The Contemporary Ferrari 288 GTO Is Set to Redefine the Supercar Holy Trinity

The first-ever road-going hybrid Ferrari has its roots in the 288 GTO. We have created a worthy successor, the 2023 GTO, to be Ferrari’s future guide.

The Ferrari 288 GTO is a very underappreciated supercar. Today, 80s Ferraris are defined by the likes of the famous Testarossa (thanks to Miami Vice) and the insane F40 that looks like a mean racecar for the road. But the 288 GTO transcends them all, as it was the car that laid down the foundation of modern Ferrari “supercars”. And our render guru, Rostislav Prokop, creates a fitting new HotCars Exclusive 2023 Ferrari GTO Concept in the image of the 288 GTO.

Prokop does an impeccable job of fusing Ferrari’s 80s retro-futuristic design language with the bleeding-edge modern hybrid engine technology of today. With clever design tweaks, insane weight loss formula, 1000+ horses of usable performance, and a sinister new color, the 288 GTO is truly worthy of taking over the Prancing Horse mantle from the LaFerrari. A new wave of Ferrari hypercars awaits!

The 1980s 288 GTO became the blueprint for the F40, F50, the legendary Enzo, and even the LaFerrari. Similarly, our Exclusive 2023 Ferrari 288 GTO Concept embarks on being the blueprint for The Prancing Horse’s future hypercar tribe. The original 288 GTO was known to be aggressive with weight savings. It flaunted a steel tubular frame design, similar to the principal design used for the similar-looking Ferrari 308 GTO. But the differences were skin deep. Ferrari used loads of lightweight materials like fiberglass for the fenders and quarter panels, aluminum for the doors, and Kevlar and carbon fiber for the roof, front lower spoiler, and rear diffuser.

Our 288 GTO takes things to the next level. It utilizes carbon fiber with titanium weaves as the basis for the chassis build. This is similar to the technology that made the Pagani Zonda feel unreal. The 2023 288 GTO gets rid of every ounce of metal in the main tub, as well as the front and rear overhangs. Layers of carbon fiber panels are LEGO’d together to form one rigid yet extremely lightweight chassis. The upcoming Lamborghini Aventador replacement also deploys this method for insane weight savings. The power-to-weight ratio is the main focus of this GTO Concept. And the 2023 GTO does an insane job of nailing it.

Ferrari actually wanted to build the 288 GTO upon the 308 GTB. But because its ambition was to take part in the infamous Group B races, the rules only allowed a ground-up vehicle. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise as the 288 GTO was nothing like the other 80s Ferraris nor its predecessors. The more popular Ferrari of the time, the F40, was evidently a “supercar”. But the 288 GTO looked similar to the 308 GTB, which was a grand tourer. And in a sense, the 288 GTO was Ferrari’s very own sleeper car.

Taking inspiration from the subtle curves, the defining cooling vent, and the retro-futuristic front fascia, the modern GTO Concept unravels a bridging design language. We have retained the 80s 288 GTO’s silhouette for its modern successor. But the hypercar gets longer and wider for a very exciting reason (which we will get to soon). A lot of the iconic design cues have been rekindled in our modern GTO Ferrari. It gets the functional and defining rear quarter panel inlet to keep the mid-mounted engine cool at all times.

A new lower vent, just before the rear wheels, adds more visual appeal. The rear fascia has been beautifully recreated with four-ringed LED taillamps. It also gets the F1-styled third-brake light that started getting popular right after the 2009 Ferrari F430. It is, however, the front fascia that has the strongest nostalgic appeal. As pop-up headlamps are not legal anymore, Prokop went creative and slapped LED headlamps onto the bumper.

The iconic boxy fog lamps are now the headlamps. To add a more modern flair, our 2023 GTO gets sleek sweeping DRLs that also add a menacing touch. The cool hood scoop and front bumper ducts are subdued, thanks to the cool gun metal gray shade. Given the fact that the 80s GTO only came in the Ferrari Red (with one yellow exception), the gray gives the GTO a sinister new visual character.

The 80s GTO took the Dino V8 and dialed it up to 11. It was the same engine as in the 308 GTB but was interestingly shrunk in capacity from 2.9-Liter to 2.85-Liter. The 288 GTO packs in a twin-turbocharged setup derived from its F1 expertise. The result was a longitudinally placed V8 that pumped out 400 hp and 366 lb-ft of torque to the rear wheels via a 5-speed manual gearbox.

Our 2023 Ferrari GTO takes the SF90 Stradale’s hybrid engine and dials it up to 11! It uses the same 4.0-Liter Twin-Turbo V8 coupled to three electric motors. But instead of a combined 986 horses, the modern GTO packs over 1,200 hp and close to 700 lb-ft of torque. It is, thanks to the clever recalibration of the electric motors and reworked turbocharged setup.

This makes our concept the most powerful road-going Ferrari ever made. Added a clever AWD system to the package, and you have a Ferrari that is proficient both on the roads and on the tracks.

How Much Is A Ferrari 288 GTO Worth Today?1980s Ferrari 288 GTO front third quarter viewClassic Driver

The GTO nameplate carries the highest prestige and performance for Ferrari. As per classic.com, a Ferrari 288 GTO sells for an average of $3.4 million today, and the price is rapidly increasing. Adding fuel to its desirable nature is the fact that only 272 units were ever made. The 288 GTO slots right in between the record-breaking Ferrari 250 GTO, which is nothing short of “priceless,” and the less desirable and, dare-we-say “boring” Ferrari 599 GTO that doesn’t breach the $1 million mark.