Pirelli Develops New Tire for Ferrari 288 GTO

Pirelli is celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Ferrari 288 GTO by offering new tires for the 1980s supercar icon.

The company revealed the newly developed Cinturato P7 for the 288 GTO on the 2024 GTO Legacy Tour, where owners will celebrate the car's 40th anniversary with a meandering drive from the Italian Dolomites to Ferrari's headquarters in Maranello.

The Cinturato P7 is part of the Pirelli Collezione series of tires for vintage cars. According to Pirelli, these tires combine contemporary design and construction with a period look; the GTO-spec tires are offered in the same sizes as the originals, 225/50 R16 front and 265/50 R16 rear.

It is not only the application that is vintage. The original Pirelli Cinturato P7 was developed for the 1974 World Rally Championship and launched as a road car tire in 1976. Pirelli called it the first ultra-low profile tire because the sidewall height was very low compared to the tread width. This was because the sidewall height was very low compared to the tread width, which Pirelli called the first ultra-low profile tire.

The 288 GTO can also trace its origins back to rallying: it was the spiritual successor to the legendary 250 GTO of 20 years earlier, a homologation special. The original plan was to enter it in the Group B rally category, but that was cancelled before Ferrari had a chance to use the GTO in rallies. However, Ferrari produced 272 cars, including an Evoluzione version for road racing.

This is not the only Ferrari production supercar to be equipped with Pirelli tires. Through a partnership between the automaker and tire manufacturer, Pirelli developed a custom tire for the Enzo, and Ferrari approved the use of existing tires from the Pirelli Collezione series for the F40 and F50.