FERRARI ENZO

Carbon fiber, kevlar, composite material, plastic, rubber, whatever it's made of my sole point is it should be black the way the Ferrari factory made it for a reason.

 

Let me try this more thoughtfully.

Without conducting a study of the composition of the Enzo's body panels, which I have never had any reason to do so far despite all the Enzos we have sold, I was speaking with Marcel in reaction to his post of the Argento Enzo, and my observation in the form of a rhetorical question was "The plastic/rubber trim alongside the bottom of the car painted body color post production?" to which he simply replied "Most probably yes. Have to check with owner".

He obviously gets it, and the point was made.

I made my personal observations that Enzos look better in factory paint finish because it's both more purposeful and the car's profile looks sleeker - as Ferrari SpA intended, which is why I raised this topic in the first place.

Below find a set of images which highlight the area I am speaking of, a discussion of the paint finish - satin black - and not a discussion of the area's material composition.

Mechaniker may be quite right about the lower trim also being carbon fiber like the main body components, but perhaps I can be forgiven for concluding that the satin black lower trim parts sure look like plastic rash protection trim purposefully affixed to the lower part of body components to absorb scrapes & rash, as we see on millions of cars universally. For my part I'm positive I read somewhere that the Enzo's lower trim is CFRP (carbon fiber reinforced plastic) which might be where I got the crazy idea that plastic might be involved - and no I'm not speaking of the unpainted CF vertical aero fins in the rear valance and the unpainted CF horizontal one directly under the nose, just the satin black parts.

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No Paul actually I was quite correct in my observation that the standard guise for Enzos from the factory was with the lower trim painted satin black.

 

Mechaniker, apparently there's plastic in the lower trim, also, the satin black lower trim parts I speak of are not the same composition as the body color painted sections as you said, and, the Enzo's body is not just Carbon Fiber.

Today I had time to check in person with one of Ferrari North America's longtime specialist coach-builders, who happened to have 2 Enzos in the facility. Apparently the parts I am speaking of (the 2 satin-black pads either side of the underside the nose, both side sills, and the rear valance) are intentionally made in CFRP (Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic), which is fused to the bodywork which is of a different composite. He says the reason for Ferrari SpA using carbon fiber reinforced plastic for the lower trim is to provide an increase tensile strength for those areas which Ferrari expected to be subjected to road-wear & damage. The same concern that these areas would be subjected to wear & damage was why they painted them in satin black as this could more easily be periodically refinished. The CFRP areas I speak of are epoxy-bonded to the composite material front nose unit, the tub undersides, and the rear bumper component. He showed me where the components I speak of are fused to the overall bodywork on a bumper which was off the car. These areas are a different composition from the flat under-trays that run the central length of the car and which consist of a Carbon Fiber & Kevlar composite weave (as are the front and rear aero fins), to protect the car from underside road impacts from objects like rocks etc.

The experienced Ferrari SpA coachbuilder said the Enzo's body panels are made with a composition of Carbon Fiber & Kevlar, and Carbon Fiber & Nomex, not just Carbon Fiber. The same thing is separately documented in a 2003 Car Body Design article where Ferrari SpA confirmed that the Enzo's bodywork as perfected in Pinfinarina’s wind tunnel is comprised panels with a composition combination of Carbon Fiber & Kevlar and Carbon Fiber & Nomex, not just Carbon Fiber. According to this piece, this composition of materials for different sections of the car allowed Pininfarina to structure a lightweight body-shell, still create the angular stylistic form that is the Enzo, and meet safety standards.

Here's an image showing the different composition of the flat under-trays that run the central length of the car and which consists of a Carbon Fiber & Kevlar composite weave, contrast that with the satin black painted rear valance which is made of CFRP.

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In the 2nd image of the underside of the bumper, you can see the line where the Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic areas I speak of are epoxy-bonded and fused to the overall Carbon Fiber & Kevlar bodywork, I learned that the fact that the bumper unit is all one piece does not mean its doesn't comprise multiple composite materials.

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Sure, the point is I learned that in fact the satin black lower trim parts I first speak of with Marcel are of a different composition to the body color painted sections, they are not the same as Mechaniker suggested above, this was something I had always suspected, and have now confirmed.

 

I'm always happy to learn and I love the process of researching and verifying rather than taking the word of a keyboard specialist (of which there are many), I'm also happy to discuss with you Mechaniker, at least we both have actual hands-on experience with these cars in one specialty or another.

 

Beautiful barely 1,000 miles Enzo we have just inspected here in California as serviced by Ferrari of Newport Beach, it only needs somebody to add mileage to it!

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My images checking out 133927, Ferrari's body panel composites and overall build quality evolved significantly over the decades from 288 GTO > F40 > F50 > Enzo.

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Serob if you guys are still looking for a non-red Enzo here's a Giallo Modena example with just over 1,000 miles which you can speak privately to me offline about, owned by our longtime client, it's been serviced by the local Ferrari dealer regularly and is Classiche Certified.

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Our personal favorite Enzo is 135872, new to Ferrari VIP client Chip Connor, we're privileged to have handled the sale of it twice, Grigio Titanio (3238 140) over Rosso (112806), engine number 80775, gearbox number 313, body number 116, assembly number 52895. The factory build commenced on 12th of December 2003, and concluded on 30th of April 2004.

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