| Author | Message | ||
| Ernie Bonilla (Ernie)
Member Username: Ernie Post Number: 343 Registered: 11-2001 |
In defence of the F50. The car never got raced the way the F40 did. It is a shame the F50 GT1 project got scrapped, because I feel the car had the abillity to destroy the competion, the way they are doing now in F1. Having said that the F40 to this day is still a force to be reconed with. In the right hands they can still run with and beat the big dogs. Not bad for a car fifteen years old. | ||
| Ken (Allyn)
Member Username: Allyn Post Number: 506 Registered: 10-2001 |
It's a mistake to think of the F 50 as a 'successor' to the F 40 even though it technically replaced it. Ferrari has not made a 'production race car' since the F 40. The F 50 is a GT car first and race car second, as is the Enzo, in spite of the breathtaking handling and power of both cars. I doubt you'll ever see F50's and Enzo's tracked like F 40's are. So, in my opinion, the F 40 is not for those looking to actually drive the car to the store and back; while I don't see TOO many F 50's at the 7-11 either, it would seem more in keeping with what the car is supposed to be from Ferrari's standpoint. | ||
| Kevin Marcus (Rumordude)
Junior Member Username: Rumordude Post Number: 52 Registered: 9-2001 |
Hmm. The 'no nonsense badboy' is what I call the dodge viper. aren't ferrari's supposed to be mistresses? Seriously though -- so it is sounding to me like the real thing might be that more people have experience in/with/around the f40 than the other cars - including magazines/reporters. More specifically, it sounds like more people here have experience w/the f40 and not the 288 gto or the f50. the power/weight is only marginally different between the two so it can't be that either. The 'was competitive for awhile' statement make s a bit of sense, since that could also apply to many other cars like the gt40 or even some of those puke-porsches. | ||
| Terry (Dogue)
Junior Member Username: Dogue Post Number: 108 Registered: 9-2001 |
I have never driven or ridden in either car, but I think one reason the F40 is so reveared is because it took many years before any production car could out perform this car. And even when Ferrari tried to out-do the car with the F50 it was nominally faster on paper and most that have driven both prefer the F40. It took the McLaren F1 to de-thrown the F40. The F40 was the first of the "no Compromise" racecars for the street. | ||
| Mitchel DeFrancis (4re308)
Member Username: 4re308 Post Number: 660 Registered: 6-2001 |
When I rode in a F40 at Road Atlanta, it changed my life. When I rode in a F40LM at Road Atlanta, I saw God. Kev, if you ever get a chance to ride in a F40, you will see why I would sell my right nut for one. | ||
| Jay P. Ross (Eilig)
New member Username: Eilig Post Number: 45 Registered: 8-2001 |
In case anyone is looking for a nice F40, there is a beautiful example for sale right now at Lake Forest Sports Cars. Please excuse the drool I left on it last time I visted..... :-) | ||
| Rob Lay (Rob328gts)
Board Administrator Username: Rob328gts Post Number: 2061 Registered: 12-2000 |
I think the market prices of the F40 vs. GTO & F50 speak the indescribable... There were almost 4 times the number of F40's produced over the F50 and almost 6 times the number over GTO's. Yet the F40's generally go for about the same as GTO's and only about half of F50's. | ||
| Cmparrf40 (Cmparrf40)
Member Username: Cmparrf40 Post Number: 410 Registered: 3-2002 |
Manu You are dead on, no compromise. 100 years from now the F40 will still be respected as a no nonsense bad boy. If Keven does not understand it, he never will. If he does not understand carbonfiber kevlar and nomex I feel sorry for him. Perhaps, Kevin would be more comfortable on RollsRoyceChat.com (just kidding) But I will make Kevin an offer, come to the track with me, take a ride, if you are immune to the F40 after that, it is time to call 911! | ||
| Manu Sachdeva (Manu)
Member Username: Manu Post Number: 417 Registered: 2-2002 |
The appeal of the F40 is simple - ABSOLUTELY NO COMPROMISE. No amenities, no luxurys. A racer for the road which harks back to the days where Enzo sold the cars that raced on Sunday to the wealthy punters on Monday. 479bhp in 1100kg - This concept is purer than ANY other car that has come before it or indeed after..... The turbo-charged power delivery has no equal in violence...... | ||
| ross koller (Ross)
Member Username: Ross Post Number: 264 Registered: 3-2002 |
kevin, i think your impression of the purpose of the f4 is misconstrued. it was not meant to be the equivalent of 'your best china, only used on special occassions' type of car. having never driven any of these cars i can only offer what i have heard about them. according to most of the brit press, the f40 is the driver's favorite since it is a real racing machine without luxury pretenses, and can be modified ad infinitum and raced without that affecting the value too adversely (some would argue that it actually enhances the value), and they were raced in le mans. then there is probably also a wider audience provided for by the f40 over the f50 due to production numbers (1315 vs 349), so they don't sit around in warehouses trying to stay out of trouble. the f50, and probably the enzo, will never be used in the same way, and therefore may hold more currency for collectors vs enthusiasts ready to really put the machine to use. | ||
| Francisco J. Quinones (Frankie)
New member Username: Frankie Post Number: 26 Registered: 8-2002 |
i think the F50 was the first one on the lease program to help ward off speculators.the lease was i believe for two years with an option to buy.the only way to get on that list was by either knowing somebody at Ferrari,owning at least two F-cars and/or being well known at your dealer.the only F-50 sold outright in the states went to a guy up north that also raced i believe 333SP's and his cars usually were serial #003.he had his F50 in the lobby of his office building in a glass display case,if i remember correctly that car was the only F50 tested by a magazine at the time in Car&Driver.because one of the conditions of the lease was that the car coudn't be tested since technically Ferrari still owned them and they didn't allow instrumented testing on F50's at the time.BTW I care a LOT about 288GTO's,awesome,beautiful,powerfull machine.i would buy the one in hemming's (the one for 325 NOT the one for 1 mill that's been in there for months)in a heartbeat if i could.just mah .02  | ||
| Robert Jude Klein (Rjklein4470)
Junior Member Username: Rjklein4470 Post Number: 162 Registered: 3-2002 |
was the 959 the fist production car to go over 200mph or was it the F-40. I agree if I had the jack I would go for the f-50 over the f-40, and mainly because there is no way I could fit in a f-40 without a custom seat, but man I it well enough to go for one awsome ride in the passanger seat. So I thought I could help, but I am not sure why more of the f-cars do not get more ink. Could it be that the enzo is getting ink because for the first time in a long time ferrari is advertising, trying to get the maserati off the ground | ||
| David Burch (Merlyn)
New member Username: Merlyn Post Number: 10 Registered: 8-2002 |
I drove a friends F40 at Laguna and was supprised to find how smooth the engine felt. The brakes were the weak point. The turbo definatly was not a problem. I've been told the F40 out performs the F50. I don't believe the F40 was on the lease program, I think it started with the F50. The Barchetta is on a program whereby in the first year, the dealer has first right of refusal on a sale. | ||
| Kevin Marcus (Rumordude)
Junior Member Username: Rumordude Post Number: 51 Registered: 9-2001 |
I think the f40 actually would take an f50 in a striaght line, but there is zero chance it would on a road course. The cost can't be the issue or we would all be talking about how cool our corvette z06's are. the f50 doesnt have much of an interior either, but it at least looks like a normal car. Sure, I can throw LM parts on my F40 just like I can throw f50 gt or koenig parts on my f50 (or lingenfelter my vette, hennesey my viper, blah blah blah). The f50 lease was up in 1997, so that can't be it. For that matter, I'd throw the 288 gto into the mix for fun. Nobody seems to care about that car either. No offense taken -- i'm seriously just trying to understand the nostalgia with the f40 and none of the other ferrari 'super-supercars'. | ||
| Robert Jude Klein (Rjklein4470)
Junior Member Username: Rjklein4470 Post Number: 161 Registered: 3-2002 |
From what I understand the f-40, and the f-50 were leased through FNA for the fist three or five years. So after the lease was up you could chose to purchace the car, or what most people did was sell them. Now I think the f-50 just came off the lease program, and you are starting to see some being bought and sold. The f-40 is truly an awsome car, it just smells like a race car. Yes there are no door handles, no radio, and no interior, and for that I love it. The rear window is a ballance of cooling and getting to see what you paid for. The car has exellent performance and yet it in not ultra high tech. The F-50 is twice the price and not twice the car, in fact the performace is very close to a stock f-40, now you get a f-40 that has some LM parts, and the f-50 looses. Kevin, do not take offence to this because I am just making an assumption that you have not driven a F-40, or been taken for a ride, because if you had I think you would understand. Now maybe you have and the car is just not for you, but I would love to some day to owne that car. In fact I have a 360, and I wish it just had the challange interior. I want something that just feels and smells like a race car. | ||
| L. Wayne Ausbrooks (Lwausbrooks)
Member Username: Lwausbrooks Post Number: 297 Registered: 8-2002 |
Oh, don't get me started... | ||
| Kevin Marcus (Rumordude)
New member Username: Rumordude Post Number: 50 Registered: 9-2001 |
First autoweek, and now i get my automobile magazine only to see the illustrious enzo on front. That's all fine and of coruse i enjoyed reading the article. But what I don't get is the comparison of the F40 to the Enzo. For that matter, I don't get the F40 at all. As the article suggests, the turbos can be deadly, the window's are a joke, and the interior overall is a joke. But then I also see people always racing their f40's and doing whatever it is with them. But never the f50's. Can someone help me understand the continual excitement for the f40? And don't say because it was enzo's last either. |