EDITORIAL

Savour the letters G – T – O. Roll them round your mouth and enjoy the taste. What are you getting? A hint of gunsmoke, summer flowers, and wellington boots drying after a walk in a bluebell wood? Or last weekend's Easter eggs, slightly cloying and sweet?

Hmmm... it's a tricky one. The latest Ferrari to bear the legendary 'GTO' name is not, unlike the previous version, a more–or–less unique car in its own right. Nor is it a 'comp', more highly tuned version of an existing road/racing car — as was the case with the 1960s original, developed from the 250 GT SWB.

Have I missed something, or will this be the company's GT contender at Le Mans next year? It would certainly be great if it were.

As a lifelong Ferrari enthusiast, and hastily inserting the 'don't get me wrong' clause here, there's no question that it will be a phenomenal car. As with the rest of the Italian manufacturer's range, every minute enjoying its ferocious output (670HP) will be heaven–sent. But, would 'Scuderia' have been a more appropriate suffix?

I don't know. High–end automotive marketing is an art as black as the carbonfibre and Alcantara cockpit of the new Ferrari and there will, no doubt, be very good reasons for the 'super–599' carrying the GTO name. An alternative could have been 38 of the potent berlinettas clothed in radically different bodywork, recalling the original's lines.

Ah, that would be tricky from a type–approval standpoint. It's ironic that homologation (omologato, the 'O' in 'GTO') issues that begat the original should deny us an even more desirable successor today.

Steve Wakefield Managing Editor sw@classicdriver.com

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