ITALIAN HERITAGE - FERRARI F40

FERRARI F40

Ferrari F40

 The Ferrari F40 was built to celebrate Ferrari’s 40^th anniversary. It was the last Ferrari personally approved by Enzo Ferrari. This classic supercar was that time’s fastest and most expensive Ferrari. F40 is a mid-engine, rear-wheel drive, two-door coupé sports car. It was a very fast berlinetta designed by Pininfarina, and was built mainly from composites. Its sophisticated high-performance, turbo-charged running gear combined with a first class chassis gave it the kind of great dynamic prowess that was close to that of a racing car. The car was produced from 1987 to 1992 and a total of 1311 car were ever produced. F40’s main rival was Porsche 959.

Ferrari F40 recently appeared in Racing video game Need For Speed 2015 and has also appeared in older Need For Speed games like Need For Speed 2 and Need For Speed 2 SE.

Ferrari F40 in Need For Speed 2015

PERFORMANCE

The heart of the F40 was a 2.9-litre twin-turbocharged Tipo F120A V8 which produced 478 bhp. Power was delivered through a 5-speed manual gearbox. The car weighed only 1369 kg. The essence of the F40 is in it’s weight only. The combination of it’s high power and light weight gave it tremendous performance. It could reach 100 kmph from stand still in just 4.7 seconds. It is capable of reaching 199 mph (321 kmph).  The suspension setup was similar to the Ferrari 288 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. The F40 was beaten by Porsche 959 S with top speed of 339 kmph (211 mph) and the Ruf CTR reaching 342 kmph (213 mph). Both were limited production cars with only 29 units built. So, F40 never was the world's fastest sports car as self-appraised by Ferrari, it could still claim the title of the fastest with over 500 units to be built until the arrival of the Lamborghini Diablo.

BODY AND INTERIOR

The F40 was designed by Pininfarina keeping aerodynamics in mind featuring panels made of Kevlar, carbon fiber, and aluminum for strength and low weight It relied more on it’s weight and shape more than it’s power. Frontal area was reduced, and airflow greatly smoothed, but stability rather than terminal velocity was a primary concern. So too was cooling as the forced induction engine generated a great deal of heat. In consequence, the car was somewhat like an open-wheel racing car with a body. It had a partial undertray to smooth airflow beneath the radiator, front section, and the cabin, and a second one with diffusers behind the motor, but the engine bay was not sealed. Nonetheless, the F40 had an impressively low drag coefficient of 0.34 with lift controlled by its spoilers and wing.

Despite being a expensive supercar, the interiors were very simple but these simple interiors matched the car’s classic appearance. It had plastic windshield and windows to reduce weight. The cars did have air conditioning, but had no sound system, door handles, glove box, leather trim, carpets, or door panels. The first 50 cars produced had sliding Lexan windows, while later cars were fitted with wind down windows. 

Ferrai F40's Interior