He built his own Ferrari F40

Aftonbladet 16-5-2010

MICHAEL BUILT HIS OWN FERRARI F40

"I modelled it after a toy car"

He could not afford a SEK 2 million Ferrari F40.
Instead Michael Johansson built one himself.
- I modelled it after a toy car, he says.

Michael Johansson, a mechanic in Mantorp Sweden, had a dream of owning a Ferrari F40.
- It's the coolest Ferrari ever built. It's an awesome sports car, he says.

But he did not have the money to make the dream come true. A used Ferrari F40 costs approximately SEK 2.6 million.
- Since I'm not a millionaire I had to build your own.

Slowly he began building the car. He spent evenings, weekends and holidays in his garage to make his dream a reality.

No blue prints
He had no blue prints of the car. Instead, he modelled it after a 20 inch long toy car.
- The hardest thing was how to make it to look like the real thing. I compared the toy car with pictures of the real thing on my computer, he says.

It is almost ready
Five years and SEK 250 000 later, the car is almost finished. Michael hopes to have his Ferrari F40 ready for Gatebil at Mantorp Park on July 4th.

- Hopefully I'll test drive it there, he says.

Pictures here

Talk about dedication, awesome isn't it It has an Audi A8 V8 twin turbo engine, the body is metal. The toy car it was modelled after was a 1:18 scale replica of a 1988 F40.

[edit on 16-5-2010 by cripmeister]

Not bad indeed, especially since it has a twin turbo v8 like the original.

Reminds me of the guy who build a Lamborghini Countach in his basement.

reply to post by Grey Magic


That one was awesome too, he had to knock down a wall to get it out. I really admire people who can stick to a 5-10 year project like that

The Bull in the basement below.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/b64bb8b5e0d1.jpg[/atsimg]

Michael Johanssons Ferrari F40 replica.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/a83169a4394e.jpg[/atsimg]

[edit on 18-5-2010 by cripmeister]

Correction,

The car is modeled off a 1990 Ferrari F40 LM. The standard F40 did not have vents on the top centre of the trunk. On the F40 the hood is the rear and trunk is in front. The chassis of the standard F40 was enclosed at the front underside and opened at the engine which sits about a foot behind your shoulder blade.

The 1987 - 1994 Ferrari F40, Fastest Car In The World 1987 - 1993 at 2.1.3 MPH. Dethroned by Jaguar with it's XJ220 at 220 mph in 1993. Boasting a 478 bhp Ferrari V8 making it the final Ferrari Flagship model to ever have a V8. The F50, Enzo, FXX all have V12's. Testarossa, 512TR, F512M, 550 ,575, 599 and the 456 and 612 all are V12's while the 328, 348, 355, 360, 430, 458, California, 400, Mondial are all V8's.

Only 349 were slated and production was originally scheduled to conclude in Summer 1989 demand for the F40 forced Ferrari to build an additional 996 units totaling 1,315 total models with at least 1,000 still surviving and is a very big contender to be the next "Million dollar Ferrari" as a Rossa Corsa sold at 2008 Monterey Auction for $654,000 USD. The V8 in this is a variation of the same 4.2 V8 as seen in the current Audi R8 V8.

Since the F40 the rarest Ferrari's are as follows :

1984 288 GTO - 277
1995 - 1997 F50 399 (total Berlinetta and Barchetta)
2000 - 2001 550 Barchetta Pininfarina - 488
2002 - 2004 Enzo - 399
2004 - 2006 575M Superamerica - 600
2006 FXX - 29
2009 599XX - (number currently unreleased/undetermined)

[edit on 27-5-2010 by TheImmaculateD1]