Meet the Fleet – Sportscars: Ferrari 250 GTO

• BODY, WHEELS & TIRES: Road Race Replicas

One racing driver called it “The most exciting car I’ve ever driven,” and the “world’s most valuable car” still shows up on racing tracks even today. When Road Race Replicas made this model, they pulled out all the stops. I’ve gushed about this at length in my previous post of the red and gold one I profiled earlier, and before that the blue and gold one as a “New Build.” Suffice to say that the scale model is as much nicer than other cars as the real thing is in comparison to any other real car: peerless, breathtaking, almost unbeatable.

I’ve saved my first for last, because this yellow and red version was the first one I acquired. This was always the easiest to find of the various body colors this car was released in, most likely because it was the least popular. Strange, I think, since most Ferraris look pretty good in yellow and many non-works Ferraris appeared on the track wearing yellow; it seems like a good and historically accurate color to me, a lot more so than blue or green, which this body was also made in. Regardless: with the racing number roundels that perfectly match the shade of red of the body stripe and the beautiful Borrani wire wheels and low profile tires, also courtesy of RRR, we have a wide and low-slung sports car with excellent handling characteristics that is gorgeous to look at. Equipped with OS3 Black Dragon field magnets and a Delrin guide pin by the same maker so deep it bottoms out in the slot at times, this car holds the road better than just about any other car in the fleet; its like it runs on rails. It can be spilled, of course; bad driving by your humble blogger can always find a way, but this car runs as good as it looks. It will need a new motor soon, but once it gets rebuilt, the “Legendary GT” will be back at the front of the pack! These bodies are now fetching eye-watering prices online, thus the 3 I have managed to acquire are all there’s going to be, so I treat them as gently as I can while still enjoying them. As with so many things in life, I just wish I had bought more of them when I had the chance!

This particular bright yellow 1962 GTO, an early production coupe made just after the final body design was ironed out, has a checquered past. Last seen for sale in 1975, the car was purchased from retired racing driver Nick Shavers for $35,000 – a sum that seems paltry today but was high at the time – by notorious New York business magate Dario “Nine Lives” Morelli, who christened the car “Belladonna.” Many “true crime” fans know the story: hounded by the feds for years and brought up on racketeering charges and bribery charges on separate occasions, Morelli beat both raps and was never convicted of anything, some believe due to his generous relationships with more than one NYC politician. However, Morelli maintained his innocence until his untimely accidental death while on a hunting trip upstate in 1982.

A nasty legal battle between his 5 children and their families erupted following his demise, with ownership of the increasingly valuable Ferrari one of the major points of contention. Ultimately it was Morelli’s youngest son Michael, a car enthusiast from birth and already something of a “boy racer” with a reputation, who wound up with the car. “Muscles” Morelli, as he is known, is now a resident of Laguna Beach, CA, and a frequent visitor to Wardglenn, where he campaigned the car on the track for 2 seasons, winning several trophies, and was runner up to one of DC’s epic 64-car tournaments. As its value has now become astronomical, it is seen more seldomly at the races than it once was, but Mike “Muscles” Morelli still shows up at Drag City with “Belladonna” whenever he feels the need to put other racers in their place, which he makes appear effortless; the 250 GTO is just as nearly unbeatable today as it was when it was new.