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June 11, 2009
F40 FTW!
By John Naderi
StreetFire.net
Back in early Nineties I was a valet parking attendant at the Beverly Hills Hotel. It was a pretty cool gig for a car guy and one guest in particular favored me for my ability to navigate his cars over the hotel’s rather nasty speed bumps sans chin spoiler scruffage. Skills I honed in another life as a mini truck owner (don’t laugh, it was the Eighties). Said guest’s name was Lucio Nicolodi and he was a baller of the highest order. His Diablo had plates that read “CUINHLL” but my most hellish experience involved a drive in his other car.
Mr. Nicolodi asked me to drive his girlfriend who was a model – no doubt a prerequisite for a guy like him – to a photo shoot in his other car – the other car being a Ferrari F40. The F40 was the Veyron of its day with a 471 hp, twin-turbo V-8 mounted amidships. I was to drive said girlfriend to a photo shoot in the F40 with a stern warning – watch the temp as the car had a tendency to overheat in traffic.
During the drive I couldn’t help but notice how raw the car was with cables for interior door handles and sliding Lexan side windows. Unfortunately the touristas putting along Rodeo Drive in their rent-a-wrecks didn’t share my concern for the F40’s operating temps as the needle crept ever closer to the red zone. I had to pull over incurring the hot-blooded Italian wrath of the hottie riding shotgun. I’m not sure which was more heated, Ms. Model or the oil temp on the 2.9-liter mill. I ran off in search of a payphone (pre-cell phones) to call for a Town Car to deliver Ms. Model to the shoot while I waited for the car to cool down. What does this have to do with anything? Nothing, except that this killer Autocar video reminded me of the incident and that driving an Italian exotic with an equally Italian and exotic passenger is not always what it’s cracked up to be.
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IGGY12003
Jun 17, 2009 at 10:41 am
dizzle
Biggee72
Jun 15, 2009 at 9:41 am
That was a joke BTW.
Biggee72
Jun 15, 2009 at 9:41 am
Learn to spell Porsche first jerk off.
Vuurwa
Jun 15, 2009 at 8:51 am
F40!!!!..The ultimate Ferrari for me!!!…i`ll even prefer it to an Enzo!!!…..if only i had enough money!!!!i guess it`s a sin to pray to God for enough money to buy a Ferrari!????…what do you think??
I want an F40!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
bigbad4runner
Jun 15, 2009 at 5:09 am
ferrari’s suck BUY A PORCHE
palefacetsw
Jun 13, 2009 at 7:51 am
I know the feeling….I used to work for a place in Syracuse, NY called Valvoline Instant Oil Change (like Jiffy Lube), and a local news anchor had his oil changed in his Viper RT-10 every month, and then one of the employees would deliver it to his house and ride the bus back….I finally got my turn at the letdown I suffered was so sad….it should have a memorial park with a gazing pond and a bench for quiet reflection in its honor….I was appalled….it rode like a tank, handled like a Chrysler New Yorker with Crisco tires, and I burned the ever-loving shit out of my leg on the stupid lake-pipe exhaust as I wedged myself out of it….it melted my uniform pants….I was so bummed I vowed to never drool over an exotic car until I drove it….and so far that’s the only one I’ve driven….
milena00
Jun 13, 2009 at 5:36 am
That Scuderia is my fav car color – saw a 360 in it and fell in love. Any dudes here into baby/powder blue?
PIMP-666
Jun 13, 2009 at 4:05 am
Damn that F40 is SICK!! But still if I had my choice 4 Ferrari’s 2 get, i would get the 599,& the 430 Scuderia because their more modern, still in production & have such higher technologies.
RavenAegis45
Jun 13, 2009 at 12:45 am
man i remember when i was a kid the F40 was one of my dream cars, hell the only car that came close the was the Lamo Diablo but even then the F40 looked so much cooler. I love the ferraris of new but still Id take an F40 any day of the week =)
LedZeppelin
Jun 12, 2009 at 5:33 pm
I like the newer Ferrari’s. The Enzo is absolutly ridiculous…Wonderful cars. The Maranello has been a perrinial favorite…But for true passion and love of the Italian Sports Car, I’m strictly Old School. I love….Absolutly LOVE the old 1950’s Wire Rim open cockpit leather seat, huge steering wheel roadsters. The 1958 Testa Rossa for example. That, Those are the true essence of Ferrari (for me) based on the designs from the 40’s….creating a new feeling while never forgetting where they came from.
Sure, Enzo was never one to sit on his laurels, and constantly created faster, more complex examples right up to his death, but I feel he hit the nail on the head with those rare examples way back when…
The F40? It a nice fast car. But to me, it looks like an Italian versian of a Porche 911….well, ok….only if you drop acid before you make the comparison….
pushtruck1
Jun 12, 2009 at 4:44 pm
I must say i love the F40 and it was the greatest (not fastest) car Ferrari has ever made, in my eyes anyway.
XTZTwinTurbo
Jun 12, 2009 at 3:14 pm
Nice. and its not a track, its a runway for planes.
rejybaby
Jun 12, 2009 at 2:49 pm
Ok I wanna take my ride on a track like that and see what more she can do.
dgaf88
Jun 12, 2009 at 8:44 am
If I had the money for an exotic, it’d be a Ferrari, no question.
sarahsmile90
Jun 11, 2009 at 7:48 pm
LOL…”exotic Italian beauties not always what they are cracked up to be”
But hey at least you got the experience.
oldscoob
Jun 11, 2009 at 12:52 pm
excellent vid, narration. the guys attitude about “raw” actually being the legend, and people ruining at it. It is in all autos, from that 80s transtition, and so beaten and forgotten and raped.
NWSilverado
Jun 11, 2009 at 12:39 pm
Still Truly a wicked machine. I would love to go for a ride in one of those someday. Just a big burly machine. I Equate that car to the early Audi SC4000 Quattro coupes of the Rally Circuit.