Ferrari Big 5, the story of a millionaire collection
Ferrari Big 5
Italy is world famous for its many excellences, and undoubtedly Ferrari represents the pinnacle of the Italian automotive industry, with fans of the prancing horse literally scattered all over the world; the video that we propose today, published on Youtube on the Mr JWW channel, shows us a collection made up of 5 of the most iconic Ferraris ever produced: starting with the Ferrari 288 GTO and ending with a LaFerrari Aperta, all in Rosso Corsa color.Filmed at the Ferrari dealership in Colchester in England, this video allows us to admire 5 icons of the Ferrari world one after the other, in chronological order, and in an absolutely fantastic state of preservation. Starting with the oldest, we have the 1984 288 GTO designed by Pininfarina, powered by an 8-cylinder engine with a total of 2.8 liters (hence the name '288') capable of delivering up to 400 horsepower: this car 272 were produced, all in Rosso Corsa color.
Next door we have a Ferrari F40, an incredible car capable of delivering 478 hp and 577 Nm of torque thanks to the 2.9-liter turbo V8 engine , enough to push the car from 0 to 100 km / h in just 4.1 seconds: before the advent of carbon fiber, which will be used to make the F50 in the 90s, Ferrari decided to build the body of the F40 fiberglass, and this made it possible to create an entire body that weighs just 46 kg, on a car that weighs 1155 kg overall.
We continue with the Ferrari F50, a car that at the time of its release sparked a lot of interest because - in addition to being the first Ferrari with a body completely made of carbon - no journalist of the time had the opportunity to test it in preview, nor in the days following the launch: the cars had all already been sold even before they were ready, and there were no models available for the press. This is a car that the lucky few who have driven it define as unique and unrepeatable, thanks to its naturally aspirated V12 engine with manual gearbox and open roof, driving this car must be a memorable experience.
With the advent of the new millennium the lines also change, with the Ferrari Enzo - produced between 2002 and 2004 in 400 units - to open the new course: also in this case the car is made of carbon fiber and is pushed from a V12 engine, which reaches 660 horsepower, enough to push it from 0 to 100 km / h in just 3.6 seconds. The maximum speed is 350 km / h. Undoubtedly, the iconic name of this car will allow it to consolidate its position as a Ferrari icon over the years.
This incredible Top 5 ends with a Ferrari LaFerrari Aperta, the roofless version of the powerful coupé : this is the first mass-produced Ferrari to be powered by a hybrid engine, consisting of an 800 horsepower V12 and an electric engine - powered thanks to the energy recovered during braking by the HY-KERS system, and rechargeable during the stop as any plug-in hybrid - from 163 horsepower, which leads the car to have an overall torque of over 900 Nm and a top speed of over 350 km / h. In this case the acceleration from 0 to 100 km / h occurs in less than 3 seconds, it takes less than 7 seconds to shoot from 0 to 200 km / h.
Needless to say, all these cars are worth digits mind-boggling, with the 288 GTO which is probably the rarest piece in the collection, with a value close to 3 million euros: the entire collection is worth more than 10 million, a figure destined to rise over time given its rarity of these cars.
This is the Ferrari 812 Competizione and Competizione A
In dramatising the regal, Shakespeare hath no equal. And yet, despite giving new language to love and loss and delivering some of literature’s greatest ever one-liners, we suspect even the big man would have struggled to describe the noise this Ferrari V12 will likely make at full chat.
If all the world’s a stage, then, allow us to present one of its loudest players. This is the Ferrari 812 Competizione and its open-topped sibling, the Ferrari 812 Competizione A. Cry 9,500rpm, and let slip the V12, he probably wouldn’t have written.
The 812 Competizione is, rather unsurprisingly, a version of the 812 Superfast; a sort of alternate-reality Superfast where everything has been turned up to 11. And as with any self-respecting Ferrari, we venture once more unto the breach of that mesmerising V12.
It’s still a 6.5-litre, only for this Competizione application Ferrari has redesigned the pistons, fitted titanium con-rods (that are 40 per cent lighter), layered a diamond-like carbon (DLC) coating on the piston pins and rebalanced the crank (itself a whopping three per cent lighter than before). There are new cylinder heads, F1-tech for the cams (coated in DLC), a redesigned intake system (across manifold and plenum) and variable geometry inlet tracts.
Bottom line: 819bhp (more power), 513lb ft (slightly less torque), and “an engine that revs with tremendous speed all the way to the cut off with no drop off towards the red line”. A red line that now sits higher, at 9,500rpm. This isn’t an engine, it’s a five-act drama.
It’s matched to the same seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox that sits in the regular Superfast, calibrated here to shift five per cent faster. We’d give you ‘cold hard’ numbers but 0-62mph in 2.85s, 0-124mph in 7.7s and a top speed of over 211mph isn’t cold. It’s just Superf- well, you get the idea.
The Competizione gets four-wheel-steering, version 7.0 of Side Slip Control (AKA Watch This Hero Mode), a whopping 38kg weight loss – helped in part by new carbon fibre wheels – and a whole lot of aero.
We’re talking a new air intake setup, vents either side of that fetching new bonnet ‘blade’ and arch louvers that help better cool the engine and reduce the underbody apertures. Because it’s faster it needs better brake cooling, and thus gets better brake cooling from a system that debuted on the SF90.
Lots of work has gone into channelling the air that goes in to and out of the 812 Comp. It generates 30 per cent more front downforce than the Superfast. And like that car, the front diffuser gets a passive mobile aero system that opens at over 155mph.
The rear diffuser now extends the full width of the 812, meaning the twin exhaust pipes either side of the Superfast were jettisoned in favour of a single pipe on each side.
It also gets a sort of ‘blown’ rear diffuser – as seen on F1 cars from the last decade – which helps increase rear downforce. The spoiler too is higher and wider and works in collaboration with the new diffuser.
Oh, and as you’ve probably noticed, there are vortex generators taking the place of the rear screen in order to a) “redistribute the rear axle’s pressure field”, but mostly b) look really bloody cool. The Competizione A, devoid of these generators, gets a bridge between the flying buttresses instead, which has the same effect of channelling air towards the rear spoiler.
Ferrari itself says the design of the Competizione is “aggressive”, and notes how the new rear treatment recalls the glorious Ferrari 330 P3/P4. The interior remains as per the 812, save for a lighter door panel, and a ‘gear-gate’ theme sat in the middle.
“Once behind the wheel of the 812 Competizione and the 812 Competizione A,” says Ferrari, “the driver becomes one with the car, regardless of whether it is on road or track.” Said drivers will be few and far between, because this is a limited series V12 Ferrari, so only a small number will be built. And each will cost quite a lot of money.
After all, give every man thy ear, but few thy stupendously powerful V12s.
