The Silverstone Classic 2012 plans to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Ferrari F40 supercar with a world record gathering of F40s at the classic racing festival, scheduled for 20-22 July. The largest collection of F40s ever seen in one place is being organised by the Ferrari Owners’ Club of Great Britain.
“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!” said Nigel Chiltern-Hunt, Ferrari Owners’ Club of Great Britain. “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 40th anniversary, the mid-engined F40 was the final car commissioned by 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.
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 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, Silverstone Classic 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. With such a rich sporting history, it’s no surprise that so many fabulous Ferraris star in many of the major races staged at the Silverstone Classic. Now 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 50th 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 are available at www.silverstoneclassic.com.
[Source: Silverstone Classic]
