The other day Sam posted pictures of a modern Ferrari F1 piston he found in his closet. Well I looked at my coffee table and realized I had a piston and two valves out of a Ferrari 250 GTO.
Now, like Sam, I don't know the history of this piston in exacting detail. For all I know, it could have come out of a Camry. I've long since lost touch with the guy that gave it to me, but he was a Ferrari restorer and told me it was one of 12 pistons from the 2953cc SOHC V12 that powered one of only 39 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO's ever made.
That Tipo 168/62 engine made a still-amazing 102 HP per liter, giving it just over 302 HP. In 1962 bucks, that was an awful lot, the GTO could do more than 170 MPH and hit 60 in around five seconds.
I've tried to research the authenticity of the piston, but Google only reveals that Borgo was a period supplier of nearly all of Ferrari's pistons. There's other numbers and letters stamped into it, maybe you can help me figure out if it really is from the most famous of Ferraris. The serial number reads "73 30 63671 5" but I don't think the first two digits are a year reference as Ferrari had switched over to multi-valve cylinders by the time cars like the Daytona rolled out. The number "12" is stamped just below the serial number. Inside, the words "Stone-Borgo" and "145" are cast into the walls. The rest you can see in the pictures. What do you think, can I one-up Sam or not?