Category:

Review

Duration: 3:31

145 views

0

The Ferrari F40 (Type F120) is a mid-engine, rear-wheel drive sports car[12] engineered by Nicola Materazzi with styling by Pininfarina. It was built from 1987 until 1992, with the LM and GTE race car versions continuing production until 1994 and 1996 respectively.[15] As the successor to the 288 GTO (also engineered by Materazzi), it was designed to celebrate Ferrari's 40th anniversary and was the last Ferrari automobile personally approved by Enzo Ferrari.[1] At the time it was Ferrari's fastest, most powerful, and most expensive car for sale.[16]

The car debuted with a planned production total of four hundred units and a factory suggested retail price of approximately US$400,000 (fivefold the price of its predecessor, the 288 GTO[17]) in 1987 ($1,030,000 today).[18] 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.[19][20] A total of 1,311[1][21] to 1,315 cars were manufactured with 213 units destined for the United States.[22]

As early as 1984, Materazzi had proposed to Enzo Ferrari the idea of using the Group B 4-litre category (2.8-litre if turbocharged) to prove the performance of new road cars which with increased power could no longer safely display their performance on the road in the hands of regular buyers. Since Enzo Ferrari no longer had control over the production part of the business, Materazzi had to obtain permission from General Manager Eugenio Alzati. Permission was granted but only at the condition that work would take place outside of the Monday to Friday work week.

Power came from an enlarged, high-revving 2,936 cc (2.9 L; 179.2 cu in) version of the 288 GTO's IHI four-stroke 90 degrees twin turbocharged and intercooled V8 engine generating a peak power output of 478 PS (471 hp; 352 kW) at 7,000 rpm and 577 N⋅m (426 lb⋅ft) of torque at 4,000 rpm as stated by the manufacturer.[1] Gearing, torque curves, and actual power output differed among the cars. The F40 did without a catalytic converter until 1990, when US regulations made them a requirement for emissions control reasons. The flanking exhaust pipes guide exhaust gases from each bank of cylinders while the central pipe guides gases released from the wastegate of the turbochargers. The F40's twin-turbocharged V8 would be Ferrari's final forced induction engine until the California T in 2014.

The suspension setup 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.[citation needed]

All cars left the factory in "Rosso Corsa" colour and left-hand drive. At least seven cars were modified and delivered to the Sultan of Brunei in right-hand drive. The Sultan employed Pininfarina's prototype manager Paolo Garella to make modifications to the car's colour, power, and interior comforts.[26][27]

Aerodynamics
Cooling was important as forced induction engines generate significant amounts of heat. In order to dissipate the heat, the car was designed similarly to 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 engine, but the engine bay was not sealed. It has a drag coefficient of Cd=0.34.[28]

Tyres
Owing to the fact that the car had an additional 80 bhp (81 PS; 60 kW) compared to the 288 GTO, a new tyre had to be developed to cope with the power levels which were more typically associated with racing cars. Materazzi contacted the Pirelli head of development Mario Mezzanotte, who he had known since the rallying years with the Lancia cars. Pirelli made a carcass with light materials (including Kevlar) after the experience gained in the Formula 1 seasons from 1980 to 1985 and asymmetrical tread patterns to create the P-Zero specifically for the F40.[29][30]

Launch and promotion
The F40 was revealed on 21 July 1987 at the Civic Centre in Maranello. Originally the presentation was due to happen at the Frankfurt Motor Show according to Materazzi but Fiat needed to present the Alfa Romeo 164 at that show and the two would have clashed. Hence on insistence of Enzo Ferrari the launch was anticipated by more than two months. Counting from the project inception (June 1986) until the launch, the car was developed in thirteen months.[11]

The promotion of the car was captured by the cameras in a documentary that included footage of Enzo Ferrari's past interviews, work inside the factory and the F40 driving through the streets of Modena. F1 driver Michele Alboreto drove the car on several occasions including a Christmas 1987 special programme for the Italian TV and journalist Ezio Zermiani when the car was filmed driving from Maranello to Milan.