Why the F40 is Ferrari’s Greatest Car?

We all have our favourite cars from Ferrari, but when it comes to objectively the greatest car the Prancing Horse of Maranello ever created, the answer can be summed up in three syllables: F40. Built to celebrate Ferrari's 40th Anniversary, the F40 was officially the last car to be approved by Enzo before his death shortly after its release.

His requirements were for his Evoluzione racing team to build a car to be “very fast, sporting in the extreme, and spartan” and to surpass Porsche’s engineering Marvel, the 959, which was the fastest car in the world. He also wanted to return to Ferrari’s roots of sheer performance, as cars like the Mondial and Testarossa were considered too soft to be “real Ferraris.”

The team designed a revolutionary new carbon fibre body to not only strengthen the car but made it incredibly light, 1.1 tonnes. To add to this, the interior was totally spartan, with no creature comforts whatsoever. The F40 didn’t even have interior door handles, just a thin piece of string to open and close its door.

Finally, there was its bespoke 2.9l twin-turbo V8 from the 288 GTO, refitted with larger turbos and an intercooler. The result was 471 horsepower and 426 lb-ft of torque, and coupled with the exceptionally light body meant 424 horsepower per tonne. As a result, 0-62mph took 4.2 seconds and the top speed was 201mph, making the F40 the first road car to break the 200mph barrier.

But it wasn’t just the speed that made the F40 incredible, its light body combined with its direct steering and racing development made it a riot behind the wheel. A genuine twin-turbo go-kart; precise, direct, immediate, a true Ferrari. As the final car signed by Enzo, the F40 is really the best finale. A car that embodied everything that made Ferrari special and broke new ground while doing so. Genuinely Ferrari’s greatest car.

The F40’s Limitations

Whilst the F40 is undoubtedly one of the greatest supercars ever made, everything that makes it such a great supercar holds it back as a car. As a daily it is riddled with faults, it’s very wide, at slow speeds the gearbox and throttle are stiff, the engine drones, there’s no sound deadening so it's unbelievably noisy, it clunks about and the ride is shocking.

Unlike the 959 which cushioned its driver with its creature comforts and space-age tech, the F40 constantly reminded its drivers they were in a racing car, so don’t expect an easy ride. Not to mention, the F40 is now nearly 40 years old and all its advancements at the time are now limitations and hold it back.

Alte Prestazioni by Officine Fioravanti: Refining Perfection

That’s where Officine Fioravanti came into play, they took an F40 and didn’t alter the engine or chase after performance. Instead, they spend their time refining and fettling the car to create the F40 Alte Prestazioni. These upgrades include fitting:

· Hydraulic Power Steering – To make the normally clunky F40 much easier to manoeuvre at both high and low speeds.

· A Front-Axle Lift System – To ensure your $2.4 million classic hypercar can adapt to the speed humps and steep driveways you will encounter on a day to day life.

· Öhlins TTX36 Suspension – A four-way adjustable suspension system used in Formula 3. It helps enhance handling and offers greater control of the car when powering down a B-road.

· Carbon-Ceramic Brakes – Brembo six-piston front callipers and four-piston rears provide superior stopping power.

· ABS System – A system to prevent these new brakes from locking up when in use.

· New 18-inch front and 19-inch rear alloys – These new wheels are wrapped in Michelin Cup 2 or Pirelli Trofeo R tyres to enhance grip and stability.

· All New Aerospace-Grade Components– These include new suspension arms, bearings, and hubs increase durability and responsiveness.

All these upgrades help to refine the F40’s precision and directness whilst still maintaining all the charms and quirks of the near 40-year-old legend. There’s still turbo lag, the power is sudden and immediate and the whole car feels as raw and analogue as ever before. It is an F40 through and through just modified to be more in keeping with the times.

The World’s Greatest Restomod

Officine Fioravanti’s goal has been clear from the start: To allow more people to enjoy their F40s without losing their essence. They haven’t announced how much price the modifications will cost but if you are one of the lucky 1,315 individuals with this legend, my recommendation would be to send it to them.

Because look what you’re getting. An unmodified, authentic F40 but with small tweaks and intricacies to make it just that bit more perfect than before. So much more refreshing than some arrogant tuner or yet another company that tries to reinvent the wheel with their latest restomod. The F40 Alte Prestazioni is perfection refined. The world’s greatest supercar made just a little bit better. Quite simply the greatest restomod ever.

Source: Top Gear