The world of classic revival cars is fraught with big questions. Are they real? How true to the original should they remain? Is it okay to hack up classics? To GTO Engineering’s credit, they’re doing their best to answer them.
The company takes old, broken down, beyond-repair Ferraris and turns them into recreations of the legendary 250 GT SWB Berlinetta. It’s a special form of alchemy that turns lesser Ferraris into very high-fidelity recreations of one of the greatest Ferraris.
So similar to the Maranello classics are these revivals that they’re allowed to run in historic competitions. GTO Engineering hasn’t gone the Cyan racing route and decided to fix all of the technical imperfections of the ’50s and ’60s (though you can get air conditioning, a stereo, and a USB port if you want to make some concessions to modern life).
Read More: GTO Engineering Launches Ferrari 250 GT SWB Berlinetta Competizione ‘Revival’
The reason they can afford to sell faux Ferraris for more than $1 million is that real ones are so damned expensive that you have to be more than just rich to afford one.
Power comes from either a 3.0-liter, 3.5-liter, or 4.0-liter V12 built by GTO Engineering and fitted with triple carbs. Power starts at 280 hp and can go higher, though host Matt Prior says here that since this car weighs just 2,200 lbs there will be plenty of power no matter which engine you get.
But it requires a donor car. And not just any donor car, a donor Ferrari from the same era as this one. Just because a car isn’t worth quite as much as one of the most expensive cars in the world doesn’t exactly mean it’s worth nothing.
But as Prior points out in this video, GTO Engineering will turn down the opportunity to make a 250 SWB Revival if it feels the donor car’s condition is too good. It says it will only use cars that have no hope of being restored to their original condition in order to make these recreations.
“And the result is one of the most intoxicating and engaging and enjoyable cars that I’ve driven. Modern cars are not like this,” says Prior. “It is mega. I absolutely, absolutely love it. And if I could, I would.”