Heritage

Just a handful of supercars are really capable of drawing motor enthusiasts’ attention no matter what. Timeless icons — some say poster cars — that shine, graced by exotic bodywork, in the automotive galaxy. They are real game changers, brand flagships that populate the most important chapters of the four-wheels’ encyclopaedia. The Ferrari F40, for infinite reasons, is surely one of them: its impact stretched far beyond the motoring cognoscenti, quickly obtaining a global dream car status in a decade of extravagance and excesses.

Flashback

Behind the conception of such an immortal piece of machinery, there is the humble figure of Italian engineer Nicola Materazzi, who passed away in August 2022, known to the insiders as the F40’s father.

Hired in 1979 by Maranello’s racing division as Head of Design/Engineering Office, thanks to his specialisation in forced-induction engines, Materazzi helped the Italian team from the 1980 season onwards, being responsible for the adoption of turbochargers at Scuderia Ferrari. A full commitment to his position made the Prancing Horse encourage the Salerno-born engineer in taking on some predominant issues of Ferrari road cars. Enzo Ferrari himself, in fact, complained that new emission regulations and cost reductions had made the new red rides “too gentrified”, heavy and underpowered. The Drake (a.k.a Enzo Ferrari) felt that Materazzi’s unique know how in turbo engines could strongly benefit the brand other than in the racing department, which he was already in charge of, and could be used to create a series of Ferrari’s that were real supercars. Materazzi initially declined, but accepted after the founder’s insistence.

The 208 Turbo — the first ever turbo-charged road-going Ferrari — showed poor performance and reliability, because, without an intercooler, the combustion temperatures of the small 2-litre engine were too high. Materazzi clearly stated that a 3-litre engine would have allowed at least 400 horsepower with a couple of air-to-air intercooler, and the 1984 288 GTO — Ferrari’s first limited edition supercar — proved it to the world. 

Simultaneously, Materazzi and his squad, working outside the regular Monday to Friday schedules, developed a racing version of the latter — called 288 Evoluzione — to compete in the fearsome FIA Group B. However, when in 1986 the FIA brought to an end the aforementioned category for safety reasons, this 650 horsepower beast remained parked in Maranello. Entrusted from the test drivers’ lap sessions occurred at Fiorano Circuit, the Commendatore asked Materazzi to keep the project alive and make it roadworthy. Basically, Ferrari was building a race car for public roads.

Sweet dreams are made of this

The new project officially started on June 10, 1986, and it was successfully completed — working late at night, on weekends as well as during bank holidays — in just twelve months. The given name was F40, celebrating the 40th anniversary of Ferrari, and was unveiled to the press in Maranello on July 21, 1987.

The F40’s striking body was designed by Pietro Camardella for Pininfarina under the supervision of Aldo Brovarone, while some of the car’s developments were carried out by external companies such as Michelotto Automobili. Entirely made of carbon fibre, kevlar and aluminium — covering a steel space-frame chassis — it underwent intense aerodynamic tests; its overall weight was further minimised through the use of Lexan windshield and windows. No air conditioning, no sound system, no door handles, no leather trim, no carpets and no door panels onboard. When the car industry products were getting more complex and fitted with electronics, Maranello went the opposite way.

Cooling was important as the forced-induction engine generated an impressive amount of heat. As a consequence, the F40’s aerodynamics performed almost like an open-wheel racing car: it had a partial under-tray to smooth airflow beneath the radiator, front section, and the cabin, and a second one with diffusers behind the engine — which bay was not sealed at the back. Even nowadays it is very impressive to observe how this top-notch design still looks very contemporary, almost like something coming from a sci-fi movie. Its angular shapes, the massive rear wing and the naca ducts all around say that everything is there for a specific reason. 

Technically, all F40’s exited the factory wearing a Rosso Corsa dress and were left hand drive: the only exceptions to that were delivered to Prince Jefri of Brunei.

At heart

Power came from an enlarged, high-revving 2.9-litre version of the 288 GTO's 90° twin turbocharged and inter-cooled V8 engine, providing a peak power output of 478 hp at 7,000 rpm and 577 Nm of torque, paired with a 5-speed manual transmission. In a car that weighed a mere 1,100 kg, this was supernatural. The performance was accordingly otherworldly, with the F40 not only hitting 100 km/h in approximately 4.3 seconds, but also claiming to be one of the first road cars to easily breach the hallowed 300 km/h barrier. In-depth period car magazine reviews stated that the F40 was allegedly able to hit 324+ km/h.

The suspension system was similar to the GTO's double wishbone setup, though many parts were upgraded and settings were changed; the unusually low ground clearance prompted Ferrari to include the ability to raise the vehicle's ground clearance when necessary for later cars via hydraulic lift chambers in the front dampers. No ABS, no electric steering wheel: just a pure, unfiltered driving experience.

Across the ocean

The F40 made it without a catalytic converter until 1990, when US regulations made them a requirement for emission control reasons. F40s for the American markets differed from Euro-spec versions, not only for their exhaust systems, but for several interesting peculiarities. The US-spec F40s, due to the infamous 5-mph bumper law issued by DOT and EPA, have a black rubber thin bumper strips that run on both the front and rear, a slightly different front spoiler, mandatory side markers right ahead the front and rear wheel arches, a distinguished rear fascia — without fog lights and with a high mount stop light — and a reinforced chassis with new bumper mountings and side protection bars. On the interior, differences started in the seats: in both versions they were made out of Kevlar and Nomex, but European cars had racing shells with three point seat belts, while the ones which crossed the Atlantic Ocean featured sport seats with automatic seat belts; dashboards are also different here and there. Suspensions, steering rack, brakes and clutch were the same, but US F40s have smaller aluminium fuel tanks and submersible fuel pumps while Euro versions had the latter externals. Engine intake timings also differ.

The collector

The three F40 units pictured in this article belong to a Swiss collector. One of them is an early 1990 example which was delivered new in Switzerland by Ferrari Suisse SA. It is worth nothing that the car arrived at a time when the F40 was illegal in the country since it had not met homologation requirements: actually, no-one could register one in Switzerland until 1992. As a result, this car had to have a foreign registration from the Isle of Man for a while, until being able to be legally registered. It was owned by a BMW dealer until the late 2000s, until it changed hands twice before being acquired by its current owner.

now

Enzo Ferrari died in August 1988. He witnessed the definitive union of Ferrari’s road and race histories, a vision of purity and purpose that set the F40 apart, then and now. Once the fastest car in the world, still undoubtedly one of the most desirable.

Back in 1987 the factory-suggested retail price for the F40 was set approximately around €420,000 at today’s rate — five times the price of its predecessor, the 288 GTO. A trip to Maranello for specific driving instructions was apparently included in that original price. The supercar was soon the subject of surreal speculative phenomena, with customers willing to spend exorbitant sums just to get access to a purchase contract. In other cases, there were those who put their unit up for sale for well over €950,000 at today’s rate. One of those that belonged to the Formula One driver Nigel Mansell was sold for the then record of £1 million in 1990, a record that stood into the 2010s.

That being said, the cost of an F40 continues to rise today. Lately, according to insiders, the average asking price of a Ferrari F40 is around €1.5-2 million with some well-kept examples asking for as much as € 3 million and sometimes even more, depending on their condition. At the Gooding & Company auction held at Pebble Beach 2022, a 1990 unit with less than 3,000 km on its odometer was sold for nearly €4 million, making it the most expensive Ferrari F40 in motoring history.