Celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Classic Ferrari GTO Race Car

1962 Ferrari 250 GTO – Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance

The 2012 Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance will be held next year from March 9-11 on the 10th and 18th fairways of The Golf Club of Amelia Island at Summer Beach next to the luxury The Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island.

1962 marked the iconic debut of this most significant Ferrari – the Ferrari GTO. 2012 will celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the classic Ferrari GTO.

This will be a rare gathering at 2012 Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance, including legendary GT racers that made its international debut at the 1962 12 Hours of Sebring and proceeded to rule international GT racing for three years.

The Ferrari GTO was built between 1962 and 1964, but yet only 36 three-liter cars and two four-liter cars were created by the factory. Ferrari 250 GTOs were constructed to meet new racing rules for the FIA’s World Championship Grand Touring category.

The stylish racing car’s name is derived from the Italian language as GTO means “Grand Turismo Omologato” and translates to “Grand Touring Homologated.”

Racing was Enzo Ferrari’s life. As the legendary GTO went from drawing board to metal, shockingly a civil war within Ferrari rocked the organization to its foundations. The disagreements left 26 year-old Mauro Forghieri to pick up the pieces and bring Ferrari’s newest GT racer to life.

Due to its limited production numbers, sleek GT styling, and rich competition history, Ferrari GTOs are highly prized and considered a work of art by collectors and automotive journalists around the world.

The Ferrari GTO sold originally for about $18,000 in the United States. On the rare occasion when one does change hands, it is usually in extremely private circumstances and the price tag is easily in the multi-million dollar range.