The Ferrari F50 was first introdcued in 1995 as a celebration of the marque’s fiftieth anniversary in the motor industry. It came in the shape of a two seat, two door convertible with removable hard top.
After extensive market research, Ferrari decided that 350 vehicles was the maximum they would be able to sell, eventually producing a total of 349 F50’s. Ferrari spokesman Antonio Ghini gave this explanation: "Ferraris are something cultural, a monument. They must be hard to find, so we will produce one less car than the market." Production ended in July 1997, the final F50 being made in Maranello in Italy.
The Ferrari F50 came with a 4.7 litre naturally-aspirated V12 60-valve engine, developed directly from Ferrari’s F1 engines. It was a powerhouse which predated the F50, first seeing action in the F333SP IMSA racing series car of 1994.
Engineering
The F50 is low-slung, boasting enormous front air intakes. Its sleek lines sweep majestically back to the rear airfoil, and the area behind the seats is characterised by aerodynamically-designed slopes. The F50’s look falls somewhere between the Batmobile and a ballistic missile.
The 4.7 litre engine produces 520 bhp, propelling the F50 from 0-60 mph in just 3.7 seconds. The carbon fibre body is capable of reaching an incredible top speed of 203 mph.
Racing pedigree
In keeping with the racing theme, and in order to be able to compete in racing’s GT1 class, an F50 protoype was developed, named the Ferrari F50 GT. This version had a fixed hard roof, sizeable rear spoiler and re-designed front spoiler, amongst other refinements. The same 4.7 litre V12 was used, but was tuned to produce a staggerng 750 bhp. In 1996, the F50 GT underwent rigorous testing, and proved to be exceptionally quick, even faster than the 333SP. The new model’s credentials, however, went unnoticed, with the cancellation of the F50 GT project, apparently in order that Ferrari could concentrate its efforts on Formula 1. Three complete F50 GT chassis were built before the end of the project. Bodies were fitted to these, and they were sold on, with the three remaining tubs being destroyed. Even by Ferrari standards, the F50 GT is an extremely rare model.
In 1998, the Sultan of Brunei commissioned a customised F50, named the Bolide. Ferrari delivered the vehicle the same year. It was created using the Fiat-based V12 powerhouse and the same chassis as the regular F50, but underwent aesthetic re-designing of the standard F50 unibody construction. Ferrari produced only one F50 with a coupe body. The technical specifications of the Bolide are similar to those of the production F50.
© 2006 Martin Hemmings and Ken Leonard for www.sport-cars.org
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