40 Ferrari F40's! World Record 50 Next!

What's better than one F40? Forty of course! And here they all are in a fabulously surreal shot from the 2007 Silverstone Classic – marking the F40's 20th birthday. And now a world record of more than 50 F40s will celebrate the supercar’s 25th birthday at the same venue in July (20-22 July 2012). Organisers say: "This year marks the 25th anniversary of the remarkable Ferrari F40, the incredible supercar rated by many ‘cognoscenti’ as the finest showroom model to have been created by the revered Italian automotive company. Commemorating such an important milestone, the Ferrari Owners’ Club of Great Britain is organising the largest collection of F40s ever seen for 2012’s running of the world’s biggest classic racing festival." Nigel Chiltern-Hunt, the club’s co-ordinator for this anniversary gathering and himself the owner of one of these most loved and admired of all Ferraris said: "Our original aim was to get at least 25 of these Ferraris together and, as I have contacted owners, I have been gratified that so many want to be part of the celebration – so much so that we now have more than 50 F40s registered for the event with more still to come! A parade of those F40s present is planned for the Sunday and it undoubtedly will be the largest gathering of F40s ever seen anywhere in the world and will certainly beat the club’s own previous record of 40 F40s seen at the Silverstone Classic in 2007." First introduced in 1987 to honour Ferrari’s 40^th anniversary, the mid-engined F40 was the final car commissioned by the Prancing Horse’s legendary founder Enzo Ferrari – as such it was specifically designed to serve as a dramatic and lasting testament to his track-developed, high performance supercar ethos. Blessed with a dramatic ultra-lightweight body designed by Pininfarina (featuring many carbon-fibre and Kevlar panels plus plastic windows) and propelled by a twin-turbocharged V8 developing 478 horsepower, performance was nothing short of phenomenal. Indeed the F40 was the world’s first 200mph production road car and has been widely hailed as ‘the greatest supercar’ of all time. With an original price tag of close to £300,000, just 1315 F40s were produced in Maranello between 1987 and 1992 – and no fewer than 50 of these stunning Italian sportscars will be on show at Silverstone in July. "Silverstone is the perfect place for Ferrari to be celebrating this important milestone in the incredible F40’s history," said Nick Wigley, Event Organiser. "It was, of course, at Silverstone in 1951 that Ferrari achieved its first grand prix win and, since then, the circuit has witnessed countless more Ferrari victories, most recently when Fernando Alonso won last year’s British Grand Prix. The promise of a record number of Ferrari F40s lining up on the infield is another major attraction. It’s a truly mouth-watering prospect that no supercar enthusiast will want to miss." As well as the Ferrari Owners’ Club of Great Britain, a host of other car clubs have already announced their own special celebrations at this summer’s huge three-day Silverstone Classic festival. These include 50^th birthday celebrations for the AC Cobra, Lotus Elan and MGB plus the UK’s first BMW Z-Fest to mark 60 years of the BMW Car Club GB.

Full details of the 2012 Silverstone Classic powered by the AA – including information on ‘Early Bird’ ticket offers and a comprehensive selection of on-site camping facilities – are available via the event’s official www.silverstoneclassic.com website.