599 gto

A Closer Look at the Ferrari 599 GTO

Claiming the mantle of the fastest Ferrari ever made is no mean feat. And this is the car that did it: the new 599 GTO. Reviving the stoic nameplate from the 60s-era 250 GTO and the 80s-era 288 GTO, the new ultimate Ferrari packs a 660-horsepower, 6-liter V12 – an improved version of the engine originally developed for the Enzo – for a 3.3-second 0-60 run.

Unfortunately only 559 examples will be built, each fetching a price upwards of €300,000. So your best chance of seeing one very well may be in the new gallery of images which Ferrari has released.

Gallery: Ferrari 599 GTO

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Limousines and Supercars Debut at Beijing Motor Show

by Noah Joseph (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Cars & Autos

The gulf between perception and reality is often enough to swallow entire countries whole. Take China, for example. The images many still conjure up in their heads when thinking about the Asian giant might come down to squalid shanty towns oppressed by communist overlords. But with the free market taking a greater hold with each passing day, the People's Republic is quickly emerging as a vital market for purveyors of luxury goods, including high-end automobiles. Sure, the average peasant may be able to afford little more than a rickety bicycle, but with the world's largest population numbering over a billion people, even the top fraction of the socio-economic strata can overshadow entire nations.

Against such a backdrop, it should come as no great surprise that the world's premium automakers scrambled to the Chinese capital this year with a wide array of exotic and luxury automobiles. In fact the cars making their world debuts at this year's Beijing Motor Show were enough on their own to outshine the last major international exposition in Manhattan. Follow the jump to see what all the fuss was about.

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Ferrari 599 GTO Reportedly Already Sold Out

by Noah Joseph (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Cars & Autos

Hoping to get your hands on a new Ferrari 599 GTO? Think again, because according to reports, it's already sold out. All 599 examples of it, at nearly half a million dollars apiece.

The new top-of-the-line supercar from Ferrari – the fastest they've ever made – made its first public outing last night at the Ducal Palace military academy in nearby Modena. There it was unveiled to a crowd of 500 customers by the company's top brass, including chairman Luca di Montezemolo, CEO Amedeo Felisa and vice-chairman Pierro Ferrari. The next stop will be its public unveiling at the Beijing auto show later this month.

Gallery: Ferrari 599 GTO presented at Modena's Ducal Palace Military Academy

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Ferrari Unveils the New 599 GTO

by Noah Joseph (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Cars & Autos

If you're looking for the new king of the supercars, look no further, because this is it: the Ferrari 599 GTO. Based on the 599 GTB Fiorano, the GTO follows in the stoic path of the legendary 250 GTO and 288 GTO, three models separated by two decades each but which stood at the forefront of performance in their respective eras. And the 599 GTO is no different.

Bridging the gap between the production 599 GTB and the experimental 599XX, the 599 GTO benefits from that magic formula of less weight, more power. Improving on the Fiorano's 612-horsepower 6-liter V12, the GTO produces 661 prancing stallions, motivating 430 fewer pounds. The result is a 0-62 time of 3.35 seconds and a top speed in excess of 208 miles per hour.

Only 599 examples will be made, which is more than the Enzo, but probably less than demand. Pricing is tipped to come in just below the half-a-million-dollar mark, making it less expensive than the Enzo as well. And at 1 minute, 24 seconds, the GTO is also faster than the Enzo around Ferrari's private Fiorano test track. And that's no mean feat.

Gallery: Ferrari 599 GTO