RE: Happy 30th Ferrari F40!
Friday 21st July 2017
There's nothing left to be said about the Ferrari F40, is there? Since 1987 it has beguiled thousands, from the ones fortunate enough to have had a drive to those admiring from a distance. On a bedroom poster or at the Le Mans paddock, the F40 is the very definition of a supercar icon.
Bad screengrab; you get the idea...So we won't waffle on any more about it, only to say that 21st July is - according to Ferrari - the F40's birthday. On this day in 1987 the car was revealed to the world at the Civic Centre in Maranello, the first Ferrari to achieve 200mph and of course the car that celebrated Ferrari's 40th anniversary. Sorry, we said no more waffle...
Happy 30th Ferrari F40!
Today is officially the F40's big 3-0 - there's only one vid to celebrate with
Bad screengrab; you get the idea...
To celebrate the occasion, here's PH favourite F40 video. Yes, it's that Harris one with the F50. For those that don't know, young Christopher brought the two together at Anglesey during his time contributing to PistonHeads. Mark Hales was there doing some of the driving as well so, as you might expect, it's a fairy incredible video. You may well have seen it before but, given the occasion, it's well worth watching again.
We'd love to hear your F40 experiences too on this big birthday. Driven one? Filmed one? Lusted after one for exactly 30 years now? Time to share!
Watch the video here.
Discussion
I've lusted after one ever since I first heard 'that' Fast Lane audio tape of Mark Hales thrashing one around Donington. The noise is just to die for, and I love the sheer simplicity and lightness of it. Such an iconic shape as well - simple and clean, and makes the modern stuff look fussy and like it's trying too hard.
Very probably my favourite car of all time, even though I almost certainly will never get to drive one, much less own one.
Very probably my favourite car of all time, even though I almost certainly will never get to drive one, much less own one.
Being 30 years old myself I grew up with the presence of the F40, always wanting one throughout my childhood. I never really took to the F50 though for some reason, the same with the Enzo however the La Ferrari I would take over the F40!
That being said it's still firmly at number 1 on my fantasy lottery garage.
That being said it's still firmly at number 1 on my fantasy lottery garage.
Amazing car! Amazing vid. Absolute favourite together with the 250GTO.... I am not even going to mention a lottery win garage, cause they are a little hard to get these cars and it needs to be a fairly hefty rollover.
Couple of years back I was wandering around FoS at the Ferrari area and could not see a F40 anywhere, nor have I ever seen one run up the hill. Leaving the FoS for the long track home Sunday afternoon I was overtaken by one on the A27, could not believe it.
Couple of years back I was wandering around FoS at the Ferrari area and could not see a F40 anywhere, nor have I ever seen one run up the hill. Leaving the FoS for the long track home Sunday afternoon I was overtaken by one on the A27, could not believe it.
August 2006 issue of car magazine pitted the McLaren F1 against the F40 and they concluded that the F40 was the one they would "ache to own".
I still read that issue, they described the F40 as an incredibly visceral driving experience that cannot be equaled by any other road going car.
I still read that issue, they described the F40 as an incredibly visceral driving experience that cannot be equaled by any other road going car.
I can take or leave Ferraris by and large, very nice but not something I particularly aspire to, but the F40 is a Ferrari shorn of a lot of the cheesiness that sometimes comes along for the ride, like overly "detailed" examples driven by blokes wearing a lot of merchandise, just in case you dont notice the shouty bright red car 
But the F40 seems to be pure essence of Ferrari, animalistic, uncompromising and and dangerous, you cant imagine playboys flying round Londons streets impressing the latter day train spotters in one, it isnt a car you buy unless you absolutely know what it is.
But the F40 seems to be pure essence of Ferrari, animalistic, uncompromising and and dangerous, you cant imagine playboys flying round Londons streets impressing the latter day train spotters in one, it isnt a car you buy unless you absolutely know what it is.
If I had a time machine and only enough money to buy past me a F1 or a F40 I'd choose the F1, but hopefully if I had a time machine I'd have more than enough cash to buy both.
Saw three together at the Silverstone Classic last year next to a LaFerrari and a F50, the F40s had far more attention when I was there:
Saw three together at the Silverstone Classic last year next to a LaFerrari and a F50, the F40s had far more attention when I was there:
J4CKO said:
I can take or leave Ferraris by and large, very nice but not something I particularly aspire to, but the F40 is a Ferrari shorn of a lot of the cheesiness that sometimes comes along for the ride, like overly "detailed" examples driven by blokes wearing a lot of merchandise, just in case you dont notice the shouty bright red car
But the F40 seems to be pure essence of Ferrari, animalistic, uncompromising and and dangerous, you cant imagine playboys flying round Londons streets impressing the latter day train spotters in one, it isnt a car you buy unless you absolutely know what it is.
Spot on. Its a proper ferrari, not a posers car. Hard edged, uncompromising, vicious, raw and exciting.But the F40 seems to be pure essence of Ferrari, animalistic, uncompromising and and dangerous, you cant imagine playboys flying round Londons streets impressing the latter day train spotters in one, it isnt a car you buy unless you absolutely know what it is.
TameRacingDriver said:
J4CKO said:
I can take or leave Ferraris by and large, very nice but not something I particularly aspire to, but the F40 is a Ferrari shorn of a lot of the cheesiness that sometimes comes along for the ride, like overly "detailed" examples driven by blokes wearing a lot of merchandise, just in case you dont notice the shouty bright red car
But the F40 seems to be pure essence of Ferrari, animalistic, uncompromising and and dangerous, you cant imagine playboys flying round Londons streets impressing the latter day train spotters in one, it isnt a car you buy unless you absolutely know what it is.
Spot on. Its a proper ferrari, not a posers car. Hard edged, uncompromising, vicious, raw and exciting.But the F40 seems to be pure essence of Ferrari, animalistic, uncompromising and and dangerous, you cant imagine playboys flying round Londons streets impressing the latter day train spotters in one, it isnt a car you buy unless you absolutely know what it is.
TwigtheWonderkid said:
As an antidode to this F40 love in, I think it's a hideous bag of bolts. Fake ones made from an MR2 with a body kit invariably have thinner panel gaps.
Not feeling the love I'm afraid.
A friend of mine who has driven an AWFUL LOT of everything likes to torment me by telling me how unimpressed he was when he drove one around the time that they came out, he means it too!Not feeling the love I'm afraid.
don logan said:
A friend of mine who has driven an AWFUL LOT of everything likes to torment me by telling me how unimpressed he was when he drove one around the time that they came out, he means it too!
before the prices went mad recently I went along for a test drive with my dad, he wasn't impressed either (that was @£300k I think)I remember when it was first showed at the the UK motorshow late 80's you could not get near it as the crowds were so heavy. Disappointing.....
A while later myself and my wife went to visit the British science museum ( I liked pressing all the buttons in those days being only 20+
) and FIAT were doing something with them and they had hired a hall.
In the middle of the hall was an F40, just surrounded by one of those thick red ropes and one bored security guard in his finery.
There were about 5 other people in the room, they were all watching a robot arm FIAT had programmed to paint a picture ! So it was me, an F40, my wife and a security guard. I could have touched it, but that might have broken the spell.
Although it lost the pure beauty of the 308/ 328 and 288GTO it gained an incredible amount of latent speed in it looks. Does that make sense? Like all the best supercars such as the Countach, the 959 etc ....
I think that was a golden era, cars moved on from classical beauties to functional beauties but not blighted by all the add on's for aero and regulations. When has a wedge shape with fat tyres and pop up headlights not looked cool? Not too often.
It was not welcomed with total infatuation from the press due to several reasons, I recall Car at the time doing a good cover of it and competitors and stating the "baggage" it came with, but a good car came good over the years. Not sure something like a 599 GTO will be held in same regard apart from rarity value, Ferrari has lapsed into lots of money making niches, such as will be their upcoming SUV GTO we will get in the next few years..... cough .....
A while later myself and my wife went to visit the British science museum ( I liked pressing all the buttons in those days being only 20+
) and FIAT were doing something with them and they had hired a hall.In the middle of the hall was an F40, just surrounded by one of those thick red ropes and one bored security guard in his finery.
There were about 5 other people in the room, they were all watching a robot arm FIAT had programmed to paint a picture ! So it was me, an F40, my wife and a security guard. I could have touched it, but that might have broken the spell.
Although it lost the pure beauty of the 308/ 328 and 288GTO it gained an incredible amount of latent speed in it looks. Does that make sense? Like all the best supercars such as the Countach, the 959 etc ....
I think that was a golden era, cars moved on from classical beauties to functional beauties but not blighted by all the add on's for aero and regulations. When has a wedge shape with fat tyres and pop up headlights not looked cool? Not too often.
It was not welcomed with total infatuation from the press due to several reasons, I recall Car at the time doing a good cover of it and competitors and stating the "baggage" it came with, but a good car came good over the years. Not sure something like a 599 GTO will be held in same regard apart from rarity value, Ferrari has lapsed into lots of money making niches, such as will be their upcoming SUV GTO we will get in the next few years..... cough .....
Edited by Gandahar on Friday 21st July 16:06
When I was 14 (1993) I worked on the market in St Albans - the stall was right in the middle of town selling watchs and watch straps - I sat at the back facing the road with my job basically consisting of going to get the boos a cup of tea now an again. So I used to spend hours watching cars go by.
St Albans is quite a wealthy town so Porsche, BMW and Mercedes were well represented on any given Saturday and it was not uncommon to see a Ferrari now an again.
The one memory I have with me is the one an only time I saw an F40 on the road, moving up St Peters Street it stopped at the lights the exhaust blowing flames out the back - what was more impressive was the fact the whole town centre had stopped to stare an point at this totally out of this world car.
Literally a few thousand people young an old all at the edge of the street watching this car go by. Only time in the 2 years I worked there very Saturday anything like that happened again was when two drunk tramps had a fight in the middle of town.
To sum up the F40 an amazing spectacle of a car or just slightly more interesting than a pair of tramps having a dust up :-)
St Albans is quite a wealthy town so Porsche, BMW and Mercedes were well represented on any given Saturday and it was not uncommon to see a Ferrari now an again.
The one memory I have with me is the one an only time I saw an F40 on the road, moving up St Peters Street it stopped at the lights the exhaust blowing flames out the back - what was more impressive was the fact the whole town centre had stopped to stare an point at this totally out of this world car.
Literally a few thousand people young an old all at the edge of the street watching this car go by. Only time in the 2 years I worked there very Saturday anything like that happened again was when two drunk tramps had a fight in the middle of town.
To sum up the F40 an amazing spectacle of a car or just slightly more interesting than a pair of tramps having a dust up :-)
Gecko1978 said:
When I was 14 (1993) I worked on the market in St Albans - the stall was right in the middle of town selling watchs and watch straps - I sat at the back facing the road with my job basically consisting of going to get the boos a cup of tea now an again. So I used to spend hours watching cars go by.
St Albans is quite a wealthy town so Porsche, BMW and Mercedes were well represented on any given Saturday and it was not uncommon to see a Ferrari now an again.
The one memory I have with me is the one an only time I saw an F40 on the road, moving up St Peters Street it stopped at the lights the exhaust blowing flames out the back - what was more impressive was the fact the whole town centre had stopped to stare an point at this totally out of this world car.
Literally a few thousand people young an old all at the edge of the street watching this car go by. Only time in the 2 years I worked there very Saturday anything like that happened again was when two drunk tramps had a fight in the middle of town.
To sum up the F40 an amazing spectacle of a car or just slightly more interesting than a pair of tramps having a dust up :-)
Good story St Albans is quite a wealthy town so Porsche, BMW and Mercedes were well represented on any given Saturday and it was not uncommon to see a Ferrari now an again.
The one memory I have with me is the one an only time I saw an F40 on the road, moving up St Peters Street it stopped at the lights the exhaust blowing flames out the back - what was more impressive was the fact the whole town centre had stopped to stare an point at this totally out of this world car.
Literally a few thousand people young an old all at the edge of the street watching this car go by. Only time in the 2 years I worked there very Saturday anything like that happened again was when two drunk tramps had a fight in the middle of town.
To sum up the F40 an amazing spectacle of a car or just slightly more interesting than a pair of tramps having a dust up :-)
The thing that is forgotten is that in those days seeing any exotic car was quite unusual among all the standard cars. Super cars had a lot more bhp and looks then compared to the average car. Nowadays it's blurring when you can get a 600bhp Merc E class estate with 4wd etc
So it was a bit more draw dropping seeing car royalty.
Imagine if the Rheinhardts had an R8?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_B5N0vl7vU
Edited by Gandahar on Friday 21st July 16:24
TameRacingDriver said:
J4CKO said:
I can take or leave Ferraris by and large, very nice but not something I particularly aspire to, but the F40 is a Ferrari shorn of a lot of the cheesiness that sometimes comes along for the ride, like overly "detailed" examples driven by blokes wearing a lot of merchandise, just in case you dont notice the shouty bright red car
But the F40 seems to be pure essence of Ferrari, animalistic, uncompromising and and dangerous, you cant imagine playboys flying round Londons streets impressing the latter day train spotters in one, it isnt a car you buy unless you absolutely know what it is.
Spot on. Its a proper ferrari, not a posers car. Hard edged, uncompromising, vicious, raw and exciting.But the F40 seems to be pure essence of Ferrari, animalistic, uncompromising and and dangerous, you cant imagine playboys flying round Londons streets impressing the latter day train spotters in one, it isnt a car you buy unless you absolutely know what it is.
TwigtheWonderkid said:
As an antidode to this F40 love in, I think it's a hideous bag of bolts. Fake ones made from an MR2 with a body kit invariably have thinner panel gaps.
Not feeling the love I'm afraid.
Can't say I've ever seen a fake one; didn't even know there were any MR2 based kits available. I was doing the school run in an F40 and was once asked by "the lads" whether it was a kit; they soon found out it wasn't! Not feeling the love I'm afraid.
Having driven an F40 in rain and snow (not advisable!!) and through floods (niece's prom and couldn't let her down!!), I can say that they are an absolute beast to drive. Build quality was never it's forte (use of carbon fibre in its infancy; Fiat stalks; green glue inside; very drafty when headlights are up; headlights next to useless; heated front screen takes an age to clear) but incredibly rewarding when everything is warmed up properly. The lack of driver aids means it's not a car you can just get into and drive; it's a very physical experience. It has road presence unlike any other car. Everyone knows what it is. People would stop and stare and I never had any negativity from anyone, they were just pleased and amazed to see one on the road.
By comparison the F50 was much better built (not hard) and not as hardcore. For some reason it didn't feel as quick as the F40, but maybe that was because it was an easier car to drive. The normally aspirated V12 was a wonderful engine of its time and sounded so much better than the F40; you get more power in German 4-door saloons nowadays, but it could never be mistaken for a mini-cab! The looks were challenging to most and for some reason it got a bit of a negative reputation. People seem to think that it's much bigger than the F40 but that is not the case (neither would fit in an ordinary garage); but the F50 is only 122 mm longer and 16 mm wider. The proof however is in the driving and it's probably one of the most underrated supercars.
It would be very difficult to have to choose between the two. The F40 was the poster car of the late 80's, but the F50 is much rarer. You could buy one of each for the price of a 288 GTO, but that's a different animal altogether.
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