largely visible in this "Papera" test model, except for the sharply cut Kamm rear, to which coachbuilder Scaglietti added a ducktail spoiler at the last minute.

As the 250 GTO rolled onto the track, it was difficult for the competitors to digest the FIA's decision to accept Ferrari's novelty in the motorhome category. One of those who tried to protest in vain was Carrol Shelby, who led the Cobra team. However, Shelby quickly learned from what happened and hired Pete Brock to design the Cobra Daytona racer, which turned out to be a creation that looked almost like a homemade 250 GTO.

Opportunity makes a thief, 250 GTO clones

Normandy TV mechanic Alain Garner had dreamed of a 250 GTO Ferrari for a long time. Even though the old racing cars were almost worthless in the early 1970s, the mechanic's funds were not enough for this, and the 36 produced cars were not available in remote France.

However, the aging 250 GT was within the reach of a TV mechanic and so Garnier bought one in 1973. Garnier's thumb was by no means in the middle of the palm and in 1981 a fully restored 250 GTO rolled into the light of day. In reality, the chassis number of the car was the same 3671GT as the 250 GT that Garnier bought eight years earlier. In the golden 80's, there were no websites that listed the original GTO frame numbers, and since Ferrari deliberately also used only the GT suffix in the frame number series of the original GTO individuals, it was almost impossible to distinguish a car from a genuine GTO without access to the factory archives.

Garnier's 250 "GTO" piqued the interest of a collector dealer in Nice and his Dutch partner.

The two tried for a long time to buy a mechanic's car without success. They finally managed to turn Garnier's head and get the 3671GT. In addition to the purchase price, the contract included a workshop promised to Garnier in the French Province, where the master was to build more GTO clones. While the artist Garnier focused on creating new GTO individuals in Provinssi, the company partners rushed to finance the collectors. The original “Garnier-GTO” 3671GT was sold to an unsuspecting German collector as a genuine specimen.

In the province's GTO workshop, only a handful of cars had time to be completed until the ground started to burn under the feet of the partners. In Germany, a collector who bought a “Garnier-GTO” 3671GT had learned that the jewel in his collection was actually a re-decorated 250 GT. An enraged customer was able to cancel the sale by threatening the sellers' health. The 3671GT, which burned the fingers of special businessmen, was hidden in a dark basement and the fraudsters came up with the most imaginative stories to cover their tracks. In a wild cover story, the GTO clones were allegedly built by a Bedouin tribe living in Saudi Arabia! To support the story, the heroes put on turbans and sent the pictures to the press. As you know, you shouldn't spoil a good story with facts, and the flying story was published.

Despite the small number, Garnier's 250 GTO clones ended up in the collections of at least two collectors convicted of fraud. The English Lord Brocket was fond of a lifestyle for which even the inheritance of a noble family was not enough. Brocket insured his collection of 42 cars for the full value, selected four cars from the collection, hid them and reported them stolen. The fraud would have been successful, but later in the divorce, the spouse who was left incompetent reported Lord to the police and he ended up living in a castle maintained by the state. In the criminal investigation, the 250 GTO in Lord's collection was revealed to be a clone.

Belgian banker Jean-Pierre Van Rossem, on the other hand, pledged a significant car collection in a large debt arrangement. Once again, several cars in the collection turned out to be fakes, including the 250 GTO.

Favre Ferrari, the rise and destruction of young William

The "GTO" 3671GT built by Garnier was hidden in a basement on the border between France and Switzerland when the James Bond of his own life, William Favre, got a hint about the car. At this point, Garnier's business partners wanted to distance themselves from the GTO clone business and accepted an offer of 700,000 francs made in Favre's name.

Favre wanted to make 250 GTO clones from a completely different base. He proudly announced that at his own factory in Geneva, he was able to transform the embarrassing old 250 GT into a "Favre-Ferrari" 250 GTO, which would be better than the factory originals made in the 60s!

In reality, no "Favre-Ferrari" factory even existed. The cars were made by the first-class coachbuilder Giovanni Giordanengo based in Piedmont.

Young Favre was by no means content to hold a candle under the bushel, Favre's marketing strategy was based on smearing Ferrari. At the time, special mockery was directed at the new 288 GTO model, which Favre called the 308 GTO and a car that failed in every way.

The nervousness of the owner family of Ferrari and Fiat, the Agnellis, was not alleviated even by the fact that Favre had managed to talk two of his cars to the Cinnetti booth of Ferrari's oldest US importer and owner of the famous N.A.R.T (North American Racing Team) racing stable at the Chicago Auto Show. Visitors to the exhibition had the impression that the Favre-Ferrari 250 GTOs were Ferrari's official retro models. Favre was attacked by the Agnelli family's army of lawyers with predictable consequences, the Favre-Ferrari saga had come to an end.

Disillusioned and in debt, William Favre was later found shot in a shabby hotel. The official cause of death was marked as suicide, but rumors of "il Commendatore's" revenge remained alive.

250 GTO Today, genuine ones and replicas rubbing shoulders with each other

After Favre's adventures came to an end, the circus surrounding the GTO clones also died down.

Both Garnier and Giordanengo quietly built new 250 GTO evocaziones on their own.

Favre-Ferraris are rare on the market, the last Favre publicly sold found a new home in 2018, according to ClassicDigest (link https://www.classicdigest.com) for $675,000.

Will Tomkins, the owner of Turrino Wheels, which manufactures Borrani spoke rims, bought an aluminum body twenty years ago, which he believes is Favre's legacy. Unlike other cars, the body is mounted on a Ferrari 400 chassis and has a modern, modern 600 horsepower Ferrari 575 engine.

If Santa's letter hasn't been sent yet, you can hint to Santa (link https://www.classicdigest.com/cars/ferrari/250-gto-evocazione-recreation/157519 )

With the price of the original cars skyrocketing, many GTO clones now share a garage with the original 250 GTO. The genuine GTO stays behind locked doors and the clone is driven. It's an open secret that some of the 'original' 250 GTO racers seen on the Goodwood circuit are clones of the owner's original car - Except for Nick Manson's GTO, which the Pink Floyd drummer bought for £37,000 in the 70s.