1l7CcRC

‘The take-up into the next gear is flawless and, with the turboscranking hard, the blast of acceleration just goes on again andyou seem to be in a blur of time conquering distance, gearshiftsand noise. It has the tonal quality of an F1 engine, if not thesheer ferocity. From outside, if you stand and listen, you hear thefrantic whoosh as the turbos start to drive oh-so-hard.’ - Autocarmagazine, May 1988.Introduced in 1988 to celebrate Enzo Ferrari’s 40 years as a motormanufacturer, the F40 was the ultimate supercar. A mid-engined,two-seater berlinetta, the F40 was a development of the limitedproduction288GTO, and like the latter - but unlike the preceding308 series - mounted its power unit longitudinally rather thantransversely. A four-cam 3-litre V8 with four valves per cylinder, theF40 engine employed twin IHI turbochargers to liberate 478bhp(approximately 352kW) at 7,000rpm. For the seriously speedaddicted,this could be boosted by 200bhp by means of a factorytuning kit.Of equal, if not greater, technical interest was the method of body/chassis construction, the F40 drawing on Ferrari’s Formula 1experience in its use of composite technology. A one-piece plasticmoulding, the body was bonded to the tubular steel chassis tocreate a lightweight structure of immense rigidity. The doors,bonnet, boot lid and other removable panels were carbon fibre.Pugnaciously styled by Pininfarina, the F40 incorporated the latestaerodynamic aids in the form of a dam-shaped nose and high rearaerofoil. Despite the need to generate considerable downforce -and with a top speed of 201mph, higher than the take-off speed ofmany light aircraft, the F40 needed all the downforce it could get -the result was a commendably low drag coefficient of just 0.34. TheF40’s interior re-enforced its image as a thinly disguised race-car,with body-contoured seats, an absence of carpeting and trim, andsliding Plexiglas windows. When it came to actual competition,race-prepared F40s more than held their own and in the Global GTseries proved quicker on many circuits than McLaren’s F1 GTR.Motor Cars | 163