Bburago Ferrari 288GTO
In the early 1980's Ferrari was looking at Porsche's success, especially their racing dominance with the 934/935 series. Turbos were a vital part of Porsche's technical attack. Enzo Ferrari never wanted to copy anything from anybody, but you can't argue with success. Ferrari started playing with turbochargers.
At this time the top-of-the-line 512BB was officially unavailable in the US, and only a few trickled in through the grey market. Instead the top-selling Ferrari in America was the V8 308 series, sporting the sensuous curves that made it a hit on TV's "Magnum, P.I." So the first turbo Ferrari produced for the street was the little-known 208 Turbo, basically a 308 with a tiny 2-liter V8 and a turbocharger. This was actually a maneuver to avoid an Italian tax on cars with 3-liter and larger engines. The 208 was not a sales success, but it was enough of a technical success that it seems to have encouraged the engineers.
When the 308 was replaced by the 328, the engineers at Ferrari had big plans for the platform. This time the turbo guys weren't going to accept quiet obscurity. Their spawn's 2.8 liter V8 brandished twin intercooled IHI turbos, churning out 400 hp at 7000 rpm. It also had a four-inch stretch to the wheelbase, and the sexy, almost feminine 328 bodywork lost all femininity with apparent testosterone injections. The massive fenders bulged from the sheetmetal like Schwarzenegger's deltoids. A set of slot vents were added behind the rear fender openings as a tribute to the street/race Ferraris of the '50s and '60s. And in addition to the pop-up headlights in the fenders, a full set of four headlights were added below the bumper.
Finally, an immortal name was resurrected from Ferrari's rich racing history: Gran Turismo Omolgato, literally translated as Grand Touring Homolgation (special). That's GTO to you, bub.
So the 288GTO hit the ground like thunder, a legend reborn (though it was initially just called GTO). Some call it the prettiest of the 308/328-derived cars, and there's a good case for that. It's not the ultimate scion of that line -- that title goes to the F40, without question -- but the F40's esthetics were pushed aside in the quest for extreme performance. The GTO is less extreme in performance, but preferable as a road car -- it came with Ferrari's excellent leather upholstery and a stereo. Power windows and air conditioning were optional.
It worked. Required to sell 200 to qualify for Group B homolgation (and compete against the 959), Ferrari easily sold the entire production of 269. A final five examples were built as Evoluzione cars, intended for racing. When Group B racing was canceled the Evoluzione cars became experimental testbeds, eventually leading to the advent of the F40.
The GTO could sprint from 0-60 mph in 4.8 seconds. While it's not as fast as some Ferraris, it would touch 189mph on a good day, putting it in the same league as the Testarossa and Lamborghini's Countach.
This made it inevitable that Bburago, who has made more 1:18 scale Ferraris than anybody, would crank out their version of the 288GTO.
How good is the model? In some ways it disappoints me. Maybe I've been spoiled by later Bburagos, like their excellent 550 Maranello. But I expected to at least see the door-gouge intakes, trademark of the 308/328 body style, with genuine openings. Instead they were simple indentations. The same goes for the rear fender slot vents that help identify the GTO.
The doors use a displaced hinge rather than the tricky pin-and-slot hinge used on Maisto's F50 and Bburago's F40 and 348 (among others). I can accept that; it's less authentic-looking but less prone to problems, too.
The headlights mounted beneath the front bumper look excellent, just perfect. The bumper on the real GTOs had indicator and running lights at the corners, in white and red. The Bburago GTO has textured areas to show where they go, but no lenses or even decals. The trunklid, in front of course, opens to show a spare tire strapped down by a strip of unrealistic-looking grey plastic.
Next we see the windshield wipers seem to be misaligned. Looking at photos corrects this impression -- the wipers on the real car DID park like that. Okay, but, like many Bburago wipers, they're too spindly.
And something else is wrong with the model, now that we look at a photo. That's it: the entire window area should have black detailing, starting with the A-pillar, across the top and bottom of the side windows to the B-pillar, and continuing into the intake that follows the rear quarter window as it pulls inward. And this draws our attention to another problem, more serious: the corners on the backlight, or rear window, are cut off square, just like on Bburago's 348tb. On the real cars, a triangle of black paint continues from the end of the window, making it appear to go further than it actually does.
Close observation of the roof reveals that it's actually a plastic panel, as on Bburago's model of the Bugatti EB110. Why? Beats me. The color match is very good, though, so the only problem caused by this is the seam line.
Continuing to the rear, we find the engine lid is festooned with louvers, to the point that it's more a screen than a lid. (It's actually a plastic piece inset in the metal frame.) This is an early progenitor of the more exposed engines to come in the F40 and F50. But, in an apparent throwback, the engine lid is hinged at the rear, just before the ducktail spoiler. This really restricts service access, but it adds a lot of visual interest to the model.
Opening that interesting engine lid shows us the heart of the beast, the 2.8 liter turbo V8. In typical Bburago fashion it's heavily chromed, showing us a lot of plumbing details. It does make me wish, however, that they drew more distinction between chromed brightwork and simple bare metal -- there's waaaay too much chrome here. Also, many -- but not all -- of my reference photos show GTO engines with the heads and intake manifold in red -- that would have added more interest.
If we continue over the spoiler to look at the rear fascia a couple of detail errors become evident: First, the GTO insignia is a large chrome piece combined with Ferrari's cavallino insignia. The prancing horse was an anodized black on the real car, contrasting with the GTO badge -- which should be about half the size in scale.
Second, the real car has red inner brakelights and amber outer indicators, with white centers for the backup lights. On Bburago's GTO the lenses are all a uniform red. Sure, it would take a little extra effort, but that's what we expect from Bburago.
Last, we see the tailpipes, and they look good.
Let's take a look at the interior:
The first thing we see is that the seats are nicely shaped, but cast in a pale tan plastic. On the real GTOs they are possibly the last example of the "Daytona-style" seats (first found in the 365GT4s, then the Dino 246s with the "flares and chairs" option, then the 365 and 512 Boxers). These seats were usually black, with a pattern of small stripes, perforated with holes showing either white or red underneath. The patterns are there, molded into the surface, but the color is entirely wrong. If they can't paint it, it should at least be cast in black.
Similarly, the dash and the rest of the interior in every 288GTO picture I've seen has been done in either a black or very dark grey. This model's dash and door panels are the same pale tan; the console, floor, and firewall behind the seats are a weak grey. If Bburago had simply cast all the interior plastic pieces in black, they would have been much closer.
Stepping back outside (metaphorically), let's take a look at the wheels and tires: the GTOs used an exclusive wheel. Cast in alloy, the five-spoke "star" pattern wheel looked a lot like that of the Testarossa, but had a somewhat lower profile. The F40 had similar wheels, but with a ring of rivets around the rim. Bburago models the wheel brightly chromed; it should be a satin finish.
And the tires: they're basically the same as the very bad 280/45 VR 415s on all four corners of Bburago's Testarossa, but this time, instead of saying "Michelin," they simply say "Bburago". Do I sense a licensing problem here?
At least the car offers a small mercy: like the Testarossa, this GTO lacks the annoying self-centering action of the steering.
Just a few more minor quibbles:
The fuel filler door (left side) and oil filler door (right side) are crudely modeled.
The real car has an accent line running its length, highlighted with a narrow black stripe. Bburago's version has the accent line, but it should be painted to match.
Remember how Maisto's Porsche 550 made me want to push down on that springy suspension? This model has an entirely different effect on me. It makes me want to get out paintbrushes, my airbrush, my needle files and Dremel Moto-tool, and attack it to make it into the model it should be. I want to create carpeting, headliners, and correct taillight lenses for it. I want to cut away the incorrect buttresses and vacuform a new rear window to fit. And that orange shade of red -- let me just give it a few coats of hand-rubbed, wet-sanded rosso corsa, just a few...
I don't know why. It's just that this car is so close, I can't see not going all the way.
To sum it up:
Strengths: Excellent shape, interior (except for plastic color).
Weaknesses: Vents not open; various details wrong.
Overall: A good model that could easily be better. Screams for detailing.
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