There is no denying the Ferrari F40’s place in the history of Maranello. This iconic car, a supercar that was the last to have the blessing of Mr Enzo Ferrari himself, has at its heart, a monstrous twin-turbo V8 engine. And for many, it is the poster boy for Ferrari.
In association with Hagerty, Magnus Walker has explained why he believes the F40 is “The Big Thing” in the latest episode of the series with the same name, and why it is such an iconic machine.
A True Ferrari Icon
It is fair to say that not much comes close to matching the F40’s iconic status. Walker says thanks to the way it sounds and makes you feel, it is a definite top 5 poster boy car. When he first drove one back in Miami in 2017, it left him with a bit of a tingle, and it attracted the attentions of the Miami Police! It's an incredibly raw experience, like a race car, yet somehow familiar to other Ferraris of the era. The highlight is of course that 471 hp 2.9-liter DOHC twin-turbo V8 engine. There are no fussy computers here, just raw, unrivaled Ferrari power.
Incredibly Spacious For A Ferrari
As Walker says, the F40 has quite a spacious interior for a Ferrari, and it makes you feel right at home. Even the visibility out of the F40 is pretty good. No traction control helps to make the F40 a wild animal. It was perhaps a return to the roots of Ferrari, building race cars for the road at a time when many thought the company had gone soft. And its top speed of 201 mph at the time made it the fastest production car on the planet — even if no one outside Ferrari has ever got the car to that speed. And it can still draw in the crowds today.
Cruising Through Beverley Hills
Walker drives the car through Beverley Hills, and Los Angeles is probably of course the car culture capital of the world. And it is somehow quite practical for the streets of LA. Great visibility. Easy to modulate the clutch, a perfect gate shift, and it feels great to cruise in. And that is a feature that not every supercar can claim to have. It's just the right size and scale for everyday driving. And on the twisty roads it is still as good now as it was in the late 1980s when we first laid eyes on it. And it is still one of the most desirable Ferrari’s ever made.
Source: Hagerty YouTube Channel