Fly Ferrari 250 GTO

The new Fly Ferrari 250 GTO is one of their best, with fine detail, smooth finish, and great lines. There are delicate grilles beneath the transparent hood scoops, true to the actual cars. Hood latches are photo etched. Yellow discs were placed on the doors of this car at Le Mans, 1962, to alert rescue crews to the aluminum bodywork.


The Fly GTO compares well to the old standard Revell GTO, grandfather to the Pink Kar version. Fly model is better detailed, shows better curves, but has minor errors.


From the rear, the Fly car shows more curvaceous lines, in keeping with the timeless Ferrari design. Old Revell tail lights look better when painted, though. Fly tail lights resemble LEDs poking through the body.


From the side, Fly scores again with full body lines and deeper side panels, but nose-high attitude of Fly is evident.


To drop the nose of the body, nearly 1/16" is trimmed from the two front (red plastic) body posts, and the same amount is removed from the headlight crossbar mounts (black plastic). Without lowering the headlight crossbar, the nose cannot drop. A clearance hole for the rear drive shaft bearing is cut between the seats, and the floor of the interior pan is cut away. The underside of the seats are filed to allow the body and interior to settle down onto the chassis. A slab of lead is taped under the rear deck to help the 70 gram car hook up a little better on the wood track. The guide is shimmed .030" to bring it deeper into the slot. These changes make the car driveable without its magnet.


With body lowered, the Fly car compares favorably to the older car. Now the front wheels are where they belong in the arches.


Rear tires measure a full 12" wide. The actual '62 GTO's had tires no more than 9 inches wide (7.00x15 size). Even the front tires are too wide for the rear. Although this error is not apparent from the side, it is anachronistic, and just plain wrong for the car. These fat tires belong on a 1967 or later car; the markings on this Ferrari are of an actual 1962 Le Mans contestant.


Replacement wheels by BWA, custom turned with a dropped center to take Ortmann repro Monogram rear tires (correct scale size) are lined up for eventual use on the Fly car. And I should point out that the plastic Fly axle bearings are a good fit on the axle, with almost no slop.


Another Revell GTO, with rocker panels extended slightly downward, and reworked side vents fore and aft, shows off its BWA wheels, Ortmann tires, and BWA inserts. These are a better representation of the actual GTO wheels and tires than the Fly wheels and tires.

No model is perfect, but the Fly Ferrari GTO is a fine model, and can be easily corrected in minor ways to be even better.