One to Buy: ex-works / Pierre Bardinon 1984 Ferrari 288 GTO Evoluzione
Because competitive Group C cars had been available at a cost effective price for both the premier C1 and junior C2 category, Group B circuit racing never took off in the same way as rallying.
A dearth of manufacturer support for the Group B racing class also played its part for, although Porsche and Ferrari created purpose-built models for the new category, no other firms entered the fray. As a consequence, Ferrari quickly chose to abandon the Group B racing formula with the 288 GTO while Porsche’s 959 ran massively over budget and was hit by major delays.
With the 288 GTO having been heavily over-subscribed, Ferrari ultimately took the genius move to use their GTO race car, the 288 GTO Evoluzione, as the basis for a second super high end model that followed in 1987: the F40.
Just five examples of the legendary GTO Evoluzione were produced by Ferrari, the first pair of which served as development test beds while the final trio were completed in 1988 and sold to VIP clients.
Currently on offer at Bingo Sports’ Tokyo showroom is the first GTO Evoluzione constructed: chassis 70167.
Following its life as a development mule, 70167 was sold to one of the most renowned Ferrari collectors of the 20th century: Frenchman Pierre Bardinon. The exciting prototype joined Bardinon’s epic Mas du Clos collection where the Chapal heir had even created a private racing circuit to exercise his fabulous array of cars.
From Bardinon, chassis 70167 headed to the Art Sports collection in Japan. Since acquisition by Bingo Sports, the car has undergone a complete restoration by Michelotto in Padova (Ferrari’s technical partner for production racing cars).
Reprinted below is Bingo Sports’ description:
VIN: 70167
The BINGO Collection Ferrari 288 GTO Evoluzione (#70167) was the first to be produced and the only one powered by the CR engine. This means the car was tested on public roads and is the only street-legal of the five 288 GTO Evoluziones.
This example was part of the Pierre Bardinon Collection, famed for its world-class Ferrari’s, then joined the Art Sports Collection before coming to Japan. Once it made its way to the BINGO Collection, it was sent back to Michelotto where it underwent a meticulous nut-and-bolt restoration to like-new condition. No one but Michelotto could have carried out such a perfect restoration.
The 288 GTO was originally created for Group B racing and ultimately evolved into the F40, the 288 GTO Evoluzione played a crucial link between the two. In the early 80’s, Ferrari was in desperate need for a new high-performance model to replace the current lineup (including 308s and Berlinetta Boxers) which was falling behind the rivals in performance.
The project, led by Nicola Materazzi, to develop a new hyper car would eventually result in the introduction of the 288 GTO. In 1984, the same year the Michelotto’s 308GT/M debuted, the Ferrari 288 GTO was premiered worldwide. Ferrari built 272 examples in 2 years even though the 288 GTO was no longer able to compete in the Group B category. Ferrari decided to develop the GTO Evoluzione after it found out the F114B unit had a lot of room left for improvement in order to create a more extreme sibling.
Since there still was a slim possibility left for the GTO to be able to compete in races at the time of development in 1986, the Evoluzione was to be a joint project between Ferrari factory and Michelotto, who was recognised as a semi-factory Ferrari team.
Materazzi, who was in charge of developing the GTO, was again named the chief engineer by Enzo Ferrari for the creation of the Evo. and came up with two variations of prototype power plants by exploiting the performance envelope of the F114B. The milder of the two was the F114CR which produced “modest” 530ps and eventually powered the F40 in a few years. On the other hand, the F114CR2(CK) was more drastically upgraded to produce 650ps and found its place in the engine compartment of the F40 Competizione.
The significance of the 288 GTO and F40 in Ferrari history will never be surpassed. The GTO is the final and complete form of “Fioravanti Ferrari” that concluded the era of old-fashioned supercars starting in the 70’s while the F40 kicked off the new age of super sports that still remains mainstream today. Widely recognized as the link between the two, this epoch-making 288GTO Evoluzione will certainly have its place in Ferrari history.
Ferrari ended up producing five examples of this highly sought-after prototype.
