When the Ferrari F40 made its public debut on this day in 1987, 89 year old Ferrari founder Enzo Ferrari offered an impassioned speech. He proclaimed, "A little more than a year ago, I expressed my wish to the engineers. Build a car to be the best in the world. And now the car is here."
The F40, built to commemorate Ferrari’s 40th anniversary, was the last Ferrari approved for production by Enzo himself. It had no radio, no electric windows or power seats, and certainly no cup holder. What the no frills Ferrari did have was sleek lines and a whole lot of speed. Topping out at an unofficial 201 mph (321 km/h), it was the first production car to break the 200 mph mark. Between 1987 and 1992, when production of non-racing models was halted, approximately 1,315 Ferrari F40s left ...