Overview

The Ferrari F50 is a high-performance supercar made by Ferrari. The F50 was introduced in 1996 to celebrate the company's 50th anniversary. The car is a two door, two seat convertible sports car with a removable hardtop. It had a 4.7 L naturally-aspirated 60-valve V12 engine that was developed from Ferrari's Formula One engines.

Only 349 cars were made, one less than Ferrari estimated they could sell. This was, in the words of Ferrari spokesman Antonio Ghini, because "Ferraris are something cultural, a monument. They must be hard to find, so we will produce one less car than the market." The last F50 was produced in Maranello, Italy in July 1997.

The F50's engine predated the car: It was used in the Ferrari 333 SP for the American IMSA series in 1994.

Racing

Following the motorsports theme, to compete in GT1-class racing, Ferrari developed a prototype based on the F50, the F50 GT. The car had a fixed roof, large rear spoiler, new front spoiler and many other adjustments. The 4.7 litre V12 engine was tuned to generate around 750 bhp. In testing in 1996 the car proved to be quicker even than the 333SP, but this went unnoticed as Ferrari cancelled the F50 GT project, instead focusing on Formula 1. Ferrari sold off the three complete chassis that were built - the test car 001, and 002/003, both of which had bodies fitted before being sold on. The remaining three tubs were apparently destroyed.

A custom made F50 variant named the Bolide was commissioned by the Sultan of Brunei in 1998 and delivered in the same year. It used the Fiat derived V12 engine and the same chassis, but was completely redesigned due to the monocoque construction of the body on the F50. 1 car was produced in the coupe configuration. Very few images and no official performance statistics of the car are available.

Specs

Engine type: 4.7 L (4699 cc/286 in³) V12
o Bore: 85 mm (3.30 in)
o Stroke: 69 mm (2.72 in)
Power: 513 hp (383 kW) at 8500 rpm
Torque: 347 ft·lbf (470 N·m) at 6500 rpm
Wheelbase: 2581 mm (101.6 in)
Length: 4481 mm (176.4 in)
Height: 1120 mm (44.1 in)
Width: 1986 mm (78.2 in)
Curb weight: 1229 kg (2710 lb)
Top speed: 325 km/h (202 mph)
0-60 mph (97 km/h): 3.7 s
0-100 mph (161 km/h): 7.2 s
1/4 mile: 11.1 s