Fujimi 1/24 Ferrari GTO

The Ferrari 250 GTO is a grand tourer produced by Ferrari from 1962 to 1964 for homologation into the FIA's Group 3 Grand Touring Car category. It was powered by Ferrari's Tipo 168/62 Colombo V12 engine. The "250" in its name denotes the displacement in cubic centimeters of each of its cylinders; "GTO" stands for Gran Turismo Omologato, Italian for "Grand Touring Homologated".

Just 36 of the 250 GTOs were manufactured between 1962 and 1964. This includes 33 cars with 1962–63 bodywork (Series I) and three with 1964 (Series II) bodywork similar to the Ferrari 250 LM. Four of the older 1962–1963 (Series I) cars were updated in 1964 with Series II bodies.

When new, the 250 GTO cost $18,000 in the United States, with buyers personally approved by Enzo Ferrari and his dealer for North America, Luigi Chinetti. This model has since become highly desired by automobile collectors and sales have repeatedly set price records. The current record for world's most expensive Ferrari was set in June 2018 when a 1963 250 GTO (chassis 4153GT) was sold in a private sale for $70 million.

In 2004, Sports Car International placed the 250 GTO eighth on a list of Top Sports Cars of the 1960s, and nominated it the top sports car of all time. Similarly, Motor Trend Classic placed the 250 GTO first on a list of the "Greatest Ferraris of All Time". Popular Mechanics named it the "Hottest Car of All Time".

Fujimi has a deserved reputation for building very nice car kits and this one is no exception. This is the original 2008 release and it has been reissued several times since, the latest with machine aluminum wheels. It is not a curbside, as it has a full engine and a goodly number of the parts are for this subassembly. It also comes with a fairly complete chassis and suspension. All four corners have stub axles held in place with polycaps so you can hold off on attaching the wheels until near the end of construction. A full tubular exhaust is also provided.

With the chassis complete, the engine assembly is installed. This is then boxed in by the firewall and the wheel wells with the front being taken up by the large radiator. Construction then turns to the interior. Fujimi provides instrument faces on the decal sheet. After building up the dash/steering assembly, the seats and the inner door panels are attached. The seats are next followed by the dash assembly and finally the roll bar assembly.

The interior is then attached to the chassis. Next construction commences on the body. The hood is separate and can be made to open and close. The builder has the option of having the three vents in the nose modeled open or closed. Headlights have clear covers. There are separate 'glass pieces for the windscreen/side windows and the back window. Headlights are installed from the inside along with the forward grille and rear vents. All the small tail lights are also separate items. The last items to be added are the wheels and tires with nice looking wire wheels and three prong knock-offs.

Instructions are well done with Gunze paint references. This one has a black interior and of course the outside is one of the Ferrari Red shades. There is a decal sheet for instrument faces and Ferrari logos. Surprised that there are no license plates. You do get a bunch of additional logos for whatever you wish. You could easily make this into a race version simply by adding numbers as these cars were often raced just as provided in the kit. This was before the days of roll cages and special racing parts.

If you are into vintage exotics, then this should be a kit to seek out. Not only will it make into a very nice model, but you won't have to spend tens of millions of dollars to own one.  

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferrari_250_GTO

 February 2024

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