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32767 view(s)  The 550 Maranello was the first front engined Ferrari since the legendary Daytona. It was a car crying to be raced, but as always, developing a race version was "not done" for Ferrari.
Lucky enough there were people that did believe in the 550 race potential.
In the past 3 years, several Teams developed their 550, of which Prodrive has been the most successful.
The idea for the F550 GTO came from Frederic Dor, the Swiss oil magnate who bankrolled Prodrive's transformation of the 550 Maranello into a GT racing car.
After some initial problems to get its 550 GTO homologated, it was run successfully in on FIA GT and ALMS races.
In 2002 Prodrive entered the Italian coupes in both Le Mans and Spa 24hrs. There they showed that in endurance trim the GTO had the legs on the Corvettes and Vipers. Within two full seasons of racing, the Prodrive 550's had secured consecutive FIA GT Championship's, won most of the big race's on American soil and taken class victory at the Le Mans 24 Hours.
Prodrive's first GTS class 550 prepared to comply with Le Mans' ACO regulations had run in 2001's ALMS finale at Road Atlanta where a freshly built car (108418) retired after completing 103 laps. The Sebring 12 Hours has always been a useful proving ground for Le Mans, both race's conforming to the same ACO regs. Heading to Florida in March, Prodrive arrived with high hopes of beating the works-backed Corvette C5-R's, some Saleen S7's and a few ageing Viper's. Starting the race from 26th on the grid, third fastest GTS car, Prodrive eventually finished fifth in class (30th overall) after the poor track surface had caused a variety of problems for the English team.
Prodrive's 24 Hour build up took a significant step forward in May when Tomas Enge set a GTS lap record during the official Le Mans test day, the Czech ace crossong the line three seconds ahead of his nearest rival - this with a brand new chassis that had completed a mere five km. The omens were good and come race day in June, the number 58 Ferrari simply drove away from the opposition and within five laps, had established a 12 second advantage over the best placed Corvette.
This blistering pace was not to prove enough however, as despite holding the GTS lead throughout and rising to 13th overall after twelve hours of racing, an oil leak caused a flash fire at the Porsche curves and forced an immediate retirement. Nevertheless, Prodrive knew their 550 was the worlds quickest GTS car over twelve hours and rightly decided to campaign the final three rounds of 2002's American Le Mans Series, this in preparation for a full assault in 2003.
Ferrari 550 GTO data:
Length : 4550 mm, Width: 1990 mm, Wheelbase: 2500mm, Height: 1146 mm,
Tyres: Pirelli, Wheels : Prodrive P-WRC ( OZ ) 12x18 & 14x18
sources:Q500.com
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Models for Ferrari 550 GTO
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| Manufacturer |
Model |
Scale |
Dimensions (LxWxH) |
Wheelbase |
Front spur |
Rear spur |
| RCT |
5.5.0 RCT |
1/24 |
99.9x90.0x42.0 |
99.9 |
87.5 |
87.0 |
| Scale Production |
550 Prodrive LM2003 #80, #88 |
1/24 |
99.9x86.0x47.0 |
99.9 |
84.0 |
85.5 |
| Studio 27 |
BMS Scuderia #51 LM |
1/24 |
0.0x0.0x0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
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Liveries
