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There are plenty of reasons for envying Michael Schumacher, the villa by Lac Leman being just one of them. And, of course, the names of his employer, which brings out a respectful click of the tongue from every motor-sports fan in the world: Ferrari. His company car is one of the fastest in the world. And the Formula I world champion also drives a Ferrari for himself: the F40.
"The best presents are the ones you give yourself"; Enzo Ferrari certainly followed this maxim in 1987, on his 90th birthday, when the 40th anniversary of the Company he founded was being celebrated too. In his last days the "Commendatore" himself gave the go-ahead to his own driving memorial for posterity, the F40, which went into production one year later. What could have been a worthier example of the firm's history than this sports car so admired by the experts? Modesty was never a distinctive trait of the car-builder from Maranello in Northern Italy, and the F40 reflects that in the clearest possible way.
The fastest production car in the world of its time was designed near Modena. The powerful 478 PS Dohc-V8 engine takes the F40 with its distinctive rear spoiler up to a fabulous 200mph (323km/h). Only the Porsche 959, by the way, could go along with that. And what it did not have was the unique feel of the F40. No car on the road was ever so track-orientated as this Ferrari, styled by Pininfarina with its Kevlar-fibreglass body.
A guided missile like this, masquerading as a motorcar demands great strength and skill of its driver. It's a tough job, driving the F40. The steering really gets to the arms, and the pedals keep the legs pretty busy. The husky growl of the V-motor is fascinating, as the eight pistons take up their work, being fed with the energy they need by the fuel injection system.
The double turbo-supercharger ensures a breathtaking get-away at every range of engine speed. To ensure that the elemental forces let loose are directed right channels, there is an undercarriage which, by its squat positioning over the road, extra-thick tyres, a really strong chassis, and the racing suspension. Ferrari even lined the underbody to improve the aerodynamics still further. A sports car through and through.
Getting about in this very exclusive as well as sporting way has its price, which goes up and up. One of the 450 cars built in the first series in 1988 cost £125,000 The owner was able to swap an F40 for £607,000 just one year later. The last F40 was produced in 1992, bringing the total to just 1310.
This year two even faster production cars came onto the market, the Lamborghini Diablo and the Bugatti EB 110. But that has not dented the popularity of the f40.
Extract taken from Performance Car Magazine
Ferrari goes hardcore. In the 80's there was no supercar mightier than the F40. And no other generated so much passion and desire.
The F40 gave supercars an extra injection of super, with its 200mph top speed and ability to smoke to 60 in less than 4.0sec. Its 478bhp twin-turbo V8 - which howled and screamed through the cabin with ear-splitting ferocity- provided furious thrust all the way up to its maximum speed.
A cabin swathed in kevlar and carbonfibre looked like the inside of a Group C racer which is what the F40 was like to drive; physical to the point where you broke into a sweat.
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