Saturday, February 25, 2012

The most primeval supercar of all time

If you think that the Bugatti Veyron and the McLaren F1 are the ones to be remember for because of their top speed, well, sorry to disappoint but there is something way before these two were born.

Not quite good at the streets of London


This car is the genesis of the supercar marketing ploy, but in truth this is the world's fastest production car when it was launched in 1987 with a top speed of 201mph. Not 200mph but 201. 2-0-1 because the 1 is a very significant to command a certain German automaker that overtook Ferrari with the words "Get back in your box, know your place". The Ferrari F40 is as simple as a Bugatti Veyron but it's complexed. It is also the essence of the Ferrari petulance and passion. The Ferrari F40 was launched in 1987, as part of celebrating the brand's 40th anniversary and this is the last car to be commissioned by the founder, Enzo Ferrari, before his death. Originally it was made for a limited run of 400 units but because this car is a whopper, about 1,315 models were produced, with the last one being produced in the year 1992.

On the open roads, it's an epic long distance cruiser

The Ferrari F40 has it's own problems. The car's a bit too wide, the suspension's too hard, it clunks, the engine's too noisy, it causes much heat, the gearbox's too stiff, and the steering wheel's too sticky. Yes, it would be very problematic to drive the F40 at the urban roads (especially at the City Courses at Gran Turismo 5) but on the open road however, the Ferrari F40's starting to come alive. This F40 comes with a 2.9L V6 twin-turbo engine that produces 478BHP and it can go 0-60mph in 3.7 seconds. It may not sounds convincing in today's standards but the F40 is very light and it weighs about 1100kg thanks to the body that was composed of carbon-fiber and Kevlar. For such lightness comes with a price. There's no standard equipment on the F40! No carpets, no glovebox, only basic instruments, wind-up windows, piece of string for the door handles, and the only comfort are the air-condition and in the 1980's Italian air-conditioning doesn't work. This car is the genesis of the supercar marketing ploy. Take out everything and it costs more.

The most memorable Ferrari ever made...

This car is worth over 300,000 British Pounds Sterling when it came out in 1987 and this is made to be the most memorable sportscar adorned by most Ferrari fans but this became the template of the world's fastest sportscars such as the McLaren F1 in the 1990's and the Bugatti Veyron in the mid-2000's.

"Before the bomb went off, this car was worth over 300,000 Pounds. But now, it's a piece of roadside litter. Good though. No regrets. That was the right choice..." - James May, Top Gear

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