Ferrari F50

The Ferrari F50 was intended to be a Grand Prix vehicle for the road, but with a sports car chassis. With a big engine and a carbon fiber body structure it was a fantastic performer. Top speed was 207 mph just 6 mph faster than the F40, but it carved 2.0 seconds off the 0-100 mph time at only 8.0 seconds, neck-wrenching acceleration.

Although the F50 was shown in prototype form in 1991, it was some time before it emerged as a production car – and then only 349 were built. Of course, the design was changed a lot before it went into production, but some features are the same as on aGrand Prix car.

Inspired by the F40, the F50 was improved aerodynamically, and had its own looks. The fenders sweep rather lower than the centre section of the body, and the headlamps sit behind plastic covers. New for Ferrari were the outlets from the radiator in the hood – 30 years after Ford did it on the GT40.

There are long air intakes in the flanks of the car, and the neat tail is topped by a high-mounted spoiler. The whole car had a strong wedge line, and was designed to get the air away from beneath the car.

The biggest change was that a standard Ferrari engine was modified for the F50, so the car was powered by a 4.7 liter V-12 65-degree engine developing no less than 513 bhp at 8,500 rpm. With an output of 109 bhp per liter, this was definitely like a racing car at that time. Maximum torque was delivered at 6,500 rpm, so despite the huge power output, you needed to keep the engine spinning to get the most out of it. This was a highly advanced engine, with five valves per cylinder now found on the Ferrari V-8 engine in the 360 Modena and CS, but this was conceived a decade ago. The engine was coupled to a six-speed gearbox.

Ferrari moved on a long way from the F40 in the design of the F50, as the car is built around a carbon fiber composite tub just like the Grand prix cars. There is a tubular sub-frame at the front for the suspension pivots, but the engine is bolted directly to the rear of the tub. The rear suspension is carried on outriggers from the gearbox.