The new Hublot Classic Fusion Squelette Tourbillon Ferrari 250 GTO limited edition was presented last week on Tuesday at Abbaye de Hautvillers. The “ultra-exclusive” event was restricted to hundred-and-something rich persons that you have probably seen on TV and all sorts of tabloids. Planned to be sold exclusively to 39 owners of the legendary Ferrari 250 GTO, the new timepiece has a good chance of becoming an instant legend.

Some history, first.

Designed in 1962 to compete in the FIA’s Group 3 Grand Touring Car championship as a “production-based” vehicle, the gorgeous front-engined Ferrari 250 GTO had to be first offered to the “general” public as a street-legal vehicle.

Since the car was almost too powerful (Ferrari’s engineers managed to squeeze 300 hp out of its 12-cylinder 3.0-liter engine) and not particularly driver-friendly, it was offered only to select customers who were hand-picked by Enzo Ferrari himself and his representatives at certain markets.

The car was in production for only three years and immediately became a living legend winning three championships in its class in 1962, 1963, and 1964.

There is an interesting piece of trivia regarding this beautiful car. While back in the 1960s carmakers were strictly required to produce as many as 100 cars for the model to be homologated, Ferrari managed to make only 39 vehicles to get the papers “by numbering its chassis out of sequence, using jumps between each to suggest cars that didn’t exist” as Wikipedia puts it citing ferraribuy.com.

Now, tell me about business practices.

Although Hublot doesn’t say this explicitly in its official press release, this model is based on their 2012 Classic Fusion Squelette Tourbillon (Ref. 505.NX.0170.LR).

Judging by the photos, the original watch was slightly refinished with the signature angled parts of its lightweight titanium body smoothed and satin-finished and the distinct mainspring barrel drum redecorated to mimic the historic design of 250 GTO’s Borrani wire wheels.

The original black leather strap was, too, replaced with a brown Barenia calfskin strap. Featuring nice contrasting stitching, the strap reminds the leather upholstery used in sports cars in the 1960s.

The watch is still powered by the same HUB6010 manually wound caliber that was designed and manufactured in-house, however, as another exclusive feature, its bridge may be decorated with the chassis number of a particular Ferrari 250 GTO belonging to a respective customer.

Although I was less than pleased with most of Hublot’s last creations, I must admit that this model looks great.

By the way, if you don’t happen to own a 250 GTO and don’t plan to spend thousands of dollars on high-end limited-edition models, there is still a nice Ferrari-branded watch that may partly satisfy your dreams: Ferrari Lap Time Chronograph Anadigit. Although inexpensive, it looks great.

WWR Verdict

Originality 5/5
Build Quality: 5/5
Usability: 4/5
Overall Legibility: 3/5
Nighttime Legibility: 1/5
Value for Money: 4/5

Overall Rating: 4/5

Photos: Hublot, Wikipedia

Hublot Classic Fusion Squelette Tourbillon Ferrari 250 GTO specification

Price: $18,000 (MSRP)
Movement: Hand-wound, Caliber HUB6010, skeletonized, in-house, Swiss Made
Movement frequency: 21,600 vph
Power reserve: 120 hours
Movement decoration: The movement bridge on the case-back side can be customized with the chassis number of your Ferrari 250 GTO
Functions: Hours, minutes, small seconds on tourbillon
Case: Titanium, satin-finished
Shape: Round
Size: 45.00 mm
Dial: Skeletonized
Hour markers: Luminous
Hands: Sword-shaped
Water resistance: 50 meters
Strap: Brown Barenia calfskin strap
Crystal: Sapphire, antireflective
Back: Sapphire