Friday, August 27, 2010

1959-1960 Ferrari 250 SWB Berlinetta Competizione

By Mark A Cella

Mark A Cella and the Ferrari 250 cc Grand Touring Sport Coupe for Competition

Building on the successful history of the V12 GT racing engines that made the GTOs so substantial, brought the 250 Berlinetta sport coupe about. GTO stands for Gran Turismo Omologato in Italian, and in English means Grand Touring Homologated. Homologated means Official Agreement. So, the GTO was Officially Agreed to be a Grand Touring car. Anyway, the 250 simply is the measurement in cubic centimeters of each of the cylinders.

Mark A Cella's Official Agreement is the Car is for Pure Racing

The car was built by Ferrari from 1953 to 1964 becoming Ferrari's most successful line of cars to date. It was the first Ferrari to receive four disc brakes. Versions of it were the first four seater. Having a lightweight V12, 260-275bhp, 4 gear trans., competition engine launched its success at winning so many races recounting in detail would be endless, so here's a few:

In the 1960 season it took 1st-4th place in the Le Mans 24 hour race, leaving it's nearest rivals to eat dust. It took 1st-3rd in its third consecutive victory of the 5500 km Tour de France. Later that season for a second consecutive win at Goodwood, driver Sterling Moss took a victory by lapping the entire field. Then it won all over the rest of the season.

The car weighs only 2,314 pounds which equates to a very high power to weight ratio. Its top speed reached 152 and it hit 60 from a dead stop in 6.2 seconds. All of these figures were superb in 1960.

Mark A Cella Officially Agrees One of the Greatest Ferraris of all Time

Enthusiasts envied the fact that owners of this car could show up, unpack and race in the same unmodified car, occasionally changing tires. The only thing necessary was to paste on numbers. The competition models were lighter and had 30-40 more horsepower, regardless of which one you were in other manufacturers didn't stand a chance.

Sports Car Intl placed it as their 7th Top Sports Car of the 60's. Motor Trend voted it 5th on their top ten Greatest Ferraris of all time and Mark Cella rated it first place on his list of top Muscle Cars of the 60's. It leads over his 67 Corvette Sting Ray and 3rd place 68 Chevrolet Camaro.

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