When it comes to naming a supercar, many of us who were kids in the 1990s (including myself) tend to think about two cars: the Ferrari F40 and Ferrari F50. Both were phenomenal supercars built by the Italian sports car manufacturer to celebrate 4 and 5 decades, respectively, since its founding.
However, while they had similar names, they were different beasts. The F40 was powered by a twin-turbocharged 2.9-liter V8 delivering 471hp (478PS) – at least officially, as many people believed it produced over 500hp. The Ferrari F50, on the other hand, had a 4.7-liter naturally-aspirated V12 that developed 520-horses.
There were other differences, too. The F40 was basically an engine and a chassis with a poorly-finished bodyshell on top of it, weighing just 1,100 kg (2,400 lbs), while the F50 had a beautifully assembled body and interior and tipped the scales at 1,230 kg (2,712 lbs). Back in the days, Ferrari didn’t let anyone performance test the F50, as rumor had it the older F40 was faster (see the evolution of Ferrari’s halo supercar here)
Was that rumor really true or not? Well, you’ll just have to watch Chris Harris test both cars on their limits on the Anglesey Circuit – yes, he really did find a crazy enough owner to let him do that. We’ll just say that we’ve never seen Harris that happy in any of his videos…
By Dan Mihalascu
VIDEO