Without a doubt, the Ferrari F40 was one of the most incredible supercars to come from the brand, it was a celebration in almost every respect.
As Enzo Ferrari entered the twilight of his life, he wanted something that would leave a mark on the automotive landscape, something fitting for his legacy. Ferrari at the time was heavily criticized for getting too soft, their cars were by now more reliable, more luxurious, and slower than ever. So, he wanted something raw, fast, and desirable.
Instead of building something from the ground up, they looked within and found a race car that was at the time destined for the scrapheap.
10 Based On The 288 GTO Evo
Ferrari never got seriously involved in rallying, but they had every intention to in the 80s. With Group B capturing the imagination of motorsport fans all over the world, they wanted to be part of that action.
So, they developed the Evo to homologate and enter into the 1987 season, only for the door to get slammed shut on them as it was banned that year. The project looked dead in the water, but it unexpectedly found a new destiny. Only when you actually look at the cars do you realize the F40 wasn’t just based on the Evo, it was the Evo.
9 The Least Rare Special Edition
Most special edition Ferraris are excruciatingly rare, with only a few hundred made on every occasion.
This wasn’t the case with the F40, out of all the special editions, this is the one they couldn’t resist making more of. When the final car rolled off the assembly line, they had made 1315 F40s. With clients literally falling over themselves to get this, what was always going to be the last car Enzo could be a part of.
8 The Last “Enzo” Car
At 88 years young in 1987, it was understood that this was going to be the Ferrari founder’s swansong.
He also made that fairly clear when the car was launched and this fact alone makes the car extremely desirable to enthusiasts all over the world. Sadly, it is the same reason so many cars got mothballed and never used as they were intended.
7 Pure Driving Experience
It is quite simply a racing car made road legal. After selling so many mass-market sports cars, this was a statement.
In its standard guise, it was able to make 470 horsepower in a car that weighed less than 3,000 lbs, at least that was the official figure. In reality, Ferrari lied about the power figures and it packed around 500 hp. It had no driver aids, it had no features at all, it was all about driving and nothing else (including comfort).
6 Designed By Pininfarina
In their heyday, they need only breathe on a car to make it successful at least from a design standpoint, although not necessarily true today, their input is clear to see and a big part of what makes this an 80s classic.
Its squared-off lines are somehow made attractive, it also couldn’t possibly look more like a Ferrari either, pretty much setting the standard for everything that would come out of Maranello for the next decade.
5 Thin Layer Of Paint
Some of the older cars' paint was so thin you could see the carbon fiber weave on some of the panels, some might have thought this was cool, but likely those people, much like us couldn’t afford a car like this.
So, this is something people (who could afford the car) would have seen as undesirable, so contrary to Ferraris weight-saving plan (poor excuse for being cheap) they had the cars repainted. Ironically this had the effect of making early cars with original paint rarer and more valuable.
4 Older Cars Are More Powerful
Unlike today where cars (and bikes) are designed with the knowledge that they need to accommodate a catalytic converter; 80s cars were not.
So as the 90s dawned and it and emissions restrictions became more serious, the catalytic converters needed to be added to a car that was not designed for it at all. The power for these F40s was down a bit but the main issue was that it even changed the way they made their power, it changed the “experience.”
3 10 Competiziones Made
Quite possibly as an answer to the car’s loss of power, Ferrari decided to make an extremely limited run of 10 ultra-powerful F40s.
The Competizione (or LM) was able to produce close to 700 horsepower in the same lightweight chassis, in a car we must remind you had no driver aids and no safety equipment (other than brakes).
2 One Of A Kind Ferrari
It is a true icon, it ranks highly as one of the best cars ever made. It was in so many ways the last of its kind too, with the competition betting on the future and throwing a lot of technology at their cars this is a symbol of the time before technology made its way into the automotive world.
Indeed, it isn’t for everyone, it is dangerous, and an inexperienced driver would struggle to get any driving pleasure out of the car and their “experience” won’t be a good one, an approachable car it is not.
1 Those Not So Red F40s
Officially every one of the F40s that left the factory were indeed Rosso Corsa Red, officially. Unofficially it is impossible to talk about the F40 without mentioning the cars that made their way to Brunei.
The Sultan ordered these cars directly from Ferrari and naturally wanted them “fit for a king.” Car 80756 was Dark Green, 78426 Yellow, 85074 Anthracite, 91238 Black, 87455 White, 89431 Black, 90680 Silver, 91283 Gun Metal Grey. Pininfarina took care of all the modifications including new interiors and RHD conversions. Oh, and he also had two red ones.