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Deriving their names from the 250-cc displacement of each engine cylinder, Ferrari's 250 range cemented the brand's status as the preeminent sports car builder in the world. Thanks to Ferris Bueller, the 250 GT California ("Che bella!") is by far the most recognizable. But we're not using a 250 GT California for our own day off because, frankly, John Hughes didn't use one for his, either. The movie car, a "Classic GT250" replica kit by defunct coachbuilder Modena Design, used a small-block Ford V8 in a custom tube chassis. The prancing pony we've procured is a 250 GTO replica that was a Datsun 280Z in a former life, and it's probably just as well that this Z is not the basis for a convertible — cutting the top off this thing would result in a lack of body rigidity to rival a Karate-era Elvis. Some regard the original Ferrari GTO, born from the desirable short-wheelbase 250 chassis, as the finest Ferrari to ever leave Maranello. Plastic windows brought weight down, while Testa Rossa heads and six yelping Weber carbs brought power up. Without the GTO, racing in the '60s may not have escalated the way it did; Carroll Shelby might not have built the Daytona Coupe; Henry Ford II probably wouldn't have commissioned the GT40; and Ferruccio Lamborghini would probably have stuck to building tractors. With that storied history, and an estimated value of over $10 million, we wouldn't expect one to brave Chicago's traffic any time soon.
Lucky for us, 54,954 Datsun 280Z two-seaters were sold in the States in 1977, and those cars happen to make perfect GTO replicas, provided you're handy with the fiberglass and a paint gun. Even luckier for us, we've got one of the most accurate ones in the country, with over 2500 hours of care and precision behind it. Its own little tea party of the Axis powers, this Ferrari-inspired, Datsun-based replica puts down 485 horsepower at the rear wheels, courtesy of a BMW 750iL's V12 engine and an 850CSi's 6-speed manual transmission. If the resulting sound and fury isn't enough to convince many skeptics that this thing's the real deal, the right-hand drive will. After all, no one would be crazy enough to convert a replica to right-drive, would they?
But this car's the owner, Michelle Lonnecker, is quick to tell me she isn't done yet. The dry-sump conversion, the hand-built linkages, and the one-off engine management system are great, she says, but it really needs velocity-stack intakes and twelve individual throttle bodies to reach its full potential. Be still my heart.
Following Ferris's route downtown from the fictional suburb of Shermer is tricky unless you're into figure eights. In one scene, the car is shown rounding the Ohio Street off-ramp from I-90, while in the next Ferris is taking his hands off the wheel to irritate Cameron on Lake Shore Drive — two areas which, for those of you not familiar with Chicago, are on opposite sides of the downtown Loop area...Continued
