Back in the day, few things were more often seen in little car lovers’ bedrooms than posters of the Ferrari F40. Nowadays, it’s all simpler, since we can redecorate our screens at any given time with just a few taps/clicks. But what if you wish for the Maranello object of worship to be updated too? Well, this Kyza rendering brings just that, restomodding the iconic Prancing Horse into F40 Challenge form.
At first, it might seem easy to point your finger at this digital modernization for messing with the last car to be created under the supervision of Il Commendatore Enzo Ferrari before passing away.
However, the F40 itself was contested when the Italians introduced it in 1987, as certain enthusiasts complained about the basic nature of the vehicle in relation to its stratospheric price. Unlike its main real-world and bedroom wall rival, the Porsche 959, the F40 featured a simple twin-turbo V8 RWD layout and focused on the analog link between the driver and the road rather than being a tech pioneer. Of course, this very nature of the car is one of the elements that make it so special today.
In addition, digital artist Khyzyl Saleem (aka The Kyza) felt inspired to come up with this after treating himself to some photos of the most eccentric F40 out there, the LM Barchetta.
The F40 LM racer—painted yellow to honor the historic motorsort hue of Belgium—obviously didn’t get its top chopped off at the Maranello factory. In fact, this build is so extreme that Ferrari doesn’t officially recognize it, which is why the car lacks any form of Ferrari badging. You can check it out doing its thing on the said country’s Spa-Francorchamps in the YouTube video below, while the long and winding story of how it came to be is well documented online, as this Jalopnik story demonstrates.
Fashion (and turbocharging) repeats itself
The London-based artist adopted elements from a Ferrari 488 Challenge Evo. This is the latest in a series of customer racecars competing in a single-brand motorsport championship. He also mentions the Le Mans-winning 488 GTE racer, though.
And choosing 488-based circuit toys as muses makes full sense, since this is the road car that marked Ferrari’s return to turbocharging in 2015, more than two decades after the F40 was retired.
That being said, the Challenge transformation brings even more carbon to the game. The entire nose of the F40 has been modernized and some might still protest over this, which is only natural. However, the 3D work somehow manages to make the F40, a street car born out of the ashes of a Group B racing project that got canceled over new international regulations aiming to keep drivers and spectators alive, even more aggressive.
The wheels are not from the 488 Challenge, though. Instead, as the digital master mentions, these Rotiform NGOs, with their centerlock mechanism, are used on other real-world Ferrari Challenge cars.
The artist admits that the posterior is his favorite part of the pixel build and we have to agree. However, a warning is required here: viewing the car from this angle might have you begging for a real-world version, especially since other classic icons have received one. And, despite Ferrari actively opposing such projects (think: with lawyers) examples include the Testarossa built by Swiss-based Officine Fioravanti, which debuted last year. Sure, that’s more restrained, but that’s not what this story is about…
