A One-Of-Five Ferrari 288 GTO Evoluzione May Be The Ultimate Track-Ready Prancing Horse

If you’re looking for a Ferrari to take to the track, the Italian manufacturer will happily sell you a 296 Challenge. For those looking for something even more exclusive, the 499P Modificata may be up your street - provided you’re in Maranello’s especially good books. What if that’s still just a bit too common? Well, this 288 GTO Evoluzione could be the answer.

One of just five built (excluding a prototype), the Evoluzione was designed to improve on the already fairly capable 288 GTO Group B homologation special.

Barely recognisable from the ‘base’ GTO, the Evoluzione had a bodykit made from fibreglass and kevlar, including that gargantuan rear wing. Born purely for function, everything on the reworked car had a purpose - down to its cheese-grater-like front grille and air scoops within the wing mirrors.

All-in, the Evoluzione’s weight was trimmed by 220kg down to 940kg despite the additional aero, largely thanks to weight savings in its carbon fibre tub and aluminium floor. Not only that, but the 2.9-litre twin-turbo V8 had power taken up to 650bhp in circuit trim (rallying versions had a reduced output) up from 400bhp.

Before the project could be finished, Group B was cancelled in May 1986 following a string of accidents, culminating in Henri Toivonen’s fatal crash at the Tour de Corse. This left the near-complete 288 GTO Evoluzione in limbo.

Ferrari decided to build a few examples rather than can all of its work, with this for-sale example, chassis 79887, representing one of just five built.

Further still, it’s only one of three cars to feature the V6 in its full 650bhp form, and it’s the only example registered for road use.

High-end car dealership Tom Hartley Jnr has the car listed for sale with POA. We suspect something in the ballpark of the £4.4m it takes to get the keys to a 499P Modificata would be a starting point to work from…