# Exclusive Car Care - Ferrari 288 GTO



## Exclusive Car Care (Jan 14, 2007)

In 1984 Ferrari produced a street-legal car that paradoxically and magically combined the most sublime beauty with a very raw level of performance - That car would be the 400-horsepower, twin-turbo 288 GTO

During its 2 year production run in 1984 and 1985, only a total of 272 units were ever built.

A classic and rare Ferrari such as this 288 GTO can only have original paint once which is why it demands the finest care and requires the highest level of concentration to ensure no mistakes happen whilst working on it. When you're working with older cars (especially single stage paintwork) always be very careful around seams, exposed edges, and high spots because the paint is at its thinnest in those areas and can easily be damaged when machine polishing. (same applies to new cars). There was some areas on the rear engine cover which were very thin and had been touched in (lourve slats) so extreme caution was used.

As you can see a lot of taping up required... I would of liked to have removed all the louvre's but I only had 2 days to complete the car so time was limited.



















*The purpose of this detail was not to remove every defect in the paintwork, it was to reduce the swirls and remove the oxidation and haze.

After inspecting the paintwork and measuring paint thickness I set about finding a polishing combo that would remove miminal paint. The paint responded well to DA polishing with Megs 205 paired with a finishing pad, this gentle approach was enough to restore gloss, clarity and depth of shine whilst preserving as much paint as possible.*




























*50/50 shot *










*and another 50/50*


















































































*Once all the polishing stages were complete the paintwork was prepped with Swissvax Cleaner Fluid and then treated with ********** Wax ******* Glaze.*




























*And the end result after 2 days...*

Whilst it does look like the paint is perfectly defect free in the photo's below with the various light sources, there is still some defects present which the camera didnt pick up.





















































































































































































Thanks for reading!


----------



## Callummarshall (Oct 19, 2012)

Looks lovely!

would be stressed out of my head dealing with it though!


----------



## Steampunk (Aug 11, 2011)

Awesome work, as always!

Great reminder how much a finishing combo can achieve under the right conditions...

Steampunk


----------



## kk1966 (Aug 8, 2007)

Superb work Jay. Single stage paint on a classic has to be one of the most stressful jobs there is...but a pleasure at the same time  Shes a beauty


----------



## AaronGTi (Nov 2, 2010)

Excellent work Jay :thumb:


----------



## Clark @ PB (Mar 1, 2006)

The 288 GTO is still one of the best cars I've worked on today and seeing this just reminded me of it. Fantastic work as always Jay and 100% honest too


----------



## elfuego (Jan 16, 2012)

amazing car, great job...:thumb:


----------



## Exclusive Car Care (Jan 14, 2007)

Callummarshall said:


> Looks lovely!
> 
> would be stressed out of my head dealing with it though!


Thanks



Steampunk said:


> Awesome work, as always!
> 
> Great reminder how much a finishing combo can achieve under the right conditions...
> 
> Steampunk


Cheers Steam, thats why its always best to start with athe least aggresive combo and work your way up if needed.:thumb:



kk1966 said:


> Superb work Jay. Single stage paint on a classic has to be one of the most stressful jobs there is...but a pleasure at the same time  Shes a beauty


Thanks Marc:thumb:


----------



## stangalang (Nov 27, 2009)

Stunning work and pictures. Beautiful car


----------



## MidlandsCarCare (Feb 18, 2006)

Great work and photography as always Jay. A pleasure to read through.

Thanks for sharing.

Russ.


----------



## Roy (Jan 17, 2007)

Win! great approach on a special rare car :thumb:


----------



## Big Buffer (Jan 1, 2011)

Best looking Ferrari ever in my eyes.

Top work fella.....


----------



## athol (Oct 3, 2009)

One of my all time favorite cars ! Stunning work though


----------



## seanl (Feb 17, 2012)

I always favoured Lambos, even from an early age, but even this was privileged enough to adorn my bedroom wall! Amazing car, and great work regardless!


----------



## willwander (Nov 30, 2012)

What a car! proper racing Ferrari..looks great, well done.


----------



## Luis (Sep 10, 2012)

Amazing car.... Good work


----------



## skorpios (Sep 11, 2011)

Superb attention to detail and care for this beautiful car!
Well done Jay! :thumb:


----------



## Jochen (May 21, 2007)

Very nice job on a stunning car :argie::argie:


----------



## explorer (Nov 11, 2012)

First class work and a first class car :thumb:


----------



## Derekh929 (Aug 28, 2011)

Stunning motor , great result on a fantastic Ferrari


----------



## Envy Car Care (Aug 17, 2006)

Lovely job Jay


----------



## Racer (Oct 27, 2005)

Fabuloso!!!!! :thumb:


----------



## unique detail (Jan 26, 2012)

Fantastic work & a stunning motor.


----------



## Scrim-1- (Oct 8, 2008)

Great work as ever Jay, always look forward to your write ups.


----------



## Alex L (Oct 25, 2005)

Beautiful deep, glossy red


----------



## Exclusive Car Care (Jan 14, 2007)

Clark @ PB said:


> The 288 GTO is still one of the best cars I've worked on today and seeing this just reminded me of it. Fantastic work as always Jay and 100% honest too


Cheers Clark:thumb:



stangalang said:


> Stunning work and pictures. Beautiful car


Thanks Stang:thumb:



MidlandsCarCare said:


> Great work and photography as always Jay. A pleasure to read through.
> 
> Thanks for sharing.
> 
> Russ.


Thanks Russ



Roy said:


> Win! great approach on a special rare car :thumb:


Thanks Roy



willwad82 said:


> Best looking Ferrari ever in my eyes.
> 
> Top work fella.....


It is a great looking Ferrari but for me the best looking one would have to be the 250:thumb:



athol said:


> One of my all time favorite cars ! Stunning work though


Thanks athol



seanl said:


> I always favoured Lambos, even from an early age, but even this was privileged enough to adorn my bedroom wall! Amazing car, and great work regardless!





willwander said:


> What a car! proper racing Ferrari..looks great, well done.


Thanks



Luis said:


> Amazing car.... Good work





skorpios said:


> Superb attention to detail and care for this beautiful car!
> Well done Jay! :thumb:


Thank you Skorpios



Jochen said:


> Very nice job on a stunning car :argie::argie:


Cheers:thumb:



explorer said:


> First class work and a first class car :thumb:


Thank you


----------



## tonyy (Jul 26, 2008)

Amazing:thumb:


----------



## Gleammachine (Sep 8, 2007)

A good honest write-up to accompany your excellent work.

Hope your well mate.:thumb:


----------



## DMH-01 (Mar 29, 2011)

Looks stunning :thumb:


----------



## Porkypig (Jun 20, 2012)

Top job Dude and probably if not actually the finest peice of modern automtive sculpture ever created. I. Just. Adore. This. Car. :argie::argie::argie:


----------



## Paul.J (Apr 24, 2011)

Very Nice Indeed!!!


----------



## Bowler (Jan 23, 2011)

Stunning!!!!!!


----------



## Dave KG (Feb 23, 2006)

I like the honesty and realism of the writeup - despite two days, there are still some defects... of course there are, absolute perfection is not always possible or advisable to achieve. What has been achieved judging by the pics in this thread is lovely clarity in the finish showing care was taken to the finishing stages, and on solid red this is really beneficial as it is unforgiving as a colour. Well done, well written and documented :thumb:


----------



## Exclusive Car Care (Jan 14, 2007)

Dave KG said:


> I like the honesty and realism of the writeup - despite two days, there are still some defects... of course there are, absolute perfection is not always possible or advisable to achieve. What has been achieved judging by the pics in this thread is lovely clarity in the finish showing care was taken to the finishing stages, and on solid red this is really beneficial as it is unforgiving as a colour. Well done, well written and documented :thumb:


Thanks Dave

Big thanks to all that took time to view and comment, greatly appreciated:thumb:


----------



## streaky (Dec 2, 2006)

What a lovely job you did on that. I bet you were well pleased with how it looked


----------



## Exclusive Car Care (Jan 14, 2007)

streaky said:


> What a lovely job you did on that. I bet you were well pleased with how it looked


Yes I was pleased but most importantly the client was VERY pleased and happy:thumb:


----------



## RaceGlazer (Jan 10, 2007)

A very interesting car in Ferraris' history, the first to wear the GTO badge after the 250 and of course only 1 since, the 599. A lot more than a 328 with a blower and bodykit and is the forerunner of the legendary F40 in thinking.

No-one has picked up on the 275 in the background, a very nice motor indeed.

And a very measured, thoughtful detail, super job.


----------



## Porkypig (Jun 20, 2012)

No-one has picked up on the 275 in the background, a very nice motor indeed.

When the foreground is taken up by a 288 GTO, everything else just pales....


----------



## Exclusive Car Care (Jan 14, 2007)

RaceGlazer said:


> A very interesting car in Ferraris' history, the first to wear the GTO badge after the 250 and of course only 1 since, the 599. A lot more than a 328 with a blower and bodykit and is the forerunner of the legendary F40 in thinking.
> 
> No-one has picked up on the 275 in the background, a very nice motor indeed.
> 
> And a very measured, thoughtful detail, super job.





Porkypig said:


> No-one has picked up on the 275 in the background, a very nice motor indeed.
> 
> When the foreground is taken up by a 288 GTO, everything else just pales....


The write up on the Ferrari 275 GTB/4 is here


----------



## JBirchy (Oct 9, 2010)

Stunning work Jay! I have to say the 288 GTO is my favourite Ferrari of them all, even more so than the F40! 

Looks incredible, great work!

Jon


----------



## mikeydee (May 4, 2010)

wow. that thing looks incredible. Megs 205 is just immense in my opinion. i can't fault it.


----------



## Summit Detailing (Oct 9, 2006)

Bellissimo

For me the best of Ferrari's 'Halo' cars:thumb:

Hope your well chap!?:wave:


----------



## 20vKarlos (Aug 8, 2009)

looks brilliant


----------



## Demetrios72 (Jun 27, 2011)

Really nice work Jay :thumb:


----------



## TopSport+ (Jul 22, 2012)

awesome car:argie:


----------



## B&B Autostyle (Apr 4, 2010)

That was a poster car of mine when I was a kid.

Incredible results as usual.


----------



## A20 LEE (Feb 20, 2007)

Awesome car and very sensible correction. Top work.


----------



## RaceGlazer (Jan 10, 2007)

I'd have the 4-cam any day of the week, just absolute class. 
Had the immense pleasure 2 years ago of a ride up Prescott Hillclimb in a 1965 model, expertly thrown around and amazing given its age. 
That was a lovely detail too - same owner ?


----------



## gibbo555 (May 3, 2011)

Lovely looking motor, great job :thumb:


----------



## unique detail (Jan 26, 2012)

Superb work and a great write up Jay.


----------



## Rowan83 (Aug 21, 2007)

That looks absolutely stunning, beautiful in every way!!


----------



## Exclusive Car Care (Jan 14, 2007)

Big thanks to those that took the time to view the thread and comment, its greatly appreciated:thumb:


----------

