The F50 was the Ferrari “extreme machine” of the nineties taking over the mantle from the F40. As with the F40 it was also a celebration model, this time heralding fifty years of Ferrari as a car manufacturer, albeit in reality a little early. At the unveiling of the new model at the 1995 Geneva Salon, Ferrari President Luca Di Montezemolo stated that only 349 examples would be produced, one less than they thought that they could sell. A definite change in marketing strategy, brought about by the change in market conditions, after the slump at the beginning of the decade.
THE STORY
Whereas the two previous “Supercars” had been powered by turbocharged V8 engines, the nineties variant used a normally aspirated V12 engine as the motive force, albeit more than fifty per cent greater in capacity than its predecessors. Similarly the earlier models had introduced increasing degrees of technology learned from the Formula One cars, particularly in the field of composite materials.
The F50 took this crossover technology to the limit, with the utilisation of a composite construction monocoque chassis, and used the engine, derived from that of the 1990 Formula One car, as a stressed member. It was described as the closest you could get to a Formula One car for the public roads. The carbon fibre passenger cell had the front suspension mounted directly to it, with a tubular substructure projecting forward to support the radiator and ancillary equipment. To the rear of the cell was bolted the engine, which was a load bearing member for the transmission and rear suspension, just as on current Formula One cars. The 4.7-litre engine was derived directly from the Formula 1 unit used on the 1989 F1-89.