Rendering artist Khyzyl Saleem, aka The Kyza, recently went to Japan for the 2023 Tokyo Auto Salon, where he undoubtedly check out the Liberty Walk Ferrari F40. It featured an extreme and potentially controversial widebody kit for this iconic supercar, but the street of Tokyo also revealed a prowling exotic from the 1980s, the Koenig Ferrari Testarossa. And this may have given birth to one groundbreaking rendering idea: what if Koenig Specials had continued their work by modifying the F40 in the same way as the Testarossa?
This is the kind of multicultural car story that I love. The automaker is Italian, the tuner is German and there’s an obvious JDM twist because of the stance and the tastes of Kyza in terms of rendering details. Let me explain.
For some reason, Koenig is now just as famous for its Mercedes customs. However, this German tuner gained notoriety many decades ago by modifying Ferraris. The company was started in 1977 by Willy Koenig, and already had experience with the Berlinetta Boxter technology (the flat-12 engines), so it made sense for them to modify the Testarossa once it came out.
Customers had a variety of elements they could add to their Ferrari, culminating with a 1000 horsepower twin-turbo conversion for the engine, the Koenig Competition Evolution. The fact that this could reach 100 km/h (62 mph) in 3.4 seconds was downright insane in that era, just like the exotic internals they used to achieve this.
Koenig also offered body conversion options which, if anything, looked more streamlined and understated than a stock Testarossa. This is because they were modeled after the F40, including the Plexiglass headlight covers. But what if things didn’t stop there? What if Koenig Specials continued their work and somehow got hold of an F40 to modify?
It’s not an absurd idea. The Munich tuning company had an amazing reputation in the 1980s and 90s, which means they must have been on Ferrari owners’ radar. In addition, in 1999, Koenig unveiled an 850 horsepower version of the F50. Now, while that car isn’t as loved as the F40, it’s actually more than 4 times rarer.
Koenig F40 Turbo: the body kit
Kyza is one of the best rendering artists ever, and it’s clear this project is filled with passion. He’s basically trying to answer a question that hasn’t been asked before: what if Koenig made a body kit for the F40? It’s basically an F40 that tries to look even more like itself if that makes sense.
The front clamshell is quite different, featuring a brand-new spoiler design and modified headlights, reminiscent of the F40 LM. Down the sides, you get more of that crazy late 1980s exotic tuning vibe, with air intakes that are as large as possible. This culminates with a wing that looks nothing like the carbon fiber icon fitted to the F40 and a diffuser.
And then there are some minor touches. I feel like the pink color is inspired by the crazy world of Japanese-tuned Lamborghinis, which in turn may take inspiration from the original Diablo SE30 Jota. It looks almost exactly like that color.
How much would something like this cost to make? Well, a 1987 Koenig Specials Ferrari Testarossa sold at the 2019 Tokyo Auto Salon for 30.8 million yen. That’s just $235,000 in American money today. However, a custom Nardo Grey F40 just sold for $2.75 million.
