Sat 10 Apr 2010
To the world of motoring, Ferrari means fast. Having someone else build the fastest road car doesn’t go down too well in the corridors of power at Maranello, even if the racing heritage of the prancing horse transcends all other contenders. While, the Ferrari 288 GTO had topped the fastest Countach, the mid eighties saw the Porsche 959 at the head of the field. Ferrari responded with the F40 in 1988 with all but 200 mph. Then came the Diablo in 1990 nosing ahead, but all were to be engulfed by the rash of supercars that flooded a diminishing market – Jaguar, Bugatti and McLaren cleared 200 mph comfortably.
Following the dramatic success of the limited edition 288 GTO, underlined by the premium prices paid for such exclusivity, Ferrari knew the market would still absorb a larger number of even faster cars bearing the prancing horse. With the Evolution version of the GTO still born by the lack of anywhere to race Group B cars, Ferrari had a second base from which to work on the car that would celebrate 40 years of production. The chassis followed the tubular carbon fiber replaced the welded sheet boxing to give a lighter, stronger structure; body paneling and interior trims also benefited from modern companies – inside it was pretty Spartan with bare carbon fiber and little sound deadening.