Ferrari 250 GTO
55th Anniversary Tour

Words by Keith Bluemel

The 250 GTO 55^th Anniversary Tour was organised by Ferrari, and took place between 25^th and 29^th September 2017, primarily in Tuscany, with the event base at the splendid 5 star Villa Cora hotel in central Florence, in its own parkland overlooking the Boboli Gardens.

It is just a couple of kilometres south of the famous Ponte Vecchio, and if walking to the bridge over the River Arno from the hotel one passed the Forte di Belvedere, where the L’Idea Ferrari exhibition was held in 1990. Based from the host hotel the participants had visits to vineyards, drives on part of the original Mugello road circuit, laps of the current circuit, and a free day for shopping and sightseeing in the beautiful city of Florence

On the final day of the tour, the snake of GTOs headed northwards using part of the famed Mille Miglia route over the Futa and Raticosa passes, with a coffee stop at the latter, before heading into Emilia Romagna and on to the finale at the Ferrari factory in Maranello. Upon arrival they drove through the Museo Ferrari parking area, where large crowds had assembled to witness their passing, before entering the Fiorano track, where they did three laps as an end to the driving part of the tour. The event ended with a gala dinner in the Ferrari Classiche workshop on the Friday evening.

Participants

Chassis #            Entrant                                                     Colour

3413 GT         Greg Whitten                                  Red (’64 Re-body)

3445 GT         Chris Cox                                          Blue-Yellow Stripe

3451 GT         Lawrence Stroll*                          Brown Met’-White

3505 GT         Craig McCaw                                         Pale Green

3589 GT         Patrick Steiger                             Dark Blue-White Noseband

3705 GT         Ed & Leslie Davies*                  Red-RWB Tricolore Stripes

3729 GT         Jon Shirley                                                   White

3757 GT         Nick Mason                                                    Red

3767 GT         Lord Bamford*                            Green-Yellow Noseband

3769 GT         Anthony Wang                             Silver-Blue Stripe

3809 GT         Bertorelli*                                      Red-White Stripe

3943 GT         Charles Nearburg                                     Red

4153 GT         Glaesel Family Collection     Silver-RWB Tricolore Stripes

4219 GT         Brandon Wang                                      Dark Blue

4293 GT         William “Chip” Connor                       Red

4757 GT         Tom Price                                                      Red

5571 GT         John McCaw*                                              Red

5575 GT         Rob Walton                                                  Red

*Did not complete the tour

All Photos by Keith Bluemel