Bring a Trailer started as a website once upon a time where some cars purchased at auction actually needed a trailer to bring home. Bring the Trailer’s 250,000th Auction However, the opposite is true – a 1985 ferrari 288 gto. This is about as good as cars get, and it’s also the first GTO listed on the site in its twelve-year history.
“What started as a passion project highlighting interesting cars for sale around the world has become a cornerstone of online car culture. We’ve seen the site list over 1,200 auctions every week during peak times,” said Randy Nonenberg, CEO and Founder of Bring a Trailer. “The 288 GTO represents an exciting evolution in Ferrari’s history and reflects a similar moment for BAT, allowing the site to get gearheads buzzing with even more momentum.”
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This 288 is one of the first 200 initial examples required to achieve homologation for FIA Group B competition. Homologation is a complicated-sounding term for a simple concept: for manufacturers to race in racing powers in what are called “production-based series”, they must not only build race cars, but build identical cars to sell to customers. Ferrari did the same, creating the racing 288 and cars for use on the road – this being the latter.
The 288 GTO used composites and Kevlar bodywork to reduce weight, while a mid-mounted 2.9-liter V8 was fitted with two turbochargers to pump out 395 horsepower. Given the featherweight weight figure provided by the lightweight chassis and bodywork, it’s not hard to see how impressive those numbers were in the ’80s.
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Unfortunately, although Ferrari received its recognition in June 1985, the death of the Group B rally series in 1986 meant that any competition for Ferrari’s Evoluzione version of the 288 GTO was now dead in the water. That car and this engine would go on to become the famous Ferrari F40.
