Harry’s Garage

[Jobbo]

First Harry video I’ve put on as soon as he uploaded it for quite some time. That was special. I have loved the GTO since Gavin Green drove one back from the factory to the U.K. with the lucky first owner in 1985 - giving rise to the famous Car magazine cover, “Getting To Know The GTO”. Read that story so many times. I don’t think I’m ever again likely to get more of an experience of the GTO than Harry has just given me.

Wouldn’t pay £3m for one unless I had a Euromillions win, but if I did it would be pretty close to my first purchase. In the real (!) world I’d have a Zonda in preference though.

[Explosive Newt]

Harry sells it as better than an F40, it feels. It looks better but I had no idea it was so driveable and so bloody quick. What a car.

[mik]

I love the 288GTO, and that was great.

And I always thought I had missed something - always knowing it as the "GTO", and only years later hearing people mention "288 GTO" and thinking "huh?". Now I know why....

Great demonstration of the packaging (and using a rear hinge on the rear deck feels very unusual). Love the wiggle at approx 5mins as it breaks traction coming on boost. Also love the gimbal camera movement in the closing internal images as he goes over a humpback bridge

[Jobbo]

I’d always assumed 288 GTO was coined because it’s a 2.8 (really closer to 2.9) so it fitted with the 308 name convention and distinguished it from the 250 GTO. But I had no idea there was something on the car with that name. Will have to find the old Gavin Green article out again.

[integrale_evo]

Quite a few people prefer the 288 to the f40 as a road car. Might have been when evo did their big test after the enzo came out that they seemed surprised at how good it was.

I do think they’re stunning, but an f40 would always be the first pick. If you can afford an f40 you can probably afford a 288 to park next to it

[ZedLeg]

I enjoyed that, probably my all time favourite car. Very generous friend Harry has there.

[Marv]

Good Lord you could buy an F40 for £170k in 2005??

ISTR the lower end of the F40 market was £140k at some point!

[Rich B]

Yeah, 288 has always been my favourite Ferrari - that video just reaffirmed it!

Funny to think though - 400bhp, 3L turbo, wide arches, 10 inch rear tyres... my daily driver has all that!...


... and 500kg extra. Doh!

[Carlos]

Not just a poster car then. Harry is a tall guy and it looked like loads of cabin space, decent ride height, no cracking and banging on a British b roads

To echo the above it was a euro millions purchase anyway but fabulous to see how usable it appears

Kudos to the owner for letting Harry use it for a 1000+ miles and allow people an insight.

[integrale_evo]

According to the BoE inflation calculator, £160k in 2005 should be 270k today.

A little under the average uk house price. Obviously still a decent chunk of money, but not the absolutely bonkersness they are now.

[Explosive Newt]

Increasing scarcity combined with some impressive profiteering by the garages specialising in restoring them?

[Jobbo]

Speculation. For our generation it's the equivalent of the 250 GTO for the 70+ year olds.

[duncs500]

It's lovely, but I want an F40 more.

[mik]

Have just watched it again. Lovely thing.

However.

What the absolute fuck has Harry got on his feet? 13min20s for reference.

[speedingfine]

I saw those as well Mik. Looks like it's an even more wanky boatshoe I'm afraid.

[ZedLeg]

He definitely has some questionable taste in driving shoes

[Jimexpl]

Classic/collector car values still amaze me, even though it was my day job for a few years and I still do a bit of consultancy for old clients -

Back in 2012 when I started, only exceptional F40s were worth more than £300k, and unless you were DK engineering it would take months to sell one. They were a wealthy hobby car, with many owners playing with different exhausts, turbos and brakes - which of course would all be pulled off for the Classiche certificate before selling on!
288GTOs were on the market for just over £1m, but generally sold for sub £800k (I tried and failed to sell a great example). 911 2.7RS were £280-450k depending on history. An event winning immaculate early production (external bonnet release) E-type had risen from £150-220k in the previous year, and would sell within weeks.

[mik]

Vid is 10yrs old now , but it's possibly an opportune moment..... Harry Hunt I believe (not cockney rhyming slang)

[GG.]

Love the wiggle at approx 5mins as it breaks traction coming on boost.

Yes that was an eye-widening moment! It made me think that I really hope Harry is adequately insured for this stuff. It would be very easy to end up in a Piper v Hales scenario if he were unfortunate enough to lose it in a moment like that.

I mean how do you go about getting insurance on someone elses £3m car? I wouldn't imagine it is his own insurance policy that would cover it (presumably would limit to third party only for a car not owned by him) so perhaps it would the owner that insures - as I say, all quickly gets into uncomfortable territory if the worst were to happen and full diligence had not been done on the owners coverage.

[Jobbo]

If anyone knows how to sort out insurance on borrowed cars, it will be Harry who founded a magazine that would have relied on it being in place