Straight-piped Ferrari F50 Rips Through London!
For 8 minutes, you can enjoy the sounds of the naturally-aspirated V12 in a Ferrari F50 blast though a catalytic converter-free exhaust.
The Ferrari F40 is considered by many to be the ultimate Ferrari supercar. Scratch that. Many consider it the ultimate supercar full stop. And it very well might be, however, the sequel to the F40 was no less dramatic. The Ferrari F50 was launched in 1995 as a follow up to the wildly successful F40. Where the F40 was a raw beast using a turbocharged V8, the F50 went with a 4.7-liter naturally aspirated V12. This engine was a direct derivative of the V12 found in the 1990 Ferrari Formula One race car. Unmuffled by any turbos and with a targa top the F50 bathed the driver in beautiful Italian music. However, if you want even more sound, you could always run your F50 with straight pipes. That is exactly what we have here.
Only 349 F50s were made between 1995 and 1997, and only 4 of them were painted in Argento Nurburgring. One of them resides in London and was recently captured thrilling the city residents with its incredible looks and sounds. The folks at TheTFJJ posted a lovely 8-minute-long clip on their YouTube channel. In this clip you will get to enjoy the F50 driving on the city streets and treating onlookers to that unmistakable Ferrari V12 sound. A sound that is unencumbered by any catalytic converters. London might not be the most supercar friendly city around. However, the juxtaposition of the small city streets, historic buildings and screaming F1-derived engine makes for thrilling footage.
The video begins with a tiny and well-worn garage door opening to reveal the multi-million-dollar supercar. Shortly after the engine is fired up and the goosebumps begin. The F50 obviously sounds incredible. Cold starts, ripping through a tunnel and just driving along it sounds like someone has turned a vintage F1 car loose on the city streets. But the car is special beyond just the amazing sound. It was built in the days before Ferrari put paddle shifters in everything. That means the iconic gated Ferrari shifter is there. The car also still looks fantastic. To the average citizen on the street, this could pass for a brand-new car. It still looks modern and sleek. That is not something that can be said of many cars built in this era.
Amazingly at the time this car was released several folks felt it was a big step back from the F40. Of course, the car was not perfect, but it was every bit as special. First, the F50 is quite a bit rarer. There are nearly 4 F40s for every 1 F50 in the world today. Second, the F50 marked the first time that Ferrari used an entirely carbon fiber tub in a road car. That big V12 was bolted directly to the tub. It made the car very stiff. Great for handling but not so great for the elderly gentleman who wanted to pop over to the country club and play a round of golf. He would be beat up and sore before he even got there.
Looking back now, everyone realizes how special these cars were. It is proven by the fact that you need to spend well into the seven-figure range in order to buy one. In fact, for those on a budget, they can put an F40 in their garage for considerably less. However, cheaper still is just playing this video and watching and listening to this beautiful machine in action.
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