2024 Ferrari F80 - LaFerrari replacement (F250)

[McLaren]

So it was a road car that was better at both the road and racing than a race car? The F40 is legendary don't get me wrong, but it wasn't all that good of a car.

The F40 was also a near-decade old by the time McLaren took the F1 racing in '95. The F40's origin story is from a race car (288 GTO) designed for Group B b/c they wanted to use the 4-liter Class to prove the true performance of their cars. But, as history shows, Group B was killed before it could be completed, & the only reason it continued is b/c Enzo wanted a legacy car before his death. According to them, they purposely made it as raw & unforgiving b/c there was a view that Ferrari cars were getting soft, & those 2 traits are reportedly linked back to races cars lead engineer Nicola Materazzi raced.

“We wanted it to be very fast, sporting in the extreme and Spartan,” he [Giovanni Perfetti, Ferrari marketing] says. “Customers had been saying our cars were becoming too plush and comfortable.

The F40 is for the most enthusiastic of our owners who want nothing but sheer performance. It isn't a laboratory for the future, as the 959 is. It is not Star Wars. And it wasn't created because Porsche built the 959. It would have happened anyway."

I mean, your view that it wasn't all that good of a car were not uncommon during its initial reviews. It had a lukewarm reception with different views of why it was even built. Gordon was not fond of the build quality being reminiscent of outdated technology, but others exclaimed that was what made it such a terrorifying and fun car to drive b/c it was just a go-kart with a Groupe B engine in it.