Happy 30th Ferrari F40!
Today is officially the F40's big 3-0 - there's only one vid to celebrate with
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...
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.
Very probably my favourite car of all time, even though I almost certainly will never get to drive one, much less own one.
That being said it's still firmly at number 1 on my fantasy lottery garage.
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.
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.
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.
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:
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.
Not feeling the love I'm afraid.
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 .....
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 :-)
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
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.
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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