It’s a woody, and it is pricey, with Ferrari celebrating its 70th anniversary in 2017, Thrustmaster’s goal was to launch exceptional racing wheels reflecting the history and style of the famed ‘Prancing Horse’ automaker. The first piece is a limited edition of an iconic model: the 250 GTO wheel, more beautiful than ever even at 55 years young.
Charm meets a strong, richly symbolic history
The Ferrari 250 GTO Wheel Add-On, for PC, is an official Ferrari-licensed 8:10 scale replica (at 13 inches/33 cm in diameter) of the wheel of the Ferrari 250 GTO – one of the most legendary cars ever created, and three-time consecutive GT world champion from 1962 through 1964. Thrustmaster’s model proudly sports all of the original wheel’s features, first and foremost in terms of materials. The Ferrari 250 GTO Wheel Add-On boasts a metal faceplate and internal structure, an authentic chrome logo plate in the center, plus genuine high-quality wood covering the wheel’s entire circumference with a black ring running through the middle: the resulting design is understated and sleek. All of these carefully-reproduced details transport the user right back to the 1960s. One only needs to test out the Ferrari 250 GTO in the game Assetto Corsa (available as part of the Ferrari 70th Anniversary DLC Pack), for example, to find oneself fully immersed in real vintage car racing sensations, with their inimitable panache.
Elegantly presented in a collector’s gift box featuring a hot-stamped inner foam display, the Ferrari 250 GTO Wheel Add-On is also a superb collector’s item, proudly harkening back to the true glory days of car racing competition and its heroes. The real-life Ferrari 250 GTO car (“Gran Turismo Omologato” in Italian, meaning “certified for grand touring”) was very much a limited edition in and of itself, with just 36 manufactured between 1962 and 1964. Thrustmaster has therefore chosen to only produce a limited number of these replica wheels as well, in homage to the extreme rarity of the original car.
Truly extensive compatibility: live the history of car racing like never before!
Thanks to its Thrustmaster Quick Release system, the Ferrari 250 GTO Wheel Add-On is compatible on PC exclusively (Windows® 10, 8, 7) with Thrustmaster T-series racing wheels – TS-PC Racer*, TS-XW Racer*, T-GT*, T500 RS*/**, T300 series*, TX series* – as well as with the TH8A Add-On Shifter*. Using the TH8A Add-On Shifter in “H”-pattern gearshift mode alongside the Ferrari 250 GTO Wheel Add-On will take users even further into the mythical history of car racing: an era when drivers had to wring every cubic centimeter’s worth of total displacement out of an engine, without any electronic assistance and only by ear – like the 250 cubic centimeters of displacement put out by each of this particular car engine’s 12 cylinders, immortalized in the name of the legendary Ferrari 250 GTO.
The FERRARI 250 GTO WHEEL ADD-ON will be available from December 20, 2017, at a suggested retail price of £349.99 (taxes included), and that is 399 USD/EUROS.
