Ferrari has one of the most exclusive badges in automotive history. It's a brand known all around the world, despite that the majority of people will never own one, let alone sit in one. The prancing horse emblem signifies excellence, performance, design, quality, and passion. Ferrari is very protective of how it's used.
Although Ferrari has a legacy in racing and building the world's fastest cars, there was only ever one bike that was good enough to have the prancing horse emblem - the Ferrari 900. This post is a look at the top 10 things you didn't know this one of a kind motorcycle.
10 One Of A Kind?
If you ask, most people have probably never heard of the Ferrari 900. If they took a guess, they probably assume it's yet another supercar. The fact is, in all of Ferrari's 72 years, there has only been one motorcycle good enough to be crested with the prancing horse Ferrari logo. Until the Ferrari 900.
This isn't, however, the first time Ferrari has been associated with motorcycles. In the early 1990s, the Cagiva F4 motorcycle was developed by HPE, which is a company co-founded by Piero Ferrari, son of founder Enzo. The bike, destined for Motor GP, was considered a hugely ambitious project for its time. To be able to accomplish it, the Cagiva team grouped up with Ferrari to achieve it. Unfortunately, the project never made it out of the prototype phase, and Ferrari was so upset with the outcome they refused to have their name associated.
9 Specifications
The Ferrari 900 gets its namesake in reference to its engine cc's. The 900 cc DOHC four-cylinder engine makes 105 bhp, kicking in at 8,000 rpm. The engine is air-cooled and rocks at 16-value, five-speed gearbox. Similar to other lightweight motorcycles, it weighs 172 kgs (379 lbs) dry.
By spec, it has a 0-60 mph time of just under 3 seconds. It's speculated that the bike can reach speed up to 159 mph (256 kph). Likely left untested because of the rarity of the bike.
In proper Ferrari fashion, the bike rocks Brembo calipers with disc brakes, along with 17-inch Astralite wheels and WPS shock absorbers.
8 Rare Competition
Many luxury and high-end manufacturers have had to change with the times to offer a more trending mass-market offering - specifically SUVs. Where exclusive car manufacturers haven't dabbled much is in the motorcycle market. They do exist, including models by Lamborghini, McLaren, Maserati, and Mercedes, but they are far and few in between.
Ferrari's closest competitor Lamborghini developed a motorcycle in 1986 called the Lamborghini Design 90. Similarly to Ferrari, the build was mostly outsourced and more strangely held a Kawasaki engine. It would take quite a feat to fit a V-12 engine, after all. It too never took off, and Lamborghini ended up selling it to Crysler in 1987.
7 Why It Was Built
The idea for the Ferrari 900 motorcycle came about in a very unconventional way. Especially when most vehicles are devised during some corporate team meetings or to meet some new market trends or need. Although many believe Piero Ferrari commissioned the Ferrari 900 as an homage to his dad, he didn't.
The idea for the bike was conceived during a conversation between two motorcycle engineers and enthusiasts David Kay and Rodney Milson. Rodney suggested to David that he showcase his engineering prowess by building a one-off motorcycle. The rationale being, it had never been attempted by any other engineer or manufacturer before. With David keen on growing his motor engineering business, he put the idea into action.
6 Ferrari Approval
Despite the bike having the Ferrari badge, it wasn't built by Ferrari whatsoever. Instead, it was a passion project by a design engineering company lead by David Kay. Unbelievably the project came to fruition after David sent a heartfelt letter to Ferrari. More specifically, David asked for permission to build a motorcycle in honor of Ferrari founder Enzo Ferrari.
In what can be described as a miracle, Ferrari actually responded. According to David Kay, he received a letter response from Piero Ferrari on May 23rd, 1990, that gave the approval to place the Ferrari badge on the motorbike and 'wished good luck with his project.'
5 Build Time
Despite having innovative robotics in their factory, Ferrari is still known today as one of the few companies to build their cars by hand. In particular, Ferrari uses robots to carry cars along the assembly line, attach the windscreen, and uses machines to mill parts out of solid aluminum.
The Ferrari 900 is built using this similar manual ingenuity. The engine was scratch built, including the transverse, double overhead camshaft, and four cylinders. The aluminum bodywork was also hand-beaten, which is an incredibly tedious process, especially to create a signature style to spec. In total, the team invested over 3,000 working hours of blood, sweat, and tears in 4 years.
4 Materials
When hand building a complicated project, the materials you chose are reliant on two main factors. One is maintaining the needed rigidity while keeping weight in mind. The second is the kinds of tools you have to do the job. In David's case, they were likely rudimentary compared to any car manufacturer. When it comes to engineers like David Kay, where there's a will, there is a way.
For the Ferrari 900, the bodywork was made entirely made of aluminum, specifically hand-beaten to resemble the design of the Ferrari Testarossa from Le Mans 24 hour car race. Other materials used were Magnesium castings, carbon fiber mudguards, and hand-spun 17-inch Astralite wheels. The team also incorporated some new technology, including a one-off digital instrument panel.
3 Designer
The design magician behind the Ferrari 900 is David Kay of David Key Engineering company. David is known in the motorcycle and engineering world for leading the design efforts of some of MV Agusta's most well-known bikes.
He built the bike the Ferrari 900 alongside his son Mark in 1990. They also hired support contractors to help along the way, including Terry Hall, who produced the bodywork. The overall styling inspired by Ferrari's past cars and the basic idea to make it look like a two-wheeled Ferrari.
Today, David runs MV Meccanica Verghera Ltd. with his family. They focus on servicing, rebuilds, and renovations of classic British bikes like MFV Agusta and Gilera.
2 Rumors
An ongoing rumor as to why Ferrari never built their own motorcycle was that Enzo Ferrari didn't like them. The reality is, Enzo raced Scott Motorcycles when he was a teenager, which means he more than likely had a love affair with motorcycles before cars.
To some, a motorcycle seems like a logical step that Ferrari would take to diversify the brand. Early on, those rumors grew to a peak when, at an event, a design was found of a cruiser motorcycle made by Ferrari designer Fabrizio Favareteo. Ferrari later squashed the rumor entirely, making a public statement confirming Ferrari has no plans for releasing a bike in its future.
1 Lack Of Reception
The Ferrari 900 bike spent the majority of its life in David's office, as a showpiece for his team's talents. Eventually, David decided that it was time to give the bike a new home, which the company admits was an effort to raise funds to develop the family business further.
The Ferrari 900 was put up for auction in 2008 with a $236,430 (£180,000) reserve. Unfortunately, no one was willing to meet that threshold price. When it showed up on eBay for $328,350 (£250,000), there weren't any bites either, which is strange considering $549,000 Cessna jets, military tanks, and yachts are sold regularly on the site. That said, the fact that Ferrari didn't make the bike could have something to do with it.