The LB-Works Ferrari F40 enjoyed an epic reveal at the 2023 Tokyo Auto Salon. The kit is available for order with prices only available upon demand, but it’s very clear that this is now the most epic way to modify the retro icon.
Kato Wataru took to the Tokyo, cutting live into the carbon bodywork of the red supercar. However, a white wrap sits on top of everything, with red logos creating a similar look to the A6M Zero fighters of WWII. It’s pretty clear that this has potential as a toy (Hot Wheels).
The kit consists of an all-new front end clam shell and bolt-on elements on the sides of the rear end. In addition, inserts are made for extra aero, making this look like the F40 LM race car suddenly took a dose of steroids.
Launched in 1987, the Ferrari F40 celebrated the 40th anniversary of the brand in a big way. It’s the last car of the “Enzo Era”, built like a Formula One racer for the road, and it’s super-rare, with only 1315 examples ever built.
Despite this, many bad things have happened to the F40 over the years. Dictators loved to hoard these in the 90s, so a lot of them have been neglected or locked up away from enthusiasts’ eyes. They’ve been abandoned in the desert, and sometimes spectacular crashes also happen. One of them even burst into flames a couple of years ago.
Despite this, nobody has ever tried to ruin a Ferrari F40 on purpose, at least not that we’re aware of. However, the famous Japanese tuning shop Liberty Walk has begun teasing a widebody project based on the famous Italian supercar.
Widebody projects are nothing new; in fact, they’re quite common. However, we’re seeing unprecedented mods to this irreplaceable exotic’s body which is made from a combination of Kevlar, carbon fiber, and aluminum.
Liberty Walk is a world-famous tuning shop making some of the most extreme and desirable widebody kits out there. The big money is in supercars, mostly Lamborghinis, but it’s nice to see them continuing the work of ruining Ferraris as well.
Many rendering artists have dreamed of doing a widebody Ferrari F40, but nobody had the ball bearings and frankly the money to do it. However, the company boss, Kato Wataru, was able to find an example of an iconic supercar in Japan that he could cut up.
Like the Kaido Racer builds we recently talked about, this project appears to draw heavy inspiration from the world of Super Silhouette racing cars. The modified bodies are boxy, which is a perfect match for the Ferrari’s Pininfarina-designed body if you think about it.
Pictures of the clay mockup have been released which suggest they are completely modifying the front clamshell of the car while huge bolt-on fenders are being made for the rear. Also, the rear wing will be changed to a more aggressive design.
On most Liberty Walk kits, you have to cut the factory fenders when you lower the car and install wider tires. It’s unclear whether that’s happening here, but big boss Kato has released footage of himself drilling into the carbon fenders.
It’s worth pointing out that Ferrari did make racing versions of this supercar, the F40 LM and GT, for example. They are pretty aggressively modified, but not to this degree.
The F40 was the first production car that had every body panel made out of composite material. The tubular frame was wrapped in 11 bonded Kevlar body panels. Meanwhile, the front and rear clamshells were carbon fiber. It’s often been said that the paint is so thin that you could see the weave patterns.
But this Ferrari was built to be the fastest in the world, not win beauty pageants. The twin-turbocharged 2.9-liter V8 was fixed right to the body, resulting in a very F1-like experience and driving power to the rear via a five-speed manual gearbox. The official power rating of 471hp was actually below what it produced, launching the F40 from 0 to 62mph in just 4.7 seconds.
Ferrari’s official asking price in 1987 was $200,000. Of course, demand was very high with some 3,000 people trying to get one, which is why the original production number of 400 units had to be increased. Nowadays, you’ll have to pay about $2 to $2.5 million for one of these.
Liberty Walk has provided a rendering video showcasing the Ferrari, which it calls the first slammed and widebody F40 in the world, with the official debut scheduled for January 13, at the Tokyo Auto Salon 2023.
