The Maserati Ghibli is one of the finest car designs ever to flow from the pen of Giorgetto Giugiaro (see our feature on Giugiaro on page 20 of influx issue 6). Powered by a V8 mounted up front, the car came with the unusual feature of two fuel tanks.
The immense 612bhp 6 litre v12 makes the 599 the most powerful production Ferrari ever, and if supercars have any kind of a future, this may be it. The Pininfarina design is fresh as ever, and the ride is superb, thanks to the same Magneride suspension used on the Audi R8 (and featured on page 7 of influx issue 6).
In fact the 599 is everything the Ferrari F40 wasn’t — a usable supercar with performance when you need it, and refinement all the time, with all mod cons thrown in — it even comes with an iPod connection as standard.
The Ferrari F40 recently celebrated its 21st birthday. The swansong of Enzo Ferrari, it was introduced on 21st July 1987 to celebrate Ferrari’s 40th anniversary.
Engineered with the sole purpose of becoming the fastest production car in the world, Ferrari viewed it as a competitor to the Porsche 959. But whereas the Porsche was a luxury automobile, the Ferrari was a stripped-down, raw machine of Kevlar, carbon fibre and lightweight aluminium and didn’t even come with floor-mats.
“A supercar you can use everyday.” The 911, in its various guises has always aimed for that accolade, but, the 993 Turbo was the ultimate combination of luxury, performance and excitement. Benefitting from an all-new multi-arm rear suspension, which reduced the tendency to oversteer traditionally found on the 911. Uprated brakes, improved power steering and a dual-flow exhaust system balanced against the thrill of that legendary flat six engine at the back to create a tamed monster.
This was the last air-cooled turbo, but the first fitted with all wheel drive, electronic engine management and OBD-II onboard diagnostics. This car is the fusion of a glorious heritage with the white heat of technology.
The story of the birth of the GT40 is legendary. Henry Ford II, outraged at Enzo Ferrari for pulling out of a deal to sell up his company to the Americans, ordered his engineers to come up with a car that could humble Ferrari at Le Mans, which the Italians had won six times in a row from 1960 to 1965.
The Mk1, 2 & 3 versions of the GT40 can claim to be largely British as they were designed and built by Ford’ Advanced Vehicles Ltd, in association with Lola engineers, at Bromley, then Slough, with the chassis made in Coventry.
Our shoot featured a Sbarro GT40 rather than an original — the scarcity of the original cars, and their value makes them very hard to come by — but Franco Sbarro has better claims than most to build authentic GT40 replicas, as he was part of the Ford Advanced Vehicles team. Even near-exact replicas such as can sell for around a quarter of a million, such is the regard for the GT40.
As the credit crunch bites, the price of petrol seems to spiral ever higher and environmental responsibilities start to weigh on manufacturers, you have to wonder — is the Bugatti Veyron going to be the last true supercar for a while? For ever, even?
influx gathered six iconic supercars from the last four decades and spent the day with them.
This is such a good piece mate. I have a little lock-up in Brighton. We're very ...
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Ben Oliver traces how the car reflected what the world was thinking…
Choose your own classic car of the future and let us know why — or tell us why we’re wrong.
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