Ferrari F40: red copy in the Pyrenees
The Ferrari F40 (tipo F120) is a mid-engine, rear-wheel drive sports car 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.
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. At the time it was Ferrari’s fastest, most powerful, and most expensive car for sale.
The car debuted with a planned production total of 400 units and a factory suggested retail price of approximately US$400,000 (fivefold the price of its predecessor, the 288 GTO) in 1987 ($1,030,000 today).
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. A total of 1,311 to 1,315 cars were manufactured with 213 units destined for the United States.
The first independent measurements yielded 0-100 km/h (62 mph) in 4.7 seconds and a top speed of 321 km/h (199 mph) onto the French Sport Auto September 1988 cover.
The next opportunity to reach the claimed top speed was a shootout at Nardò Ring organized by Auto, Motor und Sport. Ferrari sent two cars but neither could reach more than 321 km/h (199 mph), beaten by the Porsche 959 S, which attained a top speed of 339 km/h (211 mph), and the Ruf CTR, which attained a top speed of 342 km/h (213 mph).
Both were limited production cars with only 29 built, so while the F40 never was the world’s fastest sports car as self-appraised by Ferrari, it could still claim the title of the fastest production car with over 500 units built until the arrival of the Lamborghini Diablo (depending on how the term “production car” is defined). Road & Track measured a top speed of 315 km/h (196 mph) for both the European and US spec cars while Car and Driver measured a top speed of 317 km/h (197 mph).
