This Proto-GTO 1961 Ferrari 250 GT Sperimentale Pininfarina Coupe Will Be Coming To Your Gran Turismo Garage

An addition to Best of Show, the "Most Elegant" categories, and all the other various class trophies that are given out at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, there are also a bunch of other special awards that this year's 218 cars were possibly competing for. Mercedes gives out the Mercedes-Benz Star of Excellence Award every year, ArtCenter College of Design awards a car chosen by its car design students, the Classic Car Club of America gives out a trophy, and the designers of Pininfarina pick a favorite car designed by its namesake, just to name a few.

My favorite award to pay attention to is the Gran Turismo Trophy, which has been given out every year since 2008. The Concours says it's "awarded to the most significant car balancing both artistic beauty and performance at the highest level and most desired for inclusion in the Gran Turismo game series," and typically the trophy is presented by game creator Kazunori Yamauchi, though this year it was given out by Takuya Asano, the director of Polyphony Digital's Gran Turismo Explore Studio in Los Angeles.

This year's Gran Turismo Trophy went to this one-off 1961 Ferrari 250 GT Sperimentale Pininfarina Coupe, a prototype racer that led to the creation of the 250 GTO. While not every winner of this prize has had their car scanned and included into the game, whether that be because the owner doesn't want to or it just hasn't been done yet, it seems like a sure bet the Sperimentale will be added into the game — its owner won the Gran Turismo Trophy in 2017 with his 1929 Mercedes-Benz S Barker Tourer, and that car is in "Gran Turismo 7." It did take five years between that car winning and it getting added to the game though, so don't expect to see the Sperimentale in the very next update.

New regulations for the FIA's 1962 Group 3 Grand Touring Car season required Ferrari to come up with a new closed-roof race car, and this Sperimentale, chassis 2643 GT, was the first prototype to be built. Its beautiful Pininfarina bodywork is most similar to a 400 Super America, and it hides a 250 GT SWB-based chassis and a 3.0-liter V12 engine in full Testa Rossa spec making about 300 horsepower. It was entered in the 1961 24 Hours of Le Mans, but it had to retire after 163 laps. It was sold to Luigi Chinetti's North American Racing Team later that winter, and in the hands of Stirling Moss it came in fourth overall and first in its class at Ferrari's Daytona Three Hour race.

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The car also placed eighth overall at the 12 Hours of Sebring and ninth overall and fourth in its class at Le Mans in 1962, but despite the addition of a rear spoiler and other tweaks, its lovely design just wasn't good enough in terms of aerodynamics, with scary instability at high speeds on the Mulsanne straight. It was followed by another prototype that was quickly dubbed "Il Mostro" by the Ferrari team and "the Anteater" by the press because of how ugly it was, though its Bizzarrini-penned styling was more GTO-like than the Sperimentale. 

Later in 1962 the 250 GTO arrived, developed using learnings from the Sperimentale, and the rest is history. There were two 250 GTOs at the Concours, and while neither placed in their Ferrari Competition class, David Lee's white one took home the Tony Hulman Trophy.

The first car to win the Gran Turismo Trophy in 2008 was the 1967 Lamborghini Miura P400 Bertone Prototype, which first appeared in "Gran Turismo 5." Subsequent winners of the award that have been included in the games are the 1965 Alfa Romeo Giulia TZ2 (won in '09), the 1952 Abarth 1500 Biposto Bertone BAT 1 ('10), the 1960 Plymouth XNR Ghia Roadster ('11), the 1954 Ferrari 500 Mondial Pinin Farina Coupe ('12), the 1953 Aston Martin DB3S ('13), the 1954 Maserati A6GCS/53 Spyder ('14), and the 1929 Mercedes-Benz S Barker Tourer ('17).

As of right now, the cars that won the award from 2015, 2016, and 2018 through 2025 have yet to be added to a Gran Turismo game. In chronological order of when they won, those cars are a 1952 Cunningham C-4R Competition Roadster, 1966 Ferrari 330 P4 Drogo Spyder, 1966 AAR Eagle Indy Car, 1931 Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Zagato, 1969 Ferrari 512 S Berlinetta, 1969 Autobianchi A112 Runabout, 1933 Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 Gran Sport Figoni Coupe, 1970 Lanca Stratos HF Zero Bertone, and 1931 Invicta 4.5 Litre S Type Carbodies Tourer. I actually know the owner of the Stratos Zero, so next time I see him I'll bug him about getting his car added to the game.

On the complete opposite end of the spectrum, a Gran Turismo Award is also given out at SEMA to the team's favorite modified car, which also has the opportunity to be included in the game. Every winner of that trophy from 2003 to 2018 is available to drive in your PlayStation, and Big Mike's 1992 Honda Prelude that won the award upon its return in 2025 is as well.