Handed the keys to an F40
Discussion
HIS LM said:
Great video truly living the dream congrats !
Just reading the comments on You Tube I presume this guy knows from experience with his own F40
"You touching the intercoolers would have bent the fins, the owner should have knocked you out "
Ha! Yeah must have accidentally bent his F40's intercoolers on a regular basis! I can very much confirm that I did no damage to the car what so ever... Unless you count damage to value by adding some more miles/km onto it? Just reading the comments on You Tube I presume this guy knows from experience with his own F40
"You touching the intercoolers would have bent the fins, the owner should have knocked you out "
Really enjoyed the video and your affection for the car really comes across. 
If I may, I too was lucky enough to drive a friends F40 a few years ago. His car was used when he first got it as a track and road car but as it and he got older it was used only as a road car when the circumstances allowed. One day he rang me to say he had commuted in it and did I want picking up for a drive out. I of course accepted and he came and picked me up. I asked him if he wouldn't mind taking my nephew out for a ride also so we went and picked him up and he took my nephew out. After he came back with the car he asked if I wanted to drive it. I was so nervous and declined his offer. That night I had a sleepless night thinking to myself as a petrolhead how could I possibly pass up such an opportunity to drive such an iconic car...
The following morning I rang him and asked him if he had gone into work in the car again and he confirmed he had so I asked him if his offer still stood, would he mind calling round for me again so that I could take up his offer? He said no problem and he came round for me. He drove to a petrol station as it needed fuel and I switched over into the drivers seat. After trying and failing to close the door (I was pulling the door pull) and fighting my nerves as it was the first left hand drive car I had ever driven. I started it up and was immediately intimidated by the weight of steering, gear shift, clutch weight, offset driving position, dogleg first. However after a few miles of driving it on the motorway I was able to relax into it a little more and started to feel much more comfortable. By this point of course I hadn't even hit boost, going up through the gears before the turbos were lit. We were exiting a roundabout and entering a slip road to join another motorway, my friend urged me to floor it and so I pushed the throttle down...my god! Everything is true what they say about it being a nutter when on boost, I held on to it and experienced the rush a few more times before my time as an F40 driver was over. The amount of attention the car got was crazy.
Not long after the car got sold (after 9 years of ownership) and ended up in the hands of a certain Chris Evans. You may have seen the car at Goodwood as part of his Famous Five run. Chris Evans had the car painted white and trimmed in blue before selling the car on. The new owner returning the car to it's correct colour of Red. I'm led to believe the car is now Blue. N796 FAK was the plate.
This is the car at Le Mans in 2004 when my friend took it over there. Interestingly the poster of this picture claims it as a fake car due to the plate being on an 'N'. My friend imported the car from Italy and it was the plate given to it by the DVLA as that was the year they registered it. It was I believe one of the last ones to be built on aluminium tanks. It certainly isn't a fake.
If I may, I too was lucky enough to drive a friends F40 a few years ago. His car was used when he first got it as a track and road car but as it and he got older it was used only as a road car when the circumstances allowed. One day he rang me to say he had commuted in it and did I want picking up for a drive out. I of course accepted and he came and picked me up. I asked him if he wouldn't mind taking my nephew out for a ride also so we went and picked him up and he took my nephew out. After he came back with the car he asked if I wanted to drive it. I was so nervous and declined his offer. That night I had a sleepless night thinking to myself as a petrolhead how could I possibly pass up such an opportunity to drive such an iconic car...
The following morning I rang him and asked him if he had gone into work in the car again and he confirmed he had so I asked him if his offer still stood, would he mind calling round for me again so that I could take up his offer? He said no problem and he came round for me. He drove to a petrol station as it needed fuel and I switched over into the drivers seat. After trying and failing to close the door (I was pulling the door pull) and fighting my nerves as it was the first left hand drive car I had ever driven. I started it up and was immediately intimidated by the weight of steering, gear shift, clutch weight, offset driving position, dogleg first. However after a few miles of driving it on the motorway I was able to relax into it a little more and started to feel much more comfortable. By this point of course I hadn't even hit boost, going up through the gears before the turbos were lit. We were exiting a roundabout and entering a slip road to join another motorway, my friend urged me to floor it and so I pushed the throttle down...my god! Everything is true what they say about it being a nutter when on boost, I held on to it and experienced the rush a few more times before my time as an F40 driver was over. The amount of attention the car got was crazy.
Not long after the car got sold (after 9 years of ownership) and ended up in the hands of a certain Chris Evans. You may have seen the car at Goodwood as part of his Famous Five run. Chris Evans had the car painted white and trimmed in blue before selling the car on. The new owner returning the car to it's correct colour of Red. I'm led to believe the car is now Blue. N796 FAK was the plate.
This is the car at Le Mans in 2004 when my friend took it over there. Interestingly the poster of this picture claims it as a fake car due to the plate being on an 'N'. My friend imported the car from Italy and it was the plate given to it by the DVLA as that was the year they registered it. It was I believe one of the last ones to be built on aluminium tanks. It certainly isn't a fake.
See you on the Wales run next weekend?anniesdad said:
Really enjoyed the video and your affection for the car really comes across.
If I may, I too was lucky enough to drive a friends F40 a few years ago. His car was used when he first got it as a track and road car but as it.......
Its awesome isn't it? Do you not just feel so lucky to be able to say that though? I've still not stopped boring everyone I know about it! If I may, I too was lucky enough to drive a friends F40 a few years ago. His car was used when he first got it as a track and road car but as it.......
Jonty355 said:
Its awesome isn't it? Do you not just feel so lucky to be able to say that though? I've still not stopped boring everyone I know about it!
Once in a lifetime experience to pilot one of these, absolutely and I do feel so utterly privileged to have been given that opportunity. It's something I will never forget. I've also borrowed for a month his old Cayman, 997 C2S and driven his old F430 and current 991 C2S also! Generous doesn't begin to cover it! I've learned from these experiences and as I got access to some of my own cars albeit ones not quite as special as the F40 but special nonetheless, I have gone out of my way to give others an opportunity as a passenger or sometimes even as driver in those.
Did I tell you about the time I passengered in a McLaren F1?
Now that's just bragging! 
Only just seen this, love your your obvious delight - I would be exactly the same.
If the owner is reading this, fair play to you for sharing your car. You clearly made Jonty's day (if not year!) and the resulting video was superb - can't fail to bring a smile to the face of any car enthusiast.
That looked like one hell of a house too. Whatever it is you do for a living you obviously do it well!!
If the owner is reading this, fair play to you for sharing your car. You clearly made Jonty's day (if not year!) and the resulting video was superb - can't fail to bring a smile to the face of any car enthusiast.
That looked like one hell of a house too. Whatever it is you do for a living you obviously do it well!!
Indeed a good video. I remember when the Bburago model of the F40 came out, initially it was very hard to get hold of. I still have mine with the interior painted by myself. In later years I also got hold of and built the Pocher 1/8 scale model, the interior of which I also painted during construction.
I have never driven an F40 but have been a passenger in one on two occasions. The last ride due to working at a Ferrari dealership. It certainly is a very raw visceral car, like all the journo's at the time said, more of a racing car for the road, than a road car.
Cant help feeling that the model you drove isn't quite the real deal with its Sparco seats and aftermarket exhaust. It almost seems wrong to open the boot and not see that huge cylindrical silencer spanning most of the width of the engine bay. Was the owner nervous when you were trying to position the prop?! Then not being able to slide into the red fabric of the standard F40 seats.
But hey ho, being behind the wheel is certainly a treat.
I have never driven an F40 but have been a passenger in one on two occasions. The last ride due to working at a Ferrari dealership. It certainly is a very raw visceral car, like all the journo's at the time said, more of a racing car for the road, than a road car.
Cant help feeling that the model you drove isn't quite the real deal with its Sparco seats and aftermarket exhaust. It almost seems wrong to open the boot and not see that huge cylindrical silencer spanning most of the width of the engine bay. Was the owner nervous when you were trying to position the prop?! Then not being able to slide into the red fabric of the standard F40 seats.
But hey ho, being behind the wheel is certainly a treat.
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