A funny thing happened in the mid-80′s. Both Ferrari and Porsche designed and built models to compete in a new race series, but the cars never really saw track time:

“The Ferrari GTO was built to compete in the new Group B Race series and a minimum of 200 cars were required for homologation. However as only Ferrari and Porsche, with their 959, entered, the series was soon abandoned leaving just the Group B Rally championship. The Porsche 959 {961} only raced three times in Group B, but the 288 GTO never raced and all 272 cars built remained purely road cars.”

The end result were the first “supercars” from both manufacturers, a trend continued by Ferrari with the subsequent release of the F40, F50, etc.

My father’s business partner was a huge car aficionado and was lucky enough to own both of these cars. I spent time with them and wanted to share my recollections:

The Ferrari 288 GTO didn’t even pretend to be a street car. No radio. No climate control. It didn’t even have door panels inside the cabin – just raw metal. I don’t even remember a keyed ignition system although it could have had one. The road racing gear box was impossible to from 1st into 2nd until the car had thoroughly heated up. Once it was up to temp, it was capable of acceleration that is difficult to describe. I can tell you the noise was deafening, you could hear it accelerating from miles away.

I remember I took a girl I was interested in to take a ride in the GTO. Her father was a huge car nut and when he found out I had invited her, instead of him, he was absolutely furious.

The Porsche 959 was very different from a 288 GTO. It was capable of the same speed – 0-60mph in 3.6 seconds with a top end of 198mph. However, it looked and felt like an everyday car. It had door locks, A/C, radio, carpeting. It looked like a souped up 911 Turbo until you took a gander under the hood. Although it shared a few parts with a Turbo, it was a very different animal.

We were driving the 959 around an Interstate in Alabama when the gas light came on. I checked the owner’s manual and it called for something like 105 Octane, only available at the airport. We pulled into a Shell station and made due with 93 Octane fuel. A guy at the next pump driving an Audi Sport Quattro threw out the obligatory “nice car”. We ended up pulling out of the gas station at the same time and were lined up next to him at a red light. He revved his engine and gave us a serious look. Did he really want to race? Did he know what kind of car it was? This was going to be fun…

When the light went green, the car came off the line with tremendous acceleration. The car has staged turbo-chargers and the 2nd one kicks in around 5500 RPM, announcing itself by slamming your head into the head rest. A not-so-subtle indication that it’s time to shift into the next higher gear. We ended up taking the car up to 185mph before slowing to a more reasonable 120mph. It took a few minutes, but we eventually heard a high-pitched whine and the Audi came up alongside us. The driver’s expression was priceless. “What the hell is that thing and where can I get one”?