F40 PROTOTYPES

Just noticed that one above has its Pininfarina badge in an unusual location, and the front clip latches are further forward than normal.

Its also sporting the 308/328/GTO door glass surrounds still, requiring that ungainly mirror to take away the blindspot.

I always wondered why they dropped one of the vents in the end on the rear clam.

 

Its also hard to read the artist name from his signature, great illustration, thank you for sharing

 

75034.

Marcel Massini

 

Amazing how close to production level they got but had still not settled on the mirror design and location.

 

No mirrors.
73015.
I took this in Fiorano 21 July 1987.

Marcel Massini

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Mirrors and the location of the Pininfarina badge seem to be the last things to be settled before production sign off.

 

Also, the number of louvres (5 vs 4) on the engine bonnet.

 

I believe they dropped that option quite early into the prototype numbers?

 

As I have mentioned before there was a small picture in a French magazine of the early F40 production. It showed a number maybe a dozen rear clips with the 5 louvre version design stacked up on end. The change to the 4 louvre design was an engineering decision based on better structural rigidity of the rear clip and still sufficient cooling.
I like this artistic picture below from Autoweek showing the early rear fender design. One of the earliest F40 models had a 'F40' decal on the right upright of the rear spoiler rather than the body impression that later models received.

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the later 'F40' impression in the rear spoiler appeared early on
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That is a Cat Adjust car. So Ferrari was already working on this spec at the prototype stage?

 

I heard, that they did it to give FIAT some hommage... But who knows.

 

Talking about F40 Prototypes, i would like to ask something. Last night i saw a video of Kirby Allison talking about DK Engineering and at 37:12 Kirby asks James Cottingham about an F40 which is in a room, on a benchrack and he answers that it is an F40 that had fire etc etc. Could this be the ZFFGJ34B000074047, the 6th prototype? I'm asking because iirc DK had it in their inventory before they sold it to Jon Hunt.

Thank you in advance.

Here is the link of the one-hour DK Engineering tour:



And the photos

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No.
This is an F40 which was in a fire in Japan. DK bought the remnants and had the entire rear frame recreated in Modena. The owner is not Hunt.
I saw that project two weeks ago at DK.

Marcel Massini

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This one? I recall us talking about the yellow underneath at the time.

https://www.thesupercarblog.com/ferrari-f40-catches-fire-in-japan/