A one-off Ferrari widely regarded as the first prototype for the legendary 250 GTO has been selected to win the Gran Turismo Trophy at the 2026 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, putting it in line for a potential future appearance in the Gran Turismo series.
The 1961 Ferrari 250 GT Sperimentale Pininfarina Coupe is the 18th recipient of the award, which forms part of a partnership between Pebble Beach and Gran Turismo dating back to 2008. It’s a fitting choice for this year’s event too, as the 75th running of the Concours features Ferrari as its headline marque. This car is about as on-theme as it gets.
Series creator Kazunori Yamauchi usually presents the Trophy himself, but this time the honors went to Takuya Asano, director of Polyphony Digital’s Gran Turismo Explore Studio in Los Angeles. It’s not the first time Asano has stepped in, having presented the award when the Ferrari 330 P4 won in 2016.
As always, winning the Trophy makes the car eligible for a digital recreation in the Gran Turismo series, but it’s no guarantee. Only around half of previous winners have made the jump so far, and it can take a while: the Mercedes-Benz S Barker Tourer waited nearly five years between its win and its in-game debut.
That Mercedes is relevant for another reason. It also belongs to Bruce R. McCaw of Bellevue, Washington, who took both the Gran Turismo Trophy and the coveted Best of Show with it in 2017. The Sperimentale, which he has owned since 1999, is also a McCaw car, making this his second Gran Turismo Trophy.
The 250 GTO Prototype
The Sperimentale exists because of a rule change.
From 1962, the international manufacturers’ championship would be fought with grand touring cars rather than sports-racing cars, and Enzo Ferrari needed a GT capable of winning it. This car (chassis 2643 GT) was his first experiment: a strengthened, lowered 250 GT SWB with a dry-sump V12 built to full Testa Rossa specification, wrapped in a unique aerodynamic body by Pininfarina. That engine was close to the unit that would power the 250 GTO, which is why the car is now commonly referred to as “the GTO prototype”.
The experiment taught Ferrari plenty (including high-speed stability, after some alarming lift down the Mulsanne straight) and those lessons fed directly into the GTO, which delivered Ferrari the International Championship for GT Manufacturers in 1962.
This 2643 GT had a racing career of its own, though. It made its debut at the 1961 Le Mans 24 Hours with Fernand Tavano and Giancarlo Baghetti, retiring after 163 laps with engine failure.
Sold to American privateer Bill McKelvy over the winter, it was entered by NART in the February 1962 Daytona Three Hour race for Stirling Moss, who brought it home fourth overall and first in class. Class podiums at the 1962 Sebring 12 Hours and Le Mans followed, before the car passed through many hands over the decades. It was restored under McCaw’s ownership to the cobalt blue livery it wore at Le Mans in 1961.
It’s the fourth Ferrari to take the Gran Turismo Trophy, moving it ahead of Alfa Romeo as the most successful marque in the award’s history, and the first since the 512 S Berlinetta in 2021. Whether and when it reaches Gran Turismo is another question, but with Ferrari’s licensing relationship with the series, its chances look rather better than last year’s Invicta.
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