The Ferrari F40 is one of the most legendary cars ever made. Built to celebrate Ferrari's 40th anniversary, the F40 was the last supercar to be signed off by Enzo Ferrari. While it's not fast enough to outrun a modern hypercar like a McLaren P1 or Ferrari 488 Pista, the F40's iconic design is timeless.
But what if Ferrari built a modern-day F40? One designer recently wanted to find out and has envisioned the F40 with modern styling cues to show what it would look like if it was built today. This isn't just any designer, however: this is the work of former Ferrari designer Frank Stephenson, whose car design resume includes the Ferrari F430, McLaren P1, and Maserati MC12.
Stephenson paid a visit to Harry Metcalfe's dream garage to take a closer look at his Ferrari F40 and analyze the design. As Stephenson explains, the F40's streamlined shape is fetching but purposeful. In contrast to some modern supercars, nothing is superfluous: every part is designed to save weight and maximize performance. While Stephenson praises Ferrari's design philosophy, the automotive designer has a few gripes with the F40's styling. Stephenson feels the sharp design lacks "sensuality" and the front fascia looks too "anonymous" for a raw supercar.
To give the F40 more character, Stephenson sketches out a more dramatic design to "accentuate the obscenity" of the car. His vision of a modern-day F40 features a more pointy front in contrast to the F40's flat front-end and a more distinctive Joker-style grille.
Elsewhere, the F40's twin NACA ducts on the hood have been replaced with a larger one that connects to the front badge.
The mirrors are positioned higher to improve visibility, and the door glass now curves into the roof to create a more dramatic gullwing design. At the back, the modernized F40 gains a higher spoiler to improve the airflow and a downforce-enhancing secondary wing inspired by the 1987 Ferrari F1 race car. To bring his creation to life, Metcalfe also designed a render inspired by Stephenson's design sketch. The resulting design looks dramatic but redesigning one of the most iconic cars of all time is going to divide opinions. What do you make of this F40's modern makeover?