The Decade of the 288 GTO and the F40

After losing to Carol Shelby in Le Mans in the late 60s and dealing with the tough regulations in the 1970s, Ferrari in the 1980s had a fresh start that was poised to be a great decade for Ferrari, and it was later found out to be indeed true. I call this section the Decade of the 288 GTO and the F40, the icon cars for Ferrari in the 1980s.

The Production Cars

Ferrari made its first change in the production line in the new decade on March 1, in 1980 at the Geneva Motor show. The Bertone 308 GT/4 was replaced by PininFarina's Mondial, another handsome (if not gorgeous) small 2+2 with a mid-mounted 3.0L V8. This was a very nice car for your average entry-level Ferari owner of the 1980s, and became a best seller. Approximately three years after the fact, it was joined by a soft-top cabriolet version, a true 4-seat Ferrari spider. In 1985, both cars got a 3.2L V8, which gew to 3.4 liters in 1989 when the pair was also fitted with a transverse gearbox, making the car even more dynamic then it already was.

In 1980, PininFarina also teased Ferrari enthusiasts with the Pinin, a 4-door Ferrari show car that had a sedan-like look to it. It was the first 4-door sedan Ferrari ever made.

Then, later in the decade, The Berlinetta Boxer was finally replaced with another big, mid-engined exotic, the TestaRossa. Even now, decades later, there's controversy surrounding over the car's PininFarina styling, particularly on the side strakes leading back to the rear radiators. It retained the flat V12 of the boxer, but was now at 390 horsepower. The TestaRossa was a Ferrari favorite and subsequently was a hot seller. Even today, nearly 30 years later, it's a desireable vehicle.

In 1984 Ferrari enthusiasts saw the first of a new wave of Ferrari, a safety and emissions certified street machine with a true race car edge. Looking like a 308 that had taken steroids, the 288 GTO was quite a beast. Although different from the 308, they resembled one another. The 288 GTO became the big brother. Originally meant for Group B competition, the GTO has a 2855-CC V8 mounted longitudinally, fed by a pair of IHI turbos that bump output to 400 horsepower. The 288 GTO was never raced and a mere 272 were produced, so it remains a rare and often collectable Ferrari. Later, the 288 GTO unveiled even more muscle at the Ferrari test track. Turns out, it was a prototype for the 1984 F40, a car built to celebrate the companies 40th anniversary of dominance. Based on Formula 1 technology, and made of Kevlar and carbon fiber with a shape fine tuned to the wind tunnel, the F40 has a 2936-CC twin turbo V8 with 478 horsepower. The F40 is widely considered one of the best Ferraris ever produced because of its aesthetic beauty, performance, curves, and race-car look. Race driver and F40 owner Dario Franchitti once said "it must be a soul thing, i'm not blind to that fact that not ever Ferrari is perfect, but when I get in my F40 I really appreciate it. If you are in a bad mood, you get out of the Ferrari feeling great." The Ferrari F40 is widely accepted as the closest thing to driving a real Formula 1 car on the street. Does it drive like a bentley? No. But that even furthers my assessment of the car -- you have to earn every mile, and go into turns with the enthusiasm of a true Ferrari fan.

Ferrari ended the 1980s with the long-awaited replacement for the 308/328. Called the 348 for its 3.4L v8 engine, the 348 had a stock 300 horsepower and a longitudinal powerplant, like the 288 GTO. The 348 was an instant production best seller, and this was around the first time that every single Ferrari being produced was already accounted for before a single part was assembled. Ferrari lives on.