New F8 Tributo
is the Pista
sanitised. Pista
is the Pista in
all its untamed
magnificence112 CARMAGAZINE.CO.UK | MAY 2019
Peter Bullard has owned his
Ferrari F40 for 15 years and
firmly believes it’s a car that
should be driven and enjoyed
rather than locked away. ‘It’s
a car for special Sunday mornings. I’ve
previously driven it on longer journeys and
in heavy rain, although the last few years
I’ve tried to avoid doing so because, aside
from the terror, it’s such hard work keeping
it clean.’
Alongside a BMW 535i daily driver,
the F40 shares garage space with a
993-generation Porsche 911, a Jaguar
D-Type replica, which Bullard regularly
drives to Le Mans, and a Morgan Plus 8,
along with some classic motorcycles.
‘The F40 is a completely absorbing
experience. When you take your right
hand off the wheel to change gear, your
left tightens its grip accordingly, the brakes
feel wooden – there’s no servo assistance
so you need to stand on them – and if you
make a mistake, you know about it. It’s
draining on long journeys – the 911 feels like
a luxury car by comparison. It’s very special.
There’s nothing quite like it.’
CAR climbs into the F40 alongside Peter
for a drive. It is extraordinary. Because of
the position of the engine, which virtually
shares the cabin with you, you're sitting so
far forward that your head’s close to the
A-pillar. The clutch is heavy but friendly,
as is the dogleg H-pattern gearchange.
The unassisted steering, wheel curiously
flat-angled like a kart, constantly chatters
with information. You just need to make sure
it’s straight when the turbos come on boost
as the shove is relentless. And the sound... If
the Pista’s 3.9-litre V8 sings pretty well for a
turbocharged engine, the F40’s 2.8 sounds
like it can access another octave.
Bullard probably won’t replace the F40
outright, but he does fancy the notion of a
usable yet thrilling supercar to complement
it, infused with some of the same track-influ-
enced character.
Can any of our contemporary trio of
high-performance cars tempt him?THE BUYING DILEMMA‘The F40 isequal partsexhausting andexhilarating’