Ferrari F50

F50 at a glance

All the Ferrari road cars from the 1940s to today are listed in the Ferrari catalogue. The F50's successor in this line was the Ferrari Enzo.

From Formula 1 to the road

The F40 of 1987 had used a twin-turbo V8. For its next flagship Ferrari took a different path: a naturally aspirated V12 and a composite chassis, both taken as directly as possible from racing. The engine came from the 3.5-litre V12 of the 1990 Ferrari 641, the car Alain Prost raced in Formula 1 that season. A version of the same engine was also used in the Ferrari 333 SP sports prototype, which raced in the IMSA GT Championship from 1994; this link made the F50 engine eligible for the stock-engine class in World Sports Car racing.

The F50 was presented at the Geneva motor show and described by RM Sotheby's as an early celebration of the marque's 50th anniversary. The last of the 349 cars left the factory in July 1997. In the United States the car was offered under an unusual lease programme, designed to stop speculators making a quick profit on cars that had only just arrived.

Design and body

The body was designed at Pininfarina, with Pietro Camardella and Lorenzo Ramaciotti credited by Wikipedia. Its shape developed ideas from the Ferrari Mythos concept car of 1989, and Wikipedia notes that the designers drew on the Formula 1 cars of the time, especially for the front end.

The F50 is a two-seat targa. A removable roof panel covers the cabin and can be taken off to drive the car open.

Ferrari offered five colours. According to Wikipedia, 302 cars were painted Rosso Corsa, 31 Giallo Modena, 8 Rosso Barchetta, 4 Argento Nürburgring and 4 Nero Daytona.

The F1-derived V12

The Tipo F130B engine is a 65° V12 of 4,698.5 cc, mounted lengthwise behind the cabin. Bore and stroke are 85 × 69 mm and the compression ratio is 11.3:1. Each cylinder has five valves — three inlet and two exhaust — operated by two chain-driven camshafts per bank. The block is nodular cast iron and the heads are aluminium; the connecting rods are forged titanium and the pistons forged Mahle units. The intake manifold is carbon fibre, the cam covers magnesium. The engine weighs 198 kg.

Output is 382 kW (520 PS) at 8,500 rpm, the red line, with the fuel cut at 8,640 rpm. Torque peaks at 471 Nm at 6,500 rpm. Bosch Motronic 2.7 sequential injection, a variable-length intake and butterfly valves in the upper exhaust pipes help the engine to pull at lower speeds. Lubrication is by dry sump, with the oil tank inside the final-drive housing.

Power reaches the rear wheels through a six-speed manual gearbox with a dry twin-plate clutch and a limited-slip differential. Weight is split 42% front and 58% rear. Wikipedia lists a standing quarter mile of 12.1 seconds at 198 km/h and a lateral grip figure of 0.95 g.

Chassis and suspension

The core of the car is a central tub of carbon fibre and epoxy with a Nomex honeycomb core. The mounting points for the suspension, the engine and the gearbox are bonded into the structure during curing. Torsional stiffness is given as 34,570 Nm per degree.

Suspension follows racing practice: unequal-length wishbones with rose joints at all four corners, pushrods, coil springs and Bilstein monotube gas dampers with electronic adaptive control. The system reads steering angle and speed, body movements, brake pressure and vehicle speed and adjusts the damping in about 25–30 milliseconds on average. The front ride height can be raised electronically by up to 40 mm.

The steering is a TRW rack without power assistance, with 3.3 turns from lock to lock. Brakes are Brembo cross-drilled, ventilated cast-iron discs with four-piston aluminium calipers, and there is no ABS. The wheels are Speedline magnesium rims, 18 inches in diameter, 8.5 inches wide at the front and 13 inches at the rear, with Goodyear Eagle F1 GS Fiorano tyres (245/35 ZR18 and 335/30 ZR18). The fuel tank, a 105-litre foam-filled rubber bladder, was built to aviation standards.

F50 GT: the racer that never raced

Ferrari also prepared a racing version for the BPR Global GT Series, where the McLaren F1 GTR was the car to beat. The F50 GT was developed with Dallara and Michelotto. It had a fixed roof, a larger rear wing and a new front spoiler, and its engine was tuned to about 559 kW (760 PS) at 10,500 rpm and 520 Nm at 7,500 rpm. A test in 1996 reportedly showed it to be faster than the 333 SP prototype.

The car never raced. The BPR series was replaced by the FIA GT Championship, which allowed homologation specials such as the Porsche 911 GT1, and Ferrari objected and cancelled the programme. Six chassis had been planned; three complete cars (chassis 001, 002 and 003) were sold, and the remaining three tubs were reportedly destroyed.

Legacy

The F50 holds a particular place among Ferrari's limited models: its engine is the most direct link Maranello has made between a Formula 1 power unit and a road car, and only 349 were built. It was followed in the same role by the Enzo, which kept a V12 and a carbon-fibre structure. Read more about the brand's racing roots in our history of Ferrari.

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