2008 Ferrari 430 Spider F1 F1 2-door Convertible, Carbon Fiber Driving Zones, on 2040-cars

Auto blog

As the iconic Ferrari F40 turns 30, a look back at its development

July 21, 2017 marks the 30th anniversary, to the day, of the Ferrari F40's debut. The F40 is easily one of the greatest Ferraris ever produced: It was one of the first road cars to have a top speed of 200 mph, it celebrated the company's 40th anniversary, and it was the very last model that founder Enzo Ferrari was able to see to completion. To celebrate this historic car's anniversary, Ferrari collected some anecdotes from people who worked on the F40 project, and they reveal some interesting details about the car's development. Among these details was the timeframe for creating the car. Ermanno Bonfiglioli, Head of Special Projects at Ferrari at the time, said that the car was developed in just 13 months. That means everything from the styling to the engine were taken from an idea to a production car in barely over a year. The engine wasn't quite a from-scratch design, though, since it was based on the unreleased 288 GTO Evoluzione's 650-horsepower engine, but it still received many updates to become the 487-horsepower engine we know today. Bonfiglioli highlighted the engine's weight savings due to using magnesium for the oil sump, cylinder head covers, intake manifold, and transmission bellhousing. It was after driving one of those 288 GTO Evoluziones that Pininfarina designer Leonardo Fiorvanti learned about Enzo Ferrari's plan for the F40. He said that after telling Enzo his thoughts on the 288, Enzo told him he wanted to make a "true Ferrari." Fiorvanti also revealed that everyone, including Enzo, knew this would be the last car for the founder. From what Ferrari test driver Bario Benuzzi said about the F40, it certainly didn't start out as a "true Ferrari." He said, "The handling of the first prototypes were poor." But in the short development time, the F40 became the car Enzo wanted, and Benuzzi credits plenty of downforce and the light, stiff chassis. It didn't make the car easy to drive, though. Benuzzi said, "With no power steering, power brakes or electronic devices, it demands the skill and commitment of the driver, but generously repays it with a unique driving experience." Related Video: Featured Gallery Ferrari F40 Ferrari Coupe Supercars Classics ferrari f40

This electric Ferrari 308 GTS would do Magnum PI proud

We've seen Lancias, Alfas, Maseratis, and assorted F1 cars over the years packing Ferrari engine. But seeing a Ferrari running under different power is something else entirely – let alone one packing a fully electric powertrain. Yet that's what one company in Southern California has done with this 1978 Ferrari 308 GTS, swapping out its V8 engine for an array of electric motors and battery packs. Rather than tearing apart a perfectly good Italian sports car, Eric Hutchison of San Diego-based Electric GT found the Magnum PI-spec Prancing Horse for salvage after it had burned out from an unfortunate fuel leak. One man's loss being another's gain, he bought it for $10,000 and, together with his friend Michael Bream at EV West, set about converting it to electric power. The cavallo elettrico produces an impressive 465 horsepower and 330 pound-feet of torque. With three AC51 HPEVS electric motors and 48 batteries installed, the cavallo elettrico produces an impressive 465 horsepower and 330 pound-feet of torque. That's a heck of a lot more than the 2.9-liter V8 in the original 308 ever produced: before later versions introduced fuel injection and four-valve cylinder heads, the 308 packed about 200 horsepower and 181 lb-ft. Not one of the most powerful models ever to leave the factory in Maranello, in other words. To handle the extra muscle, Hutchison, Bream, and company fitted a new clutch, flywheel, pressure plate, and (perhaps the oddest part) a Porsche transaxle, mounted upside down. Though most EVs do away with a conventional transmission, Hutchison points to the original (though ultimately unfulfilled) Tesla Roadster plans and the Formula E setup as evidence of the combo's ideal blend of efficiency and performance. "The massive torque transferring through the transmission engages the driver in a clutch-dropping, gear-pounding Ferrari experience," he said. To offset the added weight of the four dozen 3.3-volt lithium-ion batteries, they stripped out anything they could, and found new homes for many of the jettisoned components through fora like Ferrari Chat, whose members enthusiastically followed the conversion process. The result is a vehicle just 150 pounds heavier than stock that can travel 100 miles on a single charge. That's more than most OEM EVs can go these days, and (arguably) in better style, too. We've been following the project's development for nearly two years now, and took it for a spin on Translogic.

Race Recap: 2015 Hungarian Grand Prix is Magyar for 'What a race!'

Every driver on the Formula 1 grid dreams of taking home the silverware, but only one driver each year can do it. Barring disaster in 2015 it looks like it's going to be Lewis Hamilton. The Brit has been so dominating at the front of the grid on Saturday, we can't see how he'll miss out on winning the second annual FIA Pole Position Trophy. That's the accolade introduced last season in another manufactured attempt to give drivers something to work for on Saturday, since the FIA felt leading into the first corner didn't have the pull it used to. Hamilton took his ninth pole of the season in Hungary for Mercedes-AMG Petronas with a crushing lap that put him almost six tenths ahead of his teammate Nico Rosberg in second. All Hamilton needs is one more spot at the top of the grid this season, and he's the Pole Position trophy winner. Thrilling stuff. Behind Rosberg the gaps stayed smaller, Sebastian Vettel in the Ferrari a little more than a tenth behind Rosberg, Daniel Ricciardo in the Infiniti Red Bull Racing less than four one-hundredths behind Vettel. We feel almost as vexed watching Kimi Raikkonen as he feels driving – he's finally got a good Ferrari, now he can't get a good weekend. The front wing broke on his car in Free Practice 1, then a water leak in Free Practice 3 robbed him of setup time on the soft tire. He lines up in fifth about two tenths behind Ricciardo. The slow, tight Hungaroring didn't agree with the Williams chassis, Valtteri Bottas the first of the Grove team drivers in sixth, his teammate Felipe Massa two places back. Between them is Daniil Kvyat in the second Red Bull in seventh. Teenager Max Verstappen put in a good showing in the Toro Rosso to grab ninth, while Romain Grosjean in a wriggling, squishy, sliding Lotus classified his appearance in Q3 at all as "a miracle." As for the race that followed, we don't expect to see another like it for a long time – it was the real thrilling stuff, one shock after another. The drama began after the first parade lap, when Felipe Massa lined up out of position and the start was aborted. The drivers did another parade lap, then lined up with everyone in place. Mercedes got swamped as soon as the lights went out. Vettel ran around both of them and led the race into the first turn, Raikkonen had come from fifth to third by Turn 1, then got the inside line on Rosberg through Turn 2 to take second place.