I have always wondered the same thing, but always felt too stupid to ask.

 

Its Italian the O is Oragato I belive.

 

From . . . The Big Little GTO Book by Albert Drake. . . . .

"Omologato is the past participle of 'omologare' which means 'to ratify officially.' So Gran Turismo Omologato means 'Homologated Grand Touring' or 'Certified Grand Touring,' which is a classification determined by the Federation Internationale de I'Automobile (FIA), the international governing body of automobile activities. At the time [back in the sixties] this classification describes a closed car [sorry, no convertibles], of which at least a hundred units had been built, available to any and all interested customers, with a catalog which clearly outlined the car's options. A car in the GTO class is a production car, not a race car, but it is capable of higher-than-average speeds. Homologation refers to the formal process why which a car is accredited by the FIA. After that [Homologation] process, changes are permitted to the engine and drive train or to the chassis. Because of the Pontiac GTO, omologato became popular as a verb, 'to homologate,' meaning that a manufacturer had 'homologated' parts -- special parts which were available to the public."

and from another GTO site . . .

"The Italian term, 'Gran Turismo Omologato', means Grand Touring class production vehicle, homologated for racing. The name came to mean a large, high-performance sports car comfortable enough for long trips or 'touring', as opposed to the smaller, less comfortable 2-seater 'true' sports cars."

 

domo Oregato Mr Roboto? j/k

 

Dang skippy

Thought that was the funniest thing ever.

That or the RFQ that someone should use.

 

Louie,

I know, many distributors don't accept European payments...don't know why actually.

I had the chance to know someone who lives in chicago. I made a trasfert to his bank. I told him what to buy. He did all the payments via a US bank account. When finished, he shipped me the car. The car is just a jewel!!!

 

Perhaps the closest this word comes to everyday usage is in reference to racing vehicles. Many motorsports fans know that a vehicle must be homologated by the sanctioning body in order to race in a given league, such as NASCAR or Formula One. The name of the Pontiac GTO, the earliest muscle car, preserves this sense of the word, as it stands for "Gran Turismo Omologato," the Italian for "Grand Touring, Homologated." (Ironically, the Pontiac was not homologated for racing at all; Pontiac simply appropriated the name from Ferrari GTO which was, since initials unlike words cannot be trademarked.)

I think Ferrari had to produce 100 examples of the car for it to be considered homogolated or approved for racing in that class.


edit: Sorry I didn't see the above post before.