Ferrari F50 In Black

The Ultimate Ferrari

When it comes to answering the question “which is the best Ferrari ever made?”, I am torn between the LaFerrari and the F50. Both are legendary masterpieces from Maranello and have F1 DNA in their veins. We already had a closer look at a LaFerrari in one of our previous blog posts, so let’s take a look at this stunning Ferrari F50 in black.

The two-seater super sports car was presented in 1996 on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Ferrari. During the development of the F50, the Italians focused on strict lightweight design, the brute performance of the engine and Italian emotions when driving the car. The car was only available as a Barchetta, which means as a two-seater roadster, with a removable hardtop (or with an additional soft top).

For a long time, the F50 was overshadowed by its predecessor, the legendary Ferrari F40. But today, both vehicles are viewed by Ferrari collectors as equally important in the history line of the famous Prancing Horse. Moreover, with only 349 units built, it is significantly rarer than the F40, which was built 1315 times – and also rarer than its successor, the Ferrari Enzo, of which a total of 400 units were built.

Former Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo told Motor Trend (an automotive magazine) in a 1995 review that the F50 would be “the first and last Formula 1 car with two seats.”

F1 DNA

The technology of the Ferrari F50 was based on the 1990 Formula 1 race car. It features a carbon fiber chassis, wheel suspensions with a pushrod system and a 4.7-liter V12 engine derived from a Ferrari V12 engine from Formula 1, which the Scuderia used from 1989. Yes, that’s right, the F50 hosts an F1 engine inside. How stunning is that?

The powertrain produces 520 hp, enabling the Ferrari F50 to accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in just 3.9 seconds. And the sprint from 0 to 200 km/h is completed by the super sports car in 12.4 seconds, while the top speed is over 320 km/h—pretty stunning numbers from a car from the mid-‘90s. Maximum torque is 471 Newton meters, which is transmitted to the rear wheels via a six-speed manual transmission.

Rare Colors For The Ferrari F50

Back then, Ferrari only offered a limited variety of color options for its cars. The vast majority of the collectors remained true to the typical ‘Rosso Corsa’ (red), also found on the brand’s F1 racing cars. Only few dared to use other colors.

Black, as shown in the vehicle in the picture and known as the Nero Daytona color, is the rarest color among all F50s. Only four cars of the total 349 units were made in this color. The same number applies for silver, known as Argento Nurburgring. Also rare was the color Rosso Barchetta, a dark red, selected by eight clients. Giallo Modena, the famous Ferrari yellow, made it to 31 supercars. And since 302 collectors preferred Rosso Corsa for their F50, it is the dominant color.

In addition to the official 349 customer cars, a handful of pre-production cars and three F50 GT prototypes were built for the GT1 category of the FIA GT racing series but were never used.

Price & Collection Potential

The new price of the F50 was the equivalent of around EUR 380,000 and after a brief low, prices rose quickly as with almost all Ferrari special models. For many years, F50s traded well under EUR 1,000,000, making them cheaper than F40s. In the past three to four years, however, F50 prices have risen rapidly and it is almost impossible to find these cars for less than EUR 3,000,000. Top specimens in rare colors or with an extraordinary history are already moving toward EUR 4,000,000.

The list of current and previous F50 owners is pretty long, from Mike Tyson, over Michael Schuhmacher (who, by the way, was gifted his F50 by Ferrari) to various Hollywood Stars and NBA Players. The Ferrari F50 represents the automotive design of the late ‘90s like no other car. Prices seem pretty high, but I am sure they will increase even more because the F50 is an absolute must-have not only for Ferrari enthusiasts but for all car collectors.