F40 vs Porsche Carrera GT

Reading what you've written there Roman, you're perfectly well aware that neither is the obvious choice for a cross continental blast. I've driven F40s but never owned one, though I've had my CGT for 13 years, and have done a few trips from the UK and across France in it.

The main issue with the CGT is luggage space, you can see all of what's usable from outside the car. Longest I've been touring in it is 2 weeks, with my girlfriend at the time who could pack everything she needed into a soft bag that went under her knees plus a suit carrier behind her seat. Everything I needed was in a suit carrier behind my seat because I don't need vast numbers of shoes to go with different outfits.. We were planning to do laundry in Nice, only to find the laundry guys were on strike, but it wasn't any real hardship to be honest. It's usually pretty warm weather so you don't wear much. We chose hotels where you could park, either right out front or in the back and secured by a gate or something. If anyone was insisting on valet parking my car, I said I would need them to first sign a disclaimer that they would pay to recover the car back to England and replace the clutch if they burned it out. No-one took me up on it, and I gave them a tip anyway.

The Cote D'Azur has been carpet bombed with enormous speed bumps and it's just no fun crawling over them every few hundred metres. I used the car for a trip to Monaco a couple of years ago and wouldn't bother again. The real point of doing something like this, and I really get it, is driving on rural roads in France, which are EPIC.They're well maintained and lightly trafficked so a car with the performance of a CGT is just wonderful. I absolutely love Col Bonhomme in the Vosges (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Col_du_Bonhomme). In the CGT, up and over this is simply life affirming. And in a 'lesser' car is no great shakes. But in something with explosive performance and brakes is just mega. Managed to dig this up from 2008, the first trip I took. Photos no longer there but the text is https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&t=553447

Whichever your choice of chariot, just do it.

 

the problem with the barchetta is the lack of a decent top.
the bikini top has a speed limit, and the hardtop is ugly and impossible to store on board.

 

then look at 575 super america, hard top incorporated

 

Love this

 

hmmm that top says 70km/h. but maybe they came up with another that can do 200km/h as you say.....

btw, have you ever been inside a tent in a hurricane?

 

Worth chatting to DK, in their recent youtube video they showed a fire damaged F40 they are rebuilding and addressing many of the issues raised here by planning to modernise it in a Singer type way.

This could be the route higher mileage/damaged examples end in the future, as parts supply dwindle to be able to put them back to standard. Typically these had become LM clones in the past.

Maybe find a less expensive donor F40 and have DK or others do the same for you?

The F40 will always be iconic regardless of spec.

 

well that was funny - i was wondering what you were going on about at the start

ok, if you say they have an adequate top, then maybe it works.....i will remain skeptical until you report back what it was like to live with for 1000 miles !

mind you, the f40 has no sound deadening, so droning on the highway for a few hours will make you deaf - i ended up wearing a pair of ear plugs.

 

I loved loved loved the CGT but let’s all be honest for those who know them well, it is precarious in certain situations and can have extreme maintenance bills attached to it. Everything’s a process with them as anything that precise should be.

Carbon racing car for the road. What you would imagine a modern day 550 Spyder would need to be. Getting in the groove alone with one is a magical car experience. It is in no way a beginner supercar. If you can really drive and are comfortable with a car that demands 100% focus 100% of the time then it’s a great thing.

I’ll have to revisit when there’s more seat time in the F40. Immediate impression is our Euro car is way smaller and lighter than the CGT. Better visibility and clearance.

 

after that mega trip, i had a lumbar support cushion custom made from the same seat material, and it helps a lot.
since you seem to have made up your mind, i will add a few more comments in random order:
- call simon kidston to see if he knows any for sale
- look through the uk dealers, they seem to have several, but you need to look them over carefully.
- do not be dissuaded from cars that have improved brakes, tubi's, bigger turbos etc - they work better.
- whatever you buy, pls have it completely checked out by an f40 expert - DK or Bob Houghton for example. if they tell you to do something, do it.
- if the tires are very old, even if they have good tread, replace them
- use the car, or at least start it and warm it up, minimum every 2 weeks, if not every week. run the ac as well.
- have the f40 expert install a cigar lighter somewhere unobtrusive - you will need it for all sorts of things.
- get a stronger battery
- practice driving it around empty places before you take it into a tight space first time - once you are strapped in its not so easy to see the far corners, and there is no power anything - hope you have strong arms and shoulders
- get the schedoni luggage - you can fit so much more in then.
- do not bother installing a radio - completely useless given the music coming from behind you.
- after you have the car back, get it fully detailed, and then Xpel the entire car
- if ever anybody offers you a spare part for an f40, buy it, even if you dont need it. i am not suggesting hoarding, but i have come across people liquidating stock etc and i have bought parts and it has been a good thing.

 

all very good points from Ross.

If the car is going to be stored in an underground car park, make sure you have access to a power supply, fit a trickle charger, nothing worse than turning up to take your pride and joy for a blast and its dead!
I assume your insurance will require a Tracker, this will drain the power over time.
Roman I can give you some direction for good insurance in the UK when the time comes.
Also buy a very good indoor car cover, so the car is protected when stored - I can also direct you where and what to buy.

hope it all works out, and you fulfill your dream
cheers Mark

 

Keep it bone stock IMO. Feel it the way it was meant to be felt. Spend the money restoring anything needing to be returned to stock or needing rebuilding. As a street car everything is more than adequate as-is and the next owner will appreciate it more.

 

Roman F40's came with 3 different weaves/shades of red seat material used over the period of production - no one really notices unless you have two or three different seats next to each other. But if you are going to add a lumbar cushion, then you want it in the correct weave/shade to match your seats. I have a source of all 3 materials and an expert upholsterer to do the work for you, when you are ready I will point you his way.

 

Well-said.

If you are in the UK, I do recommend DK Engineering as they are the full resource for these with longterm experience, they maintain them and often have great examples for sale, and when they don't have exactly what you want, James C can probably find it.

If you must have an F40 for any reason or purpose, here's my professional perspective as an independent entity who specializes in them. In the past decade we have sold around forty (40) F40s, meaning we've touched/inspected/done due-diligence on at least 3 times that number, the net result of that collective longterm experience is the following:

Avoid F40s that have been modified in any way, except perhaps a sports exhaust, and even in that case the original unit absolutely must come with the car, bearing in mind that if you do a cross-continental trip, you'd want the quieter unit. Avoid cars that have had wheels, brakes, turbo and body mods. Avoid color-changed F40s at all costs. Most especially avoid modified F40s that are presented by sellers who insist that it can easily be returned to stock, yet haven't bothered to do same prior to trying to sell.

Do not be persuaded that cars which are modified work better, this sentiment usually comes from those unfamiliar with how a standard well-maintained F40 can and should operate, of course, we can't all have the pleasure of having Dario Benuzzi demonstrate what a bone stock F40 can do around Fiorano, but James C at DK Engineering will be happy to oblige similarly. In my experience, F40 mods themselves are almost always a compromise of sorts which re-engineer the car's optimum settings, are often executed poorly, and therefore often make the car unreliable.

An unmodified F40 whose previous owner has spent the money on actually maintaining the car itself (as opposed to spending it on mods yet neglecting basic maintenance) will not only be more reliable, it will be more satisfying from an ownership standpoint, and it will always be more valuable than a modded F40. The latter is the bottom line and it really matters as these are million dollar cars as opposed to 100k cars. The simple age-old adage of "Find the best example you can and buy that one" will always serve you best.

Don't be discouraged by the guidelines I recommend, in fact they are easy to follow because they made over 1,300 F40s, of which at least 1,100 are the European/ROW variant which you probably want, and even though many have been bastardized and or suffered automotive vandalism, there are still many that have been nicely preserved and meticulously maintained. Again I don't think DK will have much trouble procuring a pristine example.

Good luck with this noble adventure!

 

For what it's worth, Harry Metcalfe thinks the CGT is currently the better buy over an F40 and places it second to only the McLaren F1.




^skip to 14:25 for CGT and 16:20 for his comment about the F40.