EditMonogram 1965 Ferrari 250 Assembly Sheet
1:32 Scale Gran Turismo Slot Racer
The Ferrari GTO has been a controversial car from its very beginning. It has been called everything from a "CHEAT" to a "Testa Rossa with a roof". Rules governing GT cars specify that a minimum of 100 must be built to qualify. The GTO was homolgated (accepted), when it was originally thought to be nothing more than a new body on the familiar Berlinetta GT chassis, when it first appeared at Sebring in 1962. By the end of the season, after numerous wins including Sebring and Le Mans, it was found to more closely resemble a Testa Rossa under the body. The controversy flared when the factory made known that only about 30 or so had been produced and that production was being halted because the market seemed to be saturated. As if to rectify the situation the name GTO was given, which stands for Gran Turismo Omalagato, Italian for Homolgated Grand Touring.
Early in 1964 a new version appeared on the scene at the
Daytona Continental, the LM bodied GTO. So called because of its similarity in appearance to a rear-engined Ferrari introduced earlier as the 250-LM. LM standing for Le Mans. Underneath the new aerodynamically designed body were the same tried and proven components of the previous GTO. The body however, differed considerably. The roof line being most noticeable, in that it was no longer of "fast back" design. The roof now, was bobbed off sharply and the rear window was deeply recessed. The top of the roof was also recessed and formed an airfoil at the trailing edge. The remainder of the body was reshaped and lightened to improve the aerodynamics, decrease the frontal area and therefore improve the cars speed and fuel consumption. This gave the car an overall, wide, squatty appearance, which is almost tough enough, to scare off the less sophisticated equipment. With the original GTO's homolgation still in effect, although many thought it would be revoked, the new GTO needed no new homolgation, as the rules allow new body styles.
After running the Daytona Continental for 12 hours, 40 minutes, 25.8 seconds, at an average speed of 98.230 m.p.h., the LM-bodied GTO crossed the finish line first on its first outing. The power for this GT winner is supplied by a reliable race proven Ferrari 3-liter s.o.h.c. V12 engine that was first developed in 1947 and has been going through stages of refinement ever since. With the aid of six dual throat Weber carburetors this engine develops about 330 bhp (SAE) at 7500 rpm, sufficient power to enable speeds up to 175 mph.
All of the fine details of this winner have been faithfully reproduced in your Monogram 1:32 scale kit. The kit includes a racing driver, clear windows, clear headlight shields, and plated wire wheel inserts. This Monogram Slot Racer was designed from photos and measurements of an actual car. All of the parts were scaled exactly to insure accuracy.