Not all Ferraris are born equal. True, each and every one of them is a bona-fide supercar (with a lemon or two thrown in from time to time; no one gets it always right…). Among all the models built over the years, though, there are four that stand out.
During an interview published in Ferrari’s official magazine, the automaker's Technical director Roberto Fedeli said that people inside the company feel the term “supercar” isn’t strong enough for these cars. “We call them ‘the special cars’”, he said. “Let’s refer to them as our ‘specials’”.
Is there some sort of underground movement in Germany we don’t know about devoted to converting Pontiac Fiero’s into shoddy Ferrari knockoffs? Is this a new national pastime over there or a devious ploy by Porsche, Mercedes-Benz and Audi to discredit their Italian competitors?
Whatever you may think, the Fiero-based Ferrari replica is here to stay. And, much like David Hasslehoff, there’s nowhere these things are more popular than in Germany. At least, that’s the impression that I get. Presumably built in Belgium (as it is registered there), this replica has 71,000 km (44,154 miles) on the clock, a manual transmission and a whopping 123 hp. That’s only 349 hp short of a real F40!
Pop quiz, hot shot; what’s better than a replica Ferrari F40? If you said an actual Ferrari F40, then you are dead wrong. The correct answer is a replica Ferrari F40 limousine. Fortunately (for us), such things actually exist.
So where would one find such an automotive monstrosity? In Japan, of course! You know, the country that brought us the Mitsuoka Orochi, melon flavored chocolate and a pillow shaped like a kneeling woman’s lap.
A Ferrari F40 with just 10,500 miles (16,898 km) on the clock is set to go under the hammer at the Historics at Brooklands Auction in Surrey, England. Organizers believe interest in the vehicle will be high, valuing this particular example between £280,000 and £320,000 (US$439,432 and US$502,208).
Just because you can't own a real Ferrari, doesn't necessarily mean that you have to go and butcher one up for the sake of fulfilling your desires... And while this here Corvette C4-based replica of the Ferrari F40, which was spotted hiding out in a garage somewhere in Spain, isn't the worst one we've seen to date (that award probably goes to the 1980s Suzuki mini-based Faux 40), it's not a pretty sight to behold, that's for sure. More photos of the "Ferrvette" F40 clone after the jump.
