Rarest Ferrari Celebrates 50th Anniversary at Amelia Island

330 LM GTO Ferrari car
330 LM GTO Ferrari – Dave Wendt

Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance is now in its second decade and the luxury car show is among the top automotive events in the world.

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

“The Amelia” is its commonly known, draws nearly 250 rare vehicles from car collections around the world to The Golf Club of Amelia Island at Summer Beach and The Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island for a celebration of the automobile like no other.

The 330 GTOs were Ferrari’s in-house hot rods: prototype Grand Touring cars with four-liter V-12 engines instead of the GTO’s traditional 3-liter V-12. Just two were built; a cross between a pure prototype and a road going Grand Touring car.

Assigned to Ferrari Engineer and racer Mike Parkes and factory F1 and sports car ace Lorenzo Bandini, Jim Jaeger’s 4-liter GTO (#3765) appears as it did on June 23, 1962 when gridded seventh at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

In 1967 “3765” came to America. Jim Jaeger took possession of this prototype GTO in 1985 and began a historically fastidious restoration. Once he had obtained the car’s original 4-liter V-12 engine block, Jaeger returned the car to its original 1962 Le Mans livery. Today “3765” wears the number seven, just as it did 50 years ago at Le Mans on Saturday afternoon, June 23, 1962.

330 LM GTO Ferrari - Dave Wendt
330 LM GTO Ferrari – Dave Wendt

Amelia founder and Chairman Bill Warner was quoted, “This is our ‘marquee car.’ It’s the car on our website and, with its deep and pronounced hood bulge, the most recognizable and voluptuous of the GTO breed.” Jaeger’s GTO is one of the first two four-liter GTOs built by the Ferrari factory.

For more information, visit http://www.ameliaconcours.org or call 904-636-0027.

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