Forty years before the introduction of the Ferrari F80, it was the 288 GTO that took the automotive world by storm, becoming the first limited edition Ferrari ‘hypercar’ and the car that would spawn the mythical lineage of F40, F50, Enzo, LaFerrari, and finally F80 to follow.

Born of a desire for Ferrari to compete in the FIA’s hotly contested and wildly popular Group B, the 288 GTO was designed with motorsport in mind from the outset, with the need for at least 200 production cars to be produced alongside the competition cars. Unfortunately, due to Group B’s sheer danger to drivers and spectators alike, the series was cancelled at short notice, leaving Ferrari with a fully developed and homologated car, but no series in which to compete. Nevertheless, the public’s appetite for such a car was unchanged, and all told less than 300 cars were built, in what turned out to be the lowest production of any Ferrari hypercar.

The 288 GTO was a highly purposeful and powerful car upon first glance. Clothed in a mix of aluminum and Kevlar composite bodywork, at its heart was a race-bred 2.8-liter V-8 engine with twin IHI turbochargers, capable of producing a then-monstrous 400 horsepower and 366 pound-feet of torque. The 288 GTO could rocket to a top speed of 189 mph, making it the fastest road car ever produced at the time of its unveiling. Its acceleration was equally impressive, and the car could reach 60 mph from a standstill in just 4.8 seconds and 100 mph in 10.2 seconds. Like its successors in later years, the 288 GTO was the fastest and most attractive car money could buy. It was more than a car, the 288 GTO was a statement of automotive superiority, and its lucky owner would instantly become the envy of enthusiasts worldwide.

Completed by the factory in February of 1985, chassis number 54789 was the 99th production 288 GTO built according to the accompanying report from marque specialist Marcel Massini. Finished in Rosso Corsa (as all production 288 GTOs were) alongside a full Nero interior, the car was fitted with the desirable options of air conditioning and power windows. It found its first home in Viersen, Germany, with Hans Breidenbroich, the owner of a furniture manufacturing company. Amazingly, Breidenbroich never took delivery of the car and it remained stored at Auto-Becker, the official Ferrari dealership in Düsseldorf. The car was seen at Modena Motorsport Ltd. of Düsseldorf-Lagenfeld in March of 1991 wearing French license plates and showing a mere 150 km on its odometer.

By 1995, the 288 GTO had returned to Germany and was owned by Pierre Fandel, a well-known German Ferrari collector and glass manufacturer residing in Bitburg, Germany. In 2000, the car was purchased by Eckhard Bluhm, a real estate magnate living in Cologne, Germany, where it was a key member of his impressive Ferrari collection, sitting alongside his F40, F50, Enzo, and a multi-win F300 Formula One car raced by Michael Schumacher, amongst other significant cars.

The 288 GTO remained largely on static display in Bluhm’s collection but was extremely well preserved by the time it was sold in 2021, showing only 1,470 km (~913 miles), at which point it was exported to the United States, where it remains today. Shortly after importation, the car received a full mechanical overhaul by official dealer Ferrari of Central Florida including a full engine service with new timing belts, brake service, clutch and gearbox service, and new tires to bring it back to full running and driving condition. The car has also further been submitted to Ferrari Classiche for Red Book certification with the application completed by Ferrari of Central Florida. An inspection undertaken in the summer of 2025 shows that the car remains in wonderful condition throughout, in keeping with the car’s incredibly low mileage showing just under 1,525 km (~947 miles) on its odometer at the time of cataloguing.

To today’s collectors of modern supercars, no collection is complete without the full set of Ferrari’s limited-edition supercars. Of those incredibly desirable cars, it will always be the 288 GTO that rules supreme, being the first of the breed and a car that is far rarer than its successors. The vast majority of 288 GTOs were well used by their original and subsequent owners and, as such, finding a true low-mileage 288 GTO to go alongside its successors is easier said than done. With likely less than six documented sub-1,000-mile examples remaining, and boasting well-documented European and US ownership, this 288 GTO is certainly among the very best examples to ever come to market.