Supercar Stories - Ferrari F40

in the second wave of the supercar wars ferrari struck back with what is perhaps its most iconic model the f40 of 1987 a superb mixture of angles and smooth lines that truly became the incarnation of speed and even 35 years after its launch still looks as good as any modern equivalent lending a timeless feel to its many aesthetic and performance aspects the ferrari f40s existence is owed entirely to the preceding porsche 959 of 1986 a turbocharged six-cylinder four-wheel drive monster which easily outperformed ferrari's own fastest model the 288 gto and went on to become the fastest production car ever built at the time with a top speed of 198 miles an hour the car marrying technical wizardry with raw performance to create a machine that could perform both on and off the road this didn't sit well with ferrari's director giovanni raizeli who immediately approved the development of an even faster supercar dubbed the f40 the number 40 coming from the car's proposed launch date of 1987 which would coincide with the ferrari company's 40th anniversary and would be based on the principles of the experimental gto evolution a racing version that would have gone toe-to-toe with the porsche 959 on the group b rally stage but was unfortunately left without a purpose when group b rallying was wound up after a series of horrible crashes retaining a tubular structure the f-40s exterior carried over building materials from the company's highly successful formula one racing cars the body being made exclusively out of carbon fiber kevlar and nomex refractory material while the floor roof and doors were made of composites which increased the body stiffness by 20 while shedding as much weight as possible the very ethos of the f40 project being to treat the upcoming model as a dedicated race car and thereby removing as many interior features and creature comforts as necessary if they proved to be extraneous to obtain this obsession with weight shedding the rear and side windows were made of plexiglas the mechanical displacement of the windows was removed and the passenger cabin was stripped of any driver aids or luxury features one would normally associate with a ferrari sports car with the air conditioning system the radio the passenger glove box the carpet and the sound insulation all being removed while the usual connelly leather seats and upholstery were replaced by non-adjustable carbon fiber shell seats a small momo steering wheel and aluminium pedals and the interior door handles were replaced by a piece of steel rope connecting to the locking bolt with a cabin lacking pretty much every feature that would normally appear in this manner of luxury sports car a noted departure from the more opulent grand tourist style of the preceding 288 gto it was very much evident the f40 was not built to be a boulevard cruiser like its older stablemate setting records on the track being its primary objective and looking good on the streets of monte carlo coming a distant second its racing intentions also notable in the fact that a fire extinguisher was located neatly beneath the driver's seat in case of an emergency while the porsche 959 was a technological tour de force the ferrari f40 took a far more traditional approach to its mechanics adopting a central engine layout with a near 50 50 weight distribution a koni adjustable suspension no power steering no anti-lock brakes and the vacuum pumps and hydraulic systems also being removed the fruits of ferrari's labors resulting in a car that weighed only 1 100 kilograms or 1.2 tons with most of the car's mass being centered around its 2.9 liter eight-cylinder twin-turbo engine producing 478 horsepower the ihi turbochargers being cooled by a pair of bayer refrigerators and electronic fuel injection being provided by formula one race car derived weber morelli components the result was the first dedicated production car in the world to exceed 200 miles an hour topping out at a full speed of 201 miles an hour while presenting a naught to 60 time of 4.7 seconds although for the title of world's fastest production car this distinction was held by the rough ctr yellow bird of 1987 a limited production heavily modified porsche 911 which topped out at 213 miles an hour ferrari also offering the f40 with an optional non-synchromesh sports gearbox for customers wishing to experience a fully dedicated race car unveiled in 1987 by the then 89 year old company founder enzo ferrari being the last ferrari model personally approved by him before his passing a year later reception of the f40 was somewhat mixed critics praising its styling and performance but considering that its dedication to lightweight and racing prowess had stripped the car of its justification as a plaything for the rich equivalent ultra-opulent sports cars like the porsche 959 and the lamborghini countach offering a certain level of internal refinement in order to provide the discerning owner with a minimum amount of comfort as they paraded these rare and exclusive machines along the waterfront in monaco for the f40 customers were paying four hundred thousand dollars or nine hundred and ten thousand dollars in 2022 for what was essentially a street legal formula one car the price of the ferrari being considered by motoring journalists as an attempt to cash in on speculators money after observing the second hand values of the 288 gtos and porsche 959s used f40s being put up for auction after only two years seeing their value increase by up to seven times the original list price going under the hammer for 2.8 million dollars or 6.3 million dollars in 2022 by 1989 with only 10 percent of f-40s produced being used for actual driving by customers while the remainder sat idle on the speculative market waiting for appreciation values to reach their peak this isn't to say that the f40 wasn't just bought to make a killing on their resale value the cars quickly taking their place atop the hierarchy of distinguished luxury metal roaming the streets of beverly hills their distinctive looks helped along by the fact that every example left the factory wearing rosso corsa the trademark ferrari color although aftermarket repaints into ferrari yellow and black as well as non-standard green and blue were also known to have taken place interestingly despite the car being designed as a dedicated race car for the road enzo ferrari stated that it was never the intention of the f40 to become a track car although with its power and light weight such credentials meant the appearance of f-40s in circuit racing was inevitable helped along by the lobbying of danielle marin an associate of the french ferrari importer company charles pozzi who convinced ferrari to let their race car engineering subsidiary michilotto automobili of pedova produced a series of race car variants that adhered to the rules of the international motorsports association the first to appear was the ferrari f40 le mans or lm which was modified to include a specially built 720 horsepower engine which could attain a naught to 60 time of just 3.1 seconds and go on to a top speed of 230 miles an hour complemented by improvements to the aerodynamics through a more aggressive body kit that added extra downforce with a track orientated front and rear wing while wider wheels better brakes suspension and an enhanced gearbox were introduced and the car's already stripped down nature was made even more spartan by replacing the pop-up headlights of the regular road car with fixed headlights behind lexing covers the ferrari f40 lm made its debut at the 1989 laguna seca raceway round of the imsa appearing in the gto category and was driven by jean alessi the car finishing third but still beating some of the events regular dominators while in the following season in the hands of drivers jean-pierre jabil jacques lafitte and hurley haywood the f40 lm achieved three second and one third place as their best results although the car did not return to the imsa for the following season but still spent time on the track in the hands of private owners after the first two f-40 lms had been produced the car was renamed to the f40 competizione in order to spice up the name and made further appearances at numerous domestic gt series events including the jgtc and was also a winner at the 1994 four hours of vayanga making it the f40s first international racing appearance and the first appearance in the bpr global gt series by strandel followed in 1995 by four f-40s being independently developed by pilot aldix racing and strandel racing under the ferrari club italia banner to create the f40 gte which ended up winning the four hours of anderstop for both thatcher and 1996 although by the end of the season the nine-year-old design had long been superseded by a new breed of supercar and was now considered ancient history against younger generations like the mclaren f1 gtr for production of the regular f40 as per its predecessor the 288 gto the model was meant only for limited production ferrari initially planning a run of only 400 units before quickly expanding this build out to 1 315 examples when they became inundated with demand from the world super rich selling approximately five times as many as the earlier 288s and putting 213 of these cars on the driveways of ultra affluent customers in the united states the last of the f-40s rolling off the marinello assembly line in 1992 today the f-40 continues to appreciate although by how much depends on its condition and mileage with august 7 2020 seeing the gooding company through an online auction sell a last of the line 1992 example for 1.6 million dollars while in 2019 the ferrari f40 lm was sold for a staggering 5.5 million dollars ferrari f40s as the very definition of a cash asset usually being of incredibly low mileage and a pristine condition as they fall into the hands of collectors machines not so much to be driven as much as placed on display before being sold on for a tremendous profit further down the line in the end the ferrari f40 represents performance motoring at its most base form stripping down excesses as far as possible in order to achieve the absolute best in lightness and performance encapsulating its power and minimalist design beneath the timeless striking exterior that continues to turn heads even today in truth the ferrari f40 was never designed to be an everyday supercar like the porsche 959 forsaking creature comforts in order to bring home records and now stands more as the crown jewel of any private collection thanks to its rarity its prestige its power and its incredible good looks a machine that is beyond unique and will only ever come by once in automotive history you

Channel: Ruairidh MacVeigh

Views: 9,724

Keywords: car, cars, automobile, auto, bus, truck, motor, motor vehicle, saloon, estate, compact, sports, roadster, transport, road, heritage, historic, Porsche 959, 959, Group B Rally, Rally, Group B, 1980s, Supercar, Racing, Race, Rallying, World Rally Championship, Porsche, Ferrari, Ferrari F40, F40, Ferrari 288 GTO, 288 GTO, F40 LM, Le Mans, IMSA, Italy, Italian, Red, Enzo Ferrari

Id: mgGe1ERWtaE

Length: 10min 53sec (653 seconds)

Published: Sat Jun 11 2022