This is a super-speedy Ferrari 599 GTO, seen in the late afternoon in the great summer of 2011 at a hotel on the Third Ring Road in Beijing, the capital of China. The color scheme of the fantastic Ferrari is Bianco Avus with a Nero (black) stripe over the hood. It has black alloy wheels with red brake calipers.
The Ferrari 599 GTO was the ultimate variant of the 599. Ferrari made only 599 examples of the GTO, produced in 2010 and 2011. Ferrari marketed the GTO as a road-legal variant of the Ferrari 599XX track-day car. At the time, the 599 GTO was Ferrari’s fastest road car ever.
modifications & power
The modifications included: new springs and a stiffer rear anti-roll bar, upgraded suspension, F1-Trac traction control, upgraded carbon-ceramic brakes, a new transmission system, and a new exhaust system.
The GTO’s curb weight was 1746 kilos, 100 kilos less than the standard 599 GTB. The GTO also had more downforce, 144 kg at 200 km/h. This was achieved by a new front spoiler and new sills at the flanks. It also had a newly designed underbody with a front diffuser and a double rear diffuser. Finally, the GTO had a much larger integrated wing on the boot lid.
Most importantly, the GTO also had more power. The mighty 6.0-liter naturally aspirated V12 engine generated 660 hp and 620 Nm. Ferrari fitted a 6-speed ‘F1’ automated manual gearbox. The GTO reached a top speed of 335 km/h, accelerated from 0 to 100 km/h in 3.3 seconds, and from 0-200 in 9.8 seconds.
Blue 京A license plates
Authorities issued 京A license plates to Beijing’s first batches of privately registered cars. Most blue 京A plates appeared in the early 1990s. When one of these cars was later crushed or otherwise removed from the streets, its plates became available again.
In the 2000s, blue 京A license plates became status symbols among the newly wealthy, who believed early plates signified early wealth. So, wealthy individuals began buying genuine cars with blue 京A plates, sending them to the crusher, and transferring the plates to newer, more expensive cars.
The official global launch of the 599 GTO was in China, at the 2010 Beijing Auto Show. Ferrari sold about a dozen GTO’s on the Chinese market, for 7.99 million yuan each ($1.2 million in 2011 exchange rates). That was a lot of extra cash for a few horses more. The standard 599 GTB sold for ‘only’ 4.92 million ($745K).
Note the gentlemen on the right. A typical street scene for the Beijing summer. The Ferrari 599 GTO was a great car with great speed. Over the years, I have seen a few others on the road and in private collections. More on those cars in later posts.