Panasonic Viera TV

Mark Cella and the Ferrari 250 cc Grand Touring Sport Coupe for Competition

The precursor to the Berlinetta, which means “Sport Coupe,” was the Ferrari 250 GTO. Indeed the GTO was built on the strength of Ferrari’s record producing V12 GT racers. GTO equates to “Gran Turismo Omologato,” Italian for “Grand Touring Homologated,” while homologated means “Official Agreement”. The 250 is the cubic centimeter displacement of each cylinder in the engine.

Mark Cella’s Official Agreement is the 250 is all Race

The SWB was built from 1953 to 1964 and really put Ferrari in the limelight. It became Ferrari’s most successful car line of that time. It was their first all wheel disc brake vehicle. One model was their first four seater. Its V12 engine weighed about half as much as the competition’s. The higher tuned ones hammered up to 280bhp at 7,000 rpm. They had a four speed manual tranny, all of which exploded the car to more victories then I can list, here’s just a few:

In the 1960 season it took 1st-4th place in the Le Mans 24 hour race, leaving it’s nearest rivals to eat dust. It took 1st-3rd in its third consecutive victory of the 5500 km Tour de France. Later that season for a second consecutive win at Goodwood, driver Sterling Moss took a victory by lapping the entire field. Then it won all over the rest of the season.

Weighing only 2,314 pounds gives the Ferraris 250 SWB Competizione a great power to weight ratio. Maximum speed was a little over 150 mph, and 0-60 was 6.2. Excellent numbers for 1960’s.

Mark Cella Votes it One of the Greatest Ferraris Ever

Enthusiasts envied the fact that owners of this car could show up, unpack and race in the same unmodified car, occasionally changing tires. The only thing necessary was to paste on numbers. The competition models were lighter and had 30-40 more horsepower, regardless of which one you were in other manufacturers didn’t stand a chance.

Motor Trend gave the 250 SWB the ranking of 5th out of ten of the Greatest Ferraris of all time. Sports Car International rated it 7th Top Sports Car of the 1960’s. Mark Cella rates it his first place 1960’s era Muscle Car, followed by the 1967 Corvette Sting Ray and 1968 Chevy Camaro.

Want to find out more about Mark Cella, then visit Mark Cella’s site on for a variety of humor and serious topics Mark Cella.

Related posts:

1. The Best Fast Cars For Your Options There are
2. Gas Enhancers - Save Cash On Car Expenses Going gree
3. The Pathway Of The Vehicle Leases Are Here Buying a c
4. A Few Ideas To Save On Gas With the c
5. The Hybrid Cars Have Many Benefits Over Standard Cars With risin