The F40 was built to celebrate Ferrari's 40th anniversary. A very fast berlinetta designed by Pininfarina, it was built mainly from composites. Its sophisticated high-performance, turbo-charged running gear combined with a first class chassis gave it the kind of great dynamic prowess that was close to that of a racing car. It was greeted with great enthusiasm by enthusiasts and the number of examples eventually built exceeded the company's wildest dreams.

The bodies were mounted on a 2450mm wheelbase chassis, as on the GTO, but both front and rear track were increased, as was the overall length mainly due to the longer more aerodynamic nose. The chassis had factory reference numbers F 120 AB, all were numbered in the continuous chassis number road car sequence, which commenced from chassis number 75000. The construction followed the Ferrari principle of a tubular steel chassis frame, now with a progressively deformable front section to meet increasing legislation worldwide. The overall premise was similar to that of the GTO, however there were additional stiffening braces, and the composite elements were bonded to the chassis frame with a special adhesive to provide even greater strength. The F40 was the first series production car to use...