RE: Ferrari F40: Showpiece of the Week

[thecremeegg]

My favourite car without question.
Would do anything to just sit in one, let alone drive one. Saw one once on the road and nearly crashed in excitement. It's so raw, looks stunning and makes such a fantastic noise that nothing else competes for me.

[Notanotherone]

I have a vague memory from visiting Egham as a kid, in what must have been 1988, that one of the first f40s in the country had been crashed on one of the a30 roundabouts... apparently, for the employee driving it, the effect of the turbo came as a surprise!

[Cloudy147]

Mega cars! I very nearly drove one a few years ago. Well, I did - for about 30 feet. The owner was due to attend an event I was organising, but last minute he couldn't attend. There then followed a bizarre conversation of 'bad news - good news' - the latter being he'd just insured me on it, keys left under a plant pot and I can collect in the morning.

Petrol heads dream right?

Not quite. I can't describe how intimidating it is to drive someone elses £1m pride and joy which you can barely fit into (seriously, seriously uncomfortable if you are very tall with big feet!), having had zero experience of Left-hand-drive at that time (think: road placement), at 6.30am. In fact, the only experience I had of this car was second hand from a friend who'd driven one - he said "You can't drive it in first gear for about 20 minutes. So second gear only - but be careful because if the turbos spool up you'll be into a hedge".

I bottled it after nearly kerbing it just driving down the driveway - it went back in the garage. But if I'd have made it onto the road, I would have felt like the coolest, most impressive car-guy on the planet for that journey!

Fool. Fool!!

Edited by Cloudy147 on Monday 3rd December 21:00

[TwigtheWonderkid]

Hideous. I'm sure it's great to drive, but no amount of performance can redeem it from looking that ghastly.

Seen a few in the flesh and they look like badly assembled kit cars. In fact, the MR2 based replicas usually look better finished.

Sorry, it's a no from me.

[legalknievel]

boringbeige said:

I still do track days in mine

Nobody appears to have picked up on this.

I have.

Well played, Sir.

[anonymous-user]

boringbeige said:

I still do track days in mine

Me too.

[Gecko1978]

legalknievel said:

boringbeige said:

I still do track days in mine

Nobody appears to have picked up on this.

I have.

Well played, Sir.

I did I also noted the user name and recall the last thread where an F40 was discussed and tails of driving at night with no number plates

[jakesmith]

Proper car and unusual for a car to get such universal praise on here (apart from the very well informed chap above who would apparently rather have a MR2 replica)

[BVB]

If having to choose between an F40 or LaFerrari? Tricky. One of them is the best car ever made thus far though.

[Chestrockwell]

I like the F40 but I always preferred the F50, I think the Ferrari should be a very pretty exotic machine. To me, the F50 and F355 are the ultimate Ferrari’s, maybe it’s my age and they’re the ones I grew up loving. Not taking anything away from the F40 but I feel as if it was too raw.

I have no idea how some people prefer Lamborghinis to Ferrari’s, only Lamborghini I like is the Diablo. Ferrari’s just have something that no other car does.

[viggyp]

Chestrockwell said:

I like the F40 but I always preferred the F50, I think the Ferrari should be a very pretty exotic machine. To me, the F50 and F355 are the ultimate Ferrari’s, maybe it’s my age and they’re the ones I grew up loving. Not taking anything away from the F40 but I feel as if it was too raw.

I have no idea how some people prefer Lamborghinis to Ferrari’s, only Lamborghini I like is the Diablo. Ferrari’s just have something that no other car does.

F40 is my dream car and have been taken for a spin in one. He never floored it in first which was a bit of a disappointment but after that the thing just went. Funny really as I hated the F40 when it first came out due to the large wing but it'll be the first car I'd buy if I won the Euro Lotto.

I wasn't a fan of the F50 either when it was first introduced but I think it was Autocar which had a free book with one issue showing the assembly line, exotic materials etc, which turned my opinion around completely. Still never know why the F50 was called the F50?

The Countach was the car which cemented my love and passion for cars especially after watching Cannonball Run. I respect the Audighini's but definitely not a fan of them.

[Greg the Fish]

viggyp said:

F

Still never know why the F50 was called the F50?

.

50th anniversary of Ferrari (in the same vane that the F40 was for 40 years of Ferrari

[viggyp]

Greg the Fish said:

viggyp said:

F

Still never know why the F50 was called the F50?

.

50th anniversary of Ferrari (in the same vane that the F40 was for 40 years of Ferrari

Well this is my query as it should've been called the F48 then as the F50 came out in 1995, not 1997.

Edited by viggyp on Tuesday 4th December 10:17

[Limpet]

One of my absolute favourites. Just a beautiful (IMO) no-nonsense, no frills drivers car with everything you need, and nothing you don't.

I've wanted one ever since I heard that Fast Lane audio cassette of Mark Hales thrashing Nick Mason's example round Donington Park. That noise....

[viggyp]

Limpet said:

One of my absolute favourites. Just a beautiful (IMO) no-nonsense, no frills drivers car with everything you need, and nothing you don't.

I've wanted one ever since I heard that Fast Lane audio cassette of Mark Hales thrashing Nick Mason's example round Donington Park. That noise....

That's exactly when I fell in love with it. I think I may even have the mag somewhere.

[rat840771]

A few years back we finished playing golf at Brockett hall and went to the pub just outside. There was a Ferrari meet there so my mate pulled in his Citroen and gave it a rev and parked up next to all at least 3 F40’s

[J4CKO]

I woudlnt say I didnt like Ferraris, but I dont like some of the image and stuff that goes with them, The F40 just seems so pure and shorn of the cheesiness can emanate from Ferraris, theres a bloke round our way has a California and whenever I see him he has at least one peice, usually more of Ferrari branded clothing on, fair play to him, he does actually have one and I havent, but he does look like a right pillock most of the time.

I cant imagine F40 owners do "regalia", I hope not.

[generationx]

viggyp said:

Limpet said:

One of my absolute favourites. Just a beautiful (IMO) no-nonsense, no frills drivers car with everything you need, and nothing you don't.

I've wanted one ever since I heard that Fast Lane audio cassette of Mark Hales thrashing Nick Mason's example round Donington Park. That noise....

That's exactly when I fell in love with it. I think I may even have the mag somewhere.

For those of you who haven't heard it, it's on YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSWLgk9x40c

/nostalgia

[anonymous-user]

Jasandjules said:

I would love to know how it drives.

Like a 500+ bhp go kart. The only car I can personally liken it to is an R500, except where the caterham thankfully runs out of steam at 120 the F40 just smashes through seemingly unaware of any air in the way. Trying to drive it slowly is intimidating and not much fun. Grab it by the scruff of the neck drive it hard and get it hot and it's actually very friendly! Chris Harris did a back to back with an f50 a while back which sums it all up very well.

[alfabadass]

TwigtheWonderkid said:

Hideous. I'm sure it's great to drive, but no amount of performance can redeem it from looking that ghastly.

Seen a few in the flesh and they look like badly assembled kit cars. In fact, the MR2 based replicas usually look better finished.

Sorry, it's a no from me.

As a kid, I lusted after the F40 during the 80s.

I finally saw one in person. It was at a recovery agents. I thought it was a fake kit car, they insisted it was real!!!

I would take an 80s Porsche 911 instead in hindsight.