Very rarely does a Ferrari 250 GTO come up for sale, and if it does, you’ll probably never hear about it. Most sales are done behind closed doors, and the amount of said transactions are almost never disclosed to the public. That’s just part of the mystique behind the world’s most valuable car, and it’s partially why the cars are so coveted. Just 36 examples were built between 1962 and 1963, each still in existence and easily carrying an eight-figure price tag. A few years ago, a 250 GTO supposedly changed hands for nearly $30 million, but no one can completely confirm the rumor.

We will, however, have more details about the next sale of a 250 GTO. RM Auctions have announced that they will be doing a “private treaty sale” of 1963 250 GTO chassis #4675GT. The car has been in possession of its current Japanese owner, Yoshiho Matsuda, since 1996 (a low point for the value of the car compared to the high prices of the late 1980s), and it has an extensive racing history.

We saw the car at the Pebble Beach Concour d’Elegance back in 2004, and while its Series II bodywork isn’t quite as stunning as earlier models, it’s still an extraordinarily beautiful car. If you’ve got millions of dollars just sitting around, now is the time to break out the checkbook and buy your very own rolling piece of V12-powered Italian artwork. Hit the jump for the official press release from RM or click the high-res gallery below for a beautiful studio shot plus several of our photographs from our 2004 encounter with the car.

PRESS RELEASE:

RM Auctions, the global leader in the collector car market with a specialization in the sale of Ferraris, is representing the 1963 Ferrari 250 GTO (chassis no. 4675 GT) – one of the most coveted cars in the world, for private treaty sale.

In addition to its impressive motor car auction results at prestigious locations around the globe, including the sale of seven of the top 10 Ferraris ever sold at auction, RM generates an average of $50 million in private treaty transactions year over year.

“The Ferrari GTO is unquestionably one of the most iconic and coveted cars in the world,” says Max Girardo, Managing Director of RM Europe. “This is truly a rare occasion for collectors to acquire such an important piece of automotive history and we are pleased to be chosen by 4675 GT’s current custodian to represent it on the open market.”

The 1963 Ferrari 250 GTO (chassis no. 4675 GT) is one of only 36 250 GTOs originally produced and one of a limited few with Series II GTO bodywork. In addition to being considered one of the most beautiful cars ever built by Ferrari, the GTO was tremendously successful in competition, securing multiple World Championships for the Modenese car builder.

In April 1963, 4675 GT left the factory finished in Rosso Cina. It was raced by such drivers as Guido Fossati, Jean Guichet, Oddone Sigala, Vincenzo Nember and Luigi Taramazzo and proved itself a tremendously capable racing car, rarely finishing outside the top three in its class and achieving numerous race wins. It participated in the full range of competitive events, including hillclimbs, endurance races and rallies.

The present owner acquired 4675 GT in 1996, and has maintained it in his exceptional, world-renowned Japanese collection ever since. Most recently 4675 GT has participated in the ultra-private events reserved only for GTO owners, namely the 35th and 45th GTO Anniversary Tours in France and California.

For more information about the purchase of this car, please contact Max Girardo at RM Auctions on +44 (0) 20 7851 7077.

[Source:Autoblog]

With nearly all the seats accounted for and the first group test at Valencia (scheduled for February 1) fast approaching, the time has come once again, boys and girls, for the unveiling of the 2010 F1 cars.

A couple of months ago, it looked like all the teams would get together under the auspices of the Formula One Teams Association to unveil their cars in one massive exposition concurrent with the Valencia test session, but that won’t come to fruition. Several teams are expected to debut there still, while others are doing their own thing once again. And Ferrari is first among them.

Unveiled at the team’s headquarters in Maranello, the new F10 is the chariot with which Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa will be contending for the championship against other top-rated challengers from Mercedes GP, McLaren and Red Bull, to say nothing of the other ten teams on the grid. The latest Prancing Horse – whose Santander-dominated red and white livery we saw a few days ago – is the product of several months of development, as the Scuderia stopped development of last year’s car half-way through the season after realizing it was way off pace and concentrated on this year’s car instead.

You can have a look at the initial batch of photos in the gallery below, but don’t expect to see much of the rear end of the car. Ferrari kept its diffuser design – of the double design that caused controversy last year but won’t be banned until next – hidden from prying eyes for the time being. Stay tuned for the more as the teams roll out their latest.

[Source:Autoblog]

Paolo Martin knows Ferraris. Having worked for several decades as a designer for Pininfarina – the design house of choice for Maranello – he’s styled several Prancing Horse design studies. One of his most iconic designs was the Ferrari Modulo concept, unveiled at the 1970 Geneva Motor Show.

Based on the chassis from a homologated Ferrari 512 S racing car, the Modulo was the absolute cutting edge of space-age design. It was far too radical to ever see production, of course, but its design has endured as one of the most exceptional of its era.

Now, in a rather unique move, Martin has revisited his concept, re-interpreting the theme in a more contemporary design. Theoretically based on a Ferrari Enzo chassis, the “nuovo Modulo” looks as radical now as the original did in its day. The question is, does Pininfarina still have the gusto to build even just the one?

[Source:Autoblog]

Switzerland doesn’t mess around when it comes to speeding tickets. Get caught with a lead foot in the land of Alpine vistas and serious chocolate and the cost of your transgression won’t be based on a flat rate for the infraction, it will be based on how wealthy you are. An unnamed driver of a Ferrari Testarossa found this out the hard way when he was caught driving 85 miles per hour through the village of St. Gallen. According to the BBC News, the driver was a repeat offender and his crime was going 35 mph over the speeding limit.

The punishment? How about £180,000 ($290,000 in U.S. funds), or enough money to purchase two or three Testarossas on eBay. That ungodly sum is reported to be more than double the previously costliest ticket, though we’re pretty sure the new record holder probably isn’t celebrating. Don’t feel too bad for the unnamed offender, though, as he is reportedly worth $22.7 million and he owns a villa and five luxury cars. We don’t know about you, but we’ve certainly pulled back our tears. Thanks for the tips, everyone!

[Source: BBC News | Image: Andrew Reddington/Getty]

[Source:Autoblog]

Says Jean Todt, newly-appointed president of the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), “I am convinced that we absolutely must reflect the environment with new technologies.” With that statement, it would appear that at least some of the direction of former FIA president Max Mosley will stay intact.

Mosley had championed a number of green efforts at the top run of the motorsports ladder, not the least of which were hybrid drivetrains in the form of the controversial Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS). Though most teams dropped their KERS units in 2009 and none plan to use them in 2010, the technology will likely make the transition to road use within the next few years, probably starting with BMW and Ferrari.

Other changes designed to make F1 racing more accessible to new teams may include spending caps and budget restraints, though it would seem that may clash with the desire to be more environmentally friendly. We’ll be watching.

[Source: Inside Line | Photo: Bertrand Guay/AFP/Getty]

[Source:Autoblog]

If Scuderia Ferrari drivers Alonso and Massa don’t do well in qualifying next year, it won’t be because they didn’t have the best tools with which to practice. Ferrari has built a driving simulator that could well be the Ferrari of driving simulators. It took two years to build, is 18-feet high, takes up two stories and received assistance from Moog, a control systems maker primarly known for its work wit the U.S. military’s F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

The sim rests a base that, by itself, weighs two hundred tons, and on top of that are a platform and actuators that support the aluminum and composite driving structure. The driver watches his progress on five displays good for more than 180 degrees of viewing, and hears his progress through a 3,500-watt Dolby 7.1 Surround Sound system. It has ten microprocessors and 60GB of RAM, and produces 5GB of data per day.

Oh, and it puts out 130 kW of power. Some perspective: the average American home is said to use 25 kW of power a day. Ferrari will hope it helps power at least one of its drivers to the crown.

[Source: Ferrari]

The black and white menace you see above was created for Gemballa’s Middle East distributor, the Illyas and Mustafa Galadari Group, using Mustafa’s personal Enzo as the subject. The roof scoop, jet-thruster-surrounds for the exhaust, and black rims are Gemballa hallmarks, on top of which the nose has been slightly sculpted and the hood sports a central scoop.

The widebody treatment has given Gemballa room to add new elements, like the vents up front and behind the wheels, the gills on the fenders, and stolen-from-a-Subie rear wing. Other Enzo features, like the side vents, have merely been massaged. The paint scheme, a far cry from the Middle East’s de rigueur gold or chrome, is nothing short of arresting — make of that what you will. We don’t mind it.

The inside is rather subdued, comparatively speaking: black and quilted red leather, trimmed in red stitching and piping. We don’t know anything else about the car at the moment — seems the proud owners are holding back until it’s officially rolled out, debutante style, to a waiting Dubai public. If anyone makes it to the unveiling, please let us know if it comes with a set of Imperial armor and an E-11 blaster…

[Source:Autoblog]

If you thought that last remaining piece of lasagna at the food court looked iffy, remember that’s not even the most suspicious concoction to bear the Sbarro banner. Franco Sbarro rivals even his fellow Swiss coachbuilder Rinspeed for his, um… “originality.” Recent examples have included a six-wheeled Citroen crossover, a leaning quadricycle and a vintage Rolls-Royce equipped especially for bird-watching. But as bizarre and unusual as most of Franco Sbarro’s creations have been, the Swiss designer also has a long history in radically modifying Ferraris.

Based on the 308 GTB, the Super 8 made our Top 10 Mid-Engined Hatchbacks list, but that’s just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Sbarro’s done everything from converting a 365 GT4 into a Mille Miglia spyder to giving the 550 Maranello the wide-body treatment. Among the most intriguing of his projects, though, has been the Alcador series. The first Alcador, based on the Testarossa, debuted at the 1995 Geneva salon. The second, called the Alcador GTB, came a baker’s-dozen years later at the 2008 Geneva show, borrowing its chassis and engine from the 348. Sbarro tweaked the design and came back to the Palexpo the following year with a new Alcador GTB based on the 360 Modena.

Now, a Swiss collector by the name of Lienhard has commissioned the coachbuilder to craft him another example, and the result was unveiled to the public this past weekend at the Essen tuner expo in Germany. Strangely called the Lista Office, Sbarro’s latest is underpinned once again by the 80s-era Testarossa, packing its 450hp 5-liter boxer 12. Say what you will about the styling, but one thing’s for sure: it doesn’t look anything like a 512TR. See for yourself in the image gallery below.

[Source:Autoblog]

After setting a new lap record at Laguna Seca the other day, Dodge announced some minor revisions to the all-conquering Viper ACR for the 2010 model year. The snake that swallowed the famed 11-turn race track whole will be treated to some revised gearing and aerodynamics, a new short-throw shifter, the addition of a new color to the catalog and an updated interior to boot. There’ll also be a special edition ACR to commemorate the record-breaking lap time. But in the process, a senior Chrysler executive clarified some rumors that have been circulating regarding the next generation Dodge supercar.

Back in August we reported that the next-gen Viper could get a heart transplant in the form of a Ferrari-developed modular engine. The program spearheaded by Chrysler’s new corporate cousin in Maranello was tipped to form the basis for new engines that would find their way into the bays of upcoming Maseratis, Ferraris and Vipers. But in speaking with AutoWeek, Dodge brand chief Ralph Gilles reportedly put the brakes on the rampant speculation, saying that any collaboration between Dodge and Ferrari on the Viper’s replacement wouldn’t extend beyond some input from the Italian marque on the car’s development. And while that doesn’t necessarily mean the engine programs couldn’t be merged, “Ferrari is Ferrari, according to Gilles, and “Viper is Viper”.

[Source:Autoblog]

Remember Jim Glickenhaus’ Ferrari P4/5? Unveiled at Pebble Beach back in 2006, the re-bodied Enzo was designed by Pininfarina to mimic the classic lines of the legendary 1967 Ferrari P4 racecar. With just a single example built, the P4/5 is truly a one-off design. Or so we thought. According to Glickenhaus’ statements on the FerrariChat.com forum, he is undergoing preparations to construct a race version that would make its competition debut at the 2010 Nürburgring 24 hour race from May 13-16. Currently the plan is merely just that - a plan - and Glickenhaus admits that much has to be done before his vision becomes a reality. “There are a LOT of stars that would have to align for this to happen but it’s not impossible,” he stated.

The P4/5 Competizione, as it is being called, would be based on an entirely new car and would not be a conversion of the P4/5 road car. Glickenhaus hasn’t given specifics about exactly which car would be used as the platform, but he did hint that it will “have a Ferrari chassis/vin#/engine and gearbox.” The renderings you see here are merely Photoshopped versions of the road car, but an updated sketch and additional specifications should be coming in the next few weeks.

According to Glickenhaus, the leading factor preventing the proposal from coming to fruition is finding a major sponsor. Our guess is that time might become an issue as well, as eight months is a relatively short time to develop, build, and test a competitive racecar. Still, we wish Glickenhaus the best of luck, and hope to see another one of his dream cars on track in the near future.

[Source:Autoblog]