Arguably the most popular sports-car racing category across the world, FIA GT3 is host to the world’s leading manufacturers competing head-to-head with production-based racecars piloted by both amateurs and professionals. Ferrari first entered the category in 2007, with the 430 GT3 receiving the ninth official homologation from the FIA, albeit with development by the Kessel Racing squad. Ferrari’s first factory-developed GT3 car was the 458 Italia GT3, which achieved numerous wins in nearly every GT championship across the globe. Its successor, based on the series-production 488 GTB released in 2015, continued the Italian automaker’s winning GT3 legacy.

Every 488 GT3 began life on the same production line as the road cars, but a wholly composite body structure engineered for lightness and shell-latched for ease of maintenance helped to complete the transformation into a competition machine. Further modifications included wider wheel arches, an aggressive front splitter, a larger diffuser, and an adjustable rear wing.

The interior rightly forgoes the luxurious treatments of the road car, stripped of all unnecessary components to reduce weight. The steering wheel incorporates all of the most important controls, including engine mapping, fuel mix, traction control, and the driver’s drink supply.

Ferrari’s first forced-induction closed-roof racer since the F40, the 488 GT3 is powered by a twin-turbocharged 3.9-liter V-8 engine providing around 600 horsepower to the rear wheels via a transversely mounted six-speed sequential gearbox. Easily one of the most successful racecars within the category, the 488 GT3 achieved more than 500 wins over the course of its time in international competition.

The Ferrari 488 GT3 offered here, chassis 4414, was sold to its original and current owner on 15 December 2017. A Ferrari sales invoice on file indicates the vehicle was fitted from new with a rearview camera kit, second seat kit, handicap ballast box, a carbon clutch, endurance brake calipers, steel wheel nuts, catalyst exhaust system, tire pressure monitoring system, extended data acquisition system, and a 24-hour light kit.

Since being delivered, the 488 GT3 has been sparingly used at track-day events, with 1,087 miles logged on the odometer at cataloguing time. Invoices on file dating back to January 2018 confirm the car has been serviced and maintained by official Ferrari dealer Lake Forest Sportscars of Lake Bluff, Illinois. Work included a brake service and oil change in January 2021, and a multi-point inspection, battery replacement, and annual fluid service in December 2022.

One of the great racing Ferraris, this 488 GT3 represents a spectacular, historic, and highly competitive prospective entry into tack days and the myriad events for which it is eligible.