f40 prototype (The first supercar)

Fabulous car and I may never have a unique Ferrari with such a pedigree. But I will say that, to me, the interesting Ferraris with pedigree all have battle scars from the Mille Miglia, LeMans and other driving events. I wonder if Enzo would indeed approve of his cars not being driven. I prefer to think of his legacy as one of building cars that can function as good as they look and with the intent that they be driven hard and repaired/maintained well.

But then again, I stroll through Pebble Beach for about an hour or so when in Monterey and spend the rest of the weekend at Laguan Seca. So what do I know?

Enjoy the car; it is yours to do with as you see fit and I can understand the desire to preserve something unique.

 

Are you talking about the 288 GTO Evoluzione (which is in fact the prototype of the F40) ? Or is it a normal F40? Can you share pictures or the serialnumber? Just curious ...

 

I saw your car at LoD a few weeks ago. Well, parts of the car at least. It was pretty well taken apart and Mike L. was explaining how they were rebuilding it to be shown at Pebble Beach. I believe one of the tell tale signs of the prototype is an extra louvre on the engine lid?

When hearing its story, I had the same reaction as Keith. How can this beautiful car not be driven? It seemed like such a waste. It might be like driving an F-1 car, but no one will ever know.

That said, if I were lucky enough to own it today I wouldn't have the balls to put such a beautiful museum piece on the track. Enjoy the car, it was stunning to see in person.

 

Could you give the s/n of your car ?? Any pictures ??
Thanks

 

are u talking about the 288 GTO evoluzione? they made 5 of these...and 2 were used for the development of the F40, but as far as i know, these 2 were destroyed.

 

Jakermc, your post totally caught me surprised & disappointed. In the past few weeks, I have been visiting LoD almost every week, and didn't see this car! Crap! I wish I've seen it!!! BTW, your profile pic looks gorgeous, almost thought it was in Florida. Then I noticed you were in Dallas!

Wish I could see pics of this car!!!

 

to my understanding, the f40 prototype was the 288 evo chopped up and modified for the road.

 

Good eye, that pic was taken in Florida! Martin had it on consignment and took the pic.

I also saw your car up on the lift and the engine out on a stand. I was admiring the beautiful color and wishing it was on the ground as well so I could get a look inside. I had no idea at the time it was yours so I am happy to learn it went home to be taken care of by an F-chatter. Having seen your engine from every angle, the underbelly, all 4 rotors exposed, etc. it seems to me that you got one very clean car. Enjoy!

Looking at your car from behind, the F40 was about three bays down to the left. Mike L. gave us the run down on the car, the differences between it and the production car, etc. Given the state it was in when I saw it a few weeks ago, I can't imagine they are done preparing it for Pebble Beach yet. You might want to give them a call and see if its still around to take a peek.

Strange that the original poster hasn't come back to comment more on the car .....

 

I cant wait for pics from Pebble !! I need to see the beast ! By your words , it sounds like a monster ! It sounds like the most desirable Ferrari ever ! Lighter and more powerfull F40 ? Dreams come true !

Can you please post some pics ?

Thanks a lot for sharing with us !

To all of you that will be at pebble , please overload your cards with this one of a kind F40 !

Grazie .

 

And what about the s/n ??

 

Is this the car you are talking about? or is there another prototype?

 

wow, this thread is gonna get really interesting soon.

 

3 miles?

In 1986, the 6 "disappointing" 288 Evoluzione performance against Porsche 959's in Group B were the reason the F40 came to be... then and there.

That being the case, is this discussion revolving around 1 of 50 "Lexan Windows" F40's only built in 1987?

 

What do u mean by "the 6 "disappointing" 288 Evoluzione performance against Porsche 959" ?

 

I tried to be a man of few words (for once) and it didn't quite come out right, aye... I'll try again.

Going backwards a step - homologation was given to Ferrari after they'd completed 200 GTO's - so the Evoluzione came to be... sights were set on Group B...

In '86, after unrelated Group B accidents, FIA brought Group B to a grinding halt. Thusly, (what I think would have been) a showdown between 288 Evoluzione vs. 959 never materialized. That would have been a performance to watch, but disappointingly, it didn't happen.

So, they took lemons (the FIA decision) and made lemonade. Different strokes for different folks, if you will. Thus, began the F40: something old, new, borrowed, blue. I believe 'Napolis quoted once that when the F40 was unveiled, Enzo said, "Bella..."
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70167, 70205, 79887, 79888 & 79889 are 5 of the 6 GTO Evoluzione's s/n's. Is 50253 the actual 1st of the bunch - by a long shot?

 

so what prototype is this? i'm a little confused because the pictures were of the f40 evoluzione. is that the prototype for the 288 gto?

http://www.globalcar.com/cgi-bin/gct.pl?CALLER=MORE_INFO&CODE_TRADER=101028&CODE_CAR=147030&TYPE=1&PRIVATE=0
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I have a book titled "Original Ferrari V8" by Keith Bluemel. On page 115 shows the "pre-production" F40 prototype. This prototype looks identical to the production F40 except for the vent slot patterns (rear Lexan engine cover and 5 slots instead of the usual 4 slots immediately behind the rear wheels). This prototype is neither the 288 Evoluzione nor the early production f40's with the sliding window.