Ferrari made many supercars and hypercars. Some of them aren’t getting the love they deserve, and that changes today for the Ferrari F50, which flaunts its rare yellow colors in front of Jay Leno.
Back before the days of heavily customized supercars, you could turn up to a Ferrari reunion in California and only see red cars. It’s still the most common color for the V8s and V12s from Maranello. And that’s especially obvious today, when the reviews for their 296 GTB are coming out. That’s a hybrid V6, by the way.
But today, we’re turning the clock back to the 1995s to check out the Ferrari F50. It still lives in the shadow of the famous F40, but despite its supposed flaws, one collector has two of them for Jay Leno to check out. David Lee shows Jay Leno a regular red one and one of just 31 F50s that were painted yellow.
Today, every popular YouTuber drives a widebody Ferrari with a powerful engine. But only 350 examples of the F50 were ever made. It was their flagship model of the 1990s and each one is worth around $3 million, which means you’re looking at $6 million… and a couple of guys with matching denim shirts. But seriously, David Lee (@ferraricollector_davidlee) has got one of everything.
Why the F50 better than the F40?
The F50 isn’t expensive just because it’s rare. Its V12 engine is the last of any Ferrari to be derived directly from an F1 car. The “Tipo F130B 60-valve” was a 4.7-liter modeled after the 3.5-liter in the 1990 race car and it produces about 510 horsepower.
This power sends the F50 from 0 to 60 mph in 3.8 seconds and on to a top speed of 202 mph. Did I mention this has a manual gearbox?
The F50 was engineered to give millionaires a road car that’s very close to an F1 single-seater. It had a super-stiff carbon chassis. The engine was a structural part of the car, and the rear suspension hung off the gearbox. There was nothing like it in the world, and hopefully, this next video will convince you that the F50 was a much better Ferrari than its more common but famous turbocharged predecessor, the F40.
No paddles, no Apple CarPlay, no manettino dial! Unfortunately, the car is not so simple on the outside. Exterior styling is the only reason the F50 doesn’t trigger your nostalgia like other Ferraris. But 90s designs are hotter than ever right now, and this should become wallpaper material in no time thanks to the yellow.
