10 top Ferrari F40 facts (part 2)
Following on from part 1, here are 10 more facts about the Ferrari F40 which I found interesting and I thought you would to…
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Not designed to race
The F40 was not intended for the race track, however in 1989 a few privateers campaigned F40s in the IMSA series at Laguna Seca and the BRP Global GT series in Europe in 1994, winning the 4 hours of Vallelunga. In LM guise they were beaten by the McLaren F1 GTR at LeMans. The F40 was always fast staying the course was the issue.
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The anorexic Ferrari
The current beautiful Ferrari 458 Italia weighs in at 1485kg and gives 378bhp per tonne. The F40 sits at 1104kg. It’s main competitor at the time, the iconic Porsche 959 weighs 1450kg.
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An American specification
Of the 1315 produced 600 F40s were built to American specification. These are less desirable, have less power (surprising given those Americans love POWER), more weight because of extra crash protection, catalysts, adjustable suspension, additions to the bodywork, strange seatbelts and so on.
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It’s all in the numbers
This one is for those really precious collectors. F40 chassis numbers begin ZFFGJ34B0007… followed by the car’s personal four digits. THe first cars’ number started with a 7 and these are the most desirable. Those beginning with 8 are most common, the later cars’ start with 9.
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Are you sitting comfortably?
The F40 could be ordered with three seat widths: small, medium and large.
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To adjust or non-adjust
The later F40s had hydraulically adjustable suspension.
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Basic (perfect) cockpit
There is sparse, then there if the F40 cockpit. The F40 has no carpet, no stereo, no sat nav, no central locking, no airbag in the steering wheel.
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Carbon king
The F40 is constructed of a space frame and chassis and the bodywork consists of 11 carbon/ kevlar panels. Cost for a new front clip (panel) will be £14,000, £25,000 for the rear. Well if you can afford one, as they say.
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Anyone that’s anyone has owned an F40
Just a few F40 owners that I know of, click here for a full list.
The Legend that is Nigel Mansell (F1 World Champion)
The Legend that is Alain Prost (F1 World Champion)
Jean Todt (Ex CEO of Ferrari)
Jay Kay (Lead singer of Jamiroquai)
Chris Evans (that ginger lad that likes Ferrari’s)
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Stingy on the paint
To keep the weight down (a constant F40 theme), only 2 litres of red paint were used on each car. The paint is so thin on the car that you can see the weave in the body panels.
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Click here for more Ferrari F40 facts.
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The Ferrari F40 supercar will celebrate its 25th birthday this year and in order to celebrate in true Ferrari style, there will be a huge gathering of the supercars at Silverstone racetrack in the UK. Are you going? Have you got your tickets yet? Well if you’d love to go to this year’s Silverstone Classic courtesy of MyCarHeaven visit our Free Tickets page and bookmark, so that you don’t miss out on our regular special offers.
