In 1994, Ferrari’s long term loyal customer Giampiero Moretti, FOUNDER OF MOMO was one of the few who convinced Maranello to return to sports car racing, making them understand how important it was for the company to return to this category of motorsport in their largest market that was North America. By this time, it had been almost 23-years since Ferrari last partook in the IMSA World Sports Car Championship with the Ferrari 312 PB in 1971 and hence needed a completely new car to compete.
A big part of the Ferrari F40’s appeal is just how raw and unadulterated it looks. It was built as a race car for the road and it’s proud of that. There’s no gimmick here. This is a race car first and a road car second. The headlights and taillights are just an afterthought to make it road-compliant. The cabin is small, the seating position cramp and awkward, the suspension is hard and there’s a ton of lag from the twin-turbo V8 engine… but none of that matters.
The Ferrari F40 is an experience because there’s nothing quite like it. You can’t just go out and buy something similar, even if you have all the money in the world. The only thing that comes close to an F40 is another F40. It was the last car signed off by Enzo Ferrari himself. On average, it is still considered to be the greatest Ferrari ever built.
The 250 was a turning point for Ferrari. It further kickstarted the company and cemented its place as a legendary car manufacturer. Classified as a sports car, the Ferrari 250 SWB was just as easily a decent GT car at heart, depending on the model. Ferrari built several different variants, but they were all called the 250. Succeeded by the 275 and the 330, it’s still held in high regards by most people, considered as possibly the greatest Ferrari road car of all time.
Officially, the Ferrari 250 SWB was offered in long wheelbase, short wheelbase and Europa. The Europa was the GT of the lineup, with a lengthy 2,800 mm wheelbase. The LWB came in at 2,600 mm, and the SWB at just 2,400 mm. The SWB was the nimblest and agile of the three, but a lot of them were convertibles. All three carried a 3.0-Litre naturally-aspirated V12 with 300 horsepower. As much as I love Ferrari’s current V12s, they don’t even come close to a small-capacity V12 such as the one found in the 250. It sounds mechanical and alive, if that’s the exact phrasing I’m looking for. Nothing was synthetically made back then. Everything you hear comes from the engine, it comes from metal parts rubbing against one another.
