2011 Ferrari 599 GTO

• One of only 599 examples ever made and just two owners in total
• New to a Japanese collection, then bought by our vendor from UK-specialists DK Engineering in 2015
• Just 2,577km (1,601 miles); never seen rain, superb condition throughout
• All manuals and factory toolkit are still in their original plastic bags
• High specification in Rosso Corsa (not Rosso Scuderia) paintwork, Grigio Silverstone Opaco roof, full Alcantara interior with Tessuto inserts, Rosso stitching, stitched prancing horses and Rosso harnesses

Understandably, Ferrari uses the coolest ‘go-faster’ tag in the known-universe sparingly. History shows that only twice before has ‘The Scuderia’ attached the ultimate mark of speed and desirability to the rear of a road car. Those two cars were the 1962 250GTO and the 1984 288GTO - both were defined by performance and an intention to go racing. ‘Gran Turismo Omologato’ is the full description, and homologation was the purpose in both cases, albeit with vastly differing outcomes. The 250 enjoyed a great career, but the 288 GTO was born of the Group B regulations that never delivered the Porsche 959-versus-GTO-at-Le-Mans battles we all craved – leaving it as simply the fastest and most desirable Ferrari road car of its day.

So how does this new car, launched in 2010, based on a road machine and with no specific intention to go racing, justify the name? Well, according to Ferrari, it does so by taking much of the technology from the track-only 599XX and making it available with a numberplate: it ‘homologates’ the XX for road use. The aims of this project were, in fact, very simple. Besides translating some of the new technologies wrought through the XX project into a road application, the intention was to extract maximum circuit performance from the 599 package, but still retain enough usability for the car to be a viable road car.

The 599 is not an obvious base for a lightweight sports car. It may boast an aluminium bodyshell, but it’s a big machine with a 6.0-litre V12 wedged between the front wheels. The path to sharper responses has of course embraced the standard methodology: make it lighter and add more power but it’s the sheer number and scope of the changes that impresses, helping to justify its 2010 price tag of £299,300 and underpins Ferrari’s assertion that this is much closer to being a 599XX with numberplates than a 599 HGTE-Plus.

For starters, engine power rises from 612bhp to a staggering 661bhp; internal friction has been reduced by 12% through all manner of tweaks: DLC (Diamond Like Coating) for the tappets, super-finished cam lobes, a new shape for the crankshaft weights and a new design of piston skirt. The compression ratio rose from 11.2 to 11.9 and the breathing was completely overhauled.

Ferrari has crafted a new aluminium intake system that uses shorter runners and saves 2kg, the exhaust system is ‘hydroformed’ – effectively blown into shape, thereby avoiding the heavy seams that come with even the best welding. The process thins the metal from 1.5mm to 0.8mm and saves a remarkable 15kg over a standard system and throughout the car, an impressive 100kg has been shed.

Gear ratios are down 6%, the car now hitting its claimed 208 mph maximum on the 8400rpm rev-limiter. If the engine work is comprehensive, the chassis goes even further: new springs, dampers, electronic systems, wheels, tyres and a new generation of carbon-ceramic brake that uses, for the first time in a road car, a ceramic pad material. At Fiorano the car is brutally fast, lapping a second faster than any other Ferrari, and that’s despite weighing 300kg more than a 430 Scuderia.

The GTO’s list of go-faster aids is bewildering. It uses the now familiar F1-Trac system to harness those 661 horses, but it now has SCM2, which is a second-generation ‘Skyhook’ damper – the type with magnetized fluid that can alter viscosity through electric current. The main difference on the GTO is that it is fitted with three accelerometers from the XX that relay real-time data to SCM2, whereas the GTB’s dampers have to use approximate data. It’s very, very clever stuff.

The latest F1 automated manual is superb, giving 60m/s shifts at Fiorano (that’s 40m/s faster than a GTB) yet able to slur the action in town.

The noise? The outside world is treated to about four-fifths of the Le Mans soundtrack but, in its upper reaches, the V12 gets sharp, angry and altogether glorious. Performance is other-worldly, Ferrari claims it’ll do a standing km in 19.9sec, which makes it one of the fastest cars ever made in 2010.

You could go on about this machine for an entire website - the thinner glass is 5.5kg lighter, forged wheels and titanium bolts save an eye-popping 22kg, and Sabelt’s snug carbon seats trim another 17kg. It’s a detail masterpiece, a track genius, a road tonic and yet another great Ferrari. Oh, and it fully deserves the badge.

The car presented here is as close to a new 599 GTO as you are likely to find, a 2011 example with just over 1,600 miles covered and, in a condition, which wholly reflects this. The car has a very high specification with Rosso Corsa (not Rosso Scuderia) paintwork, Grigio Silverstone Opaco roof, full Alcantara interior with Tessuto inserts, Rosso stitching, stitched prancing horses and Rosso harnesses. It is supplied with all of its original and complete book-pack (its specification-specific Classiche document was retained by the original owner, but ordering a replacement from Ferrari is straightforward), covers, radio/key code cards and spare key.

Being offered for sale from a discerning private collector of best-of-the-best classic and modern-classic cars, this GTO has been serviced / looked after by the famous 'Cornes' dealership of Japan, then DK Engineering and Dick Lovett Ferrari in the UK, and is undoubtedly one of the best examples available anywhere. Bought by our vendor in 2015 from DK Engineering who described it as 'an exceptional example', going on to say in an accompanying letter in the history file 'it is without doubt one of the best condition cars we have seen recently, especially in regards to the underside (of the car) which I looked closely at in the process of the service and PDI carried out in our workshops'. There is all the reassurance you could want about its ownership/servicing in Japan, its meticulous transportation to the UK (photos & paperwork etc.) and its subsequent full inspection with one of the UK's most revered Ferrari specialists. 

Regarded by many Ferrari enthusiasts as ‘ultimate modern-day Ferrari’, with that tangible GTO magic well and truly present, the associated kudos of knowing what that really is, and enough power and go to satisfy the demands of drivers seeking thrills from any one of the current crop of supercars, the 599 GTO might just be the high-tide mark for normally aspirated, big-engined sportscars full-stop.

*Forming part of A Sale of Ferraris in association with Ferrari Owners' Club of Great Britain, the buyer of this lot will be entitled to one years free membership with Ferrari Owners Club of Great Britain*