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F60 Breaks Cover

Ferrari has shocked the motoring world with this first official picture of the successor to the F40 and F50 supercars. Labelled the 'FX prototype', the controversially styled car is on display at the Tokyo Museum of Contemporary Art until July 14. The production-ready version, which will almost certainly be called the F60, will be shown at the Paris motor show in September.

02nd May 2002

Styling house Pininfarina is once again credited with the new Ferrari's styling. Obviously function has dictated form but the ruthlessly aerodynamic shape has had a mixed reception. Maranello sources assure evo that the pictures don't convey the drama and scale of the car and that when the Cd and downforce figure are released any doubts about the shape will evaporate. The FX was penned by Japanese designer Ken Okuyama and the car spent hundreds of hours in the wind tunnel to ensure ultimate high-speed stability.

Ferrari remains tight-lipped about the specification of the F60 but sources close to the factory have revealed that it will be powered by a brand new 6-litre V12 producing somewhere in the region of 650bhp. The Formula 1-influenced styling of the car, seen most clearly around the nose, is echoed in the decision not to offer a conventional manual gearbox. Instead the F60 will channel its considerable power to the rear wheels through a seven-speed version of Ferrari's F1 semi-manual system.

As revealed in last month's evo news, Ferrari has worked with Magnetti Marelli (which makes the gearbox software) to improve shift times and smoothness.

Changes should be completed two or three times faster than in the current F1-equipped 360s and 575s. The popularity of the F1 'box in the 360 Modena (60 per cent are sold with the semi-manual system) has persuaded Ferrari engineers that customers are keen to make the link with the company's success on the track. Since the F60 is aiming to be the closest thing to an F1 car for the road, a standard-fit seven-speed sequential 'box seems logical.

The McLaren F1's incredible 240mph top speed won't be threatened by the Ferrari due to the exceptional levels of downforce produced by the F60's underbody aerodynamics. Stability at speed has been the main goal although it will still run on to around 205mph - a small but important 3mph more than the new 575 Maranello. However, Ferrari has always wanted to beat the McLaren's 0-100mph time of 6.3 seconds. The F60 should be the car to make that happen.

Carbonfibre bodywork and chassis ensure a kerb weight of only 1200kg and mean that 0-60mph should be dispatched in the low three-second bracket, with 100mph flashing past in six seconds. This should mean the F60 will set the performance benchmark for the new generation of supercars from Porsche (the Carrera GT) and McLaren (the Mercedes SLR) as well as those from smaller specialists like Pagani and Edonis.

The F60 will be built in very limited numbers (fewer than the 349 of the F50) and the price will be set at around £350,000. UK customers will receive their cars early in 2003.