GTO Ferrari Tour of Tuscany - Snapshots, Part Three
Ferrari 250 GTO 55th Anniversary - this was the official name of a super-exclusive event hosted by the Ferrari factory for 250 GTO owners in Florence, Italy, between September 25th and 30th, 2017.
The 250 GTO tours have a long tradition, beginning in 1982, with a gathering of probably the world’s most valuable cars being organized every five years. This time, for the 55th anniversary of the 250 GTO that had been launched in 1962, the factory took over as host of the meeting for the very first time. For reasons of security and privacy of the owners, the event had been successfully kept extremely secret and only a very few people on the globe who do not own a Ferrari 250 GTO knew about it. Eventually 18 owners enrolled for the tour, and they were rewarded with a perfectly organized event and splendid weather.
The Villa Cora five star plus hotel in Florence had been chosen as the event hotel, located in the picturesque hills overlooking the city. The entire hotel had been blocked for the participants and the staff to ensure the highest possible level of privacy.
The event started with two days of driving on the curvy roads in Tuscany’s beautiful scenery, always guided and guarded by police officers and private security on motorbikes! On Tuesday, the GTO owners roamed the Chianti region south of Florence which is so famous for its red wine. On Wednesday, the tour’s first stop was the Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello, the famous Tuscan circuit owned by Ferrari, where the participants did a number of free laps at the speed of their choice. The tour continued via the route of the almost forgotten Mugello Grand Prix, a race held on public roads between 1914 and 1970 and about 38 miles long. Some road sections had been closed for normal traffic as special stages for the 250 GTO teams.
Thursday was a free day to enable the GTO ladies to do some shopping in Florence. On Friday, the group left Florence and took the old Mille Miglia route to Maranello, including the Futa and Raticosa mountain passes. In Maranello, the GTO owners had the possibility to do a couple of laps on the Fiorano circuit prior to parking their cars in the old yard of the factory where the Ferrari Classiche department was ready for inspection. The event was concluded with a black tie dinner at the factory.
In five years, the 250 GTO will turn sixty, and it will be time for the next 250 GTO tour!
Information and images from Andreas Birner.
A complete report on the GTO Tour will be in Cavallino 222, December 1, with the all-important chassis numbers. Subscribe Today!
Previous GTO Tours were covered in Cavallinos 16, 41, 72, 102, 133, 163 and 191.
