The iconic shape of the Ferrari F40, with its characteristically aggressive and aerodynamic styling, has captured the hearts of many - although with only 1311 ever produced and a price tag of slightly less than £1.5 million they remain an extremely elusive car to get a hold of.Ferrari purists might want to stay away from this one though, since we are going to take a look at the infamous Liberty Walk (or LBWK for short) F40.
Unveiled last year at the 2023 Tokyo Auto Salon, the car immediately sparked heated debates among die-hard Ferrari loyalists and equally die-hard Liberty Walk fans over its chopped body, vented hood and traditional LBWK bolt-on rear fenders, deemed wildly unconventional by all but loved by many regardless.
Ferrari has been known to take a dim view of such modifications to their cars (for example Tony Gillet's F40 LM 'Barchetta') and this was no exception - only a few months after the unveiling, Ferrari allegedly removed the car from their official registry due to the modifications done (further detail can be found here).
The questions remains, however, as to why Ferrari would take such a stance on what many consider to be a testament to the original F40?
The answer lies within the rules that come with Ferrari ownership - in particular rules regarding (unsurprisingly) body work and customization.
Since each and every car sold by Ferrari is considered to be perfect as-is, customisation is severely limited - unless, of course, you happen to be willing to pay an extortionate sum to get it customised by Ferrari at their factory - to paint jobs (and even then no rose, salmon or pink is allowed).
Suffice it to say, body work is strictly prohibited (in order to avoid damaging the view of the brand as "perfect") and that's where the problem arises.
Of course, others have slightly modified the body of their Ferraris in the past without being 'disowned', but the sheer scale of what Liberty Walk have done to a 1/1311 icon of the brand has clearly been deemed unacceptable by the people in Maranello, where their HQ is based.
For a bit of context, the only thing that has not been changed is the engine (including transmission) and driveshaft - quite literally everything else, including seats, wheels, suspension, headlights, diffusers and exhaust to name a few have been swapped out with aftermarket parts (mainly a mixture of LBWK's own kit and other Japanese manufacturers, although ironically the seats and steering wheel are of Italian make)
Opinions remain divided over what some call a masterpiece and others call desecration of Ferrari's name, however it cannot be denied that the LBWK F40 just goes to prove the unlimited bounds of Liberty Walk's creativity and is a gem in its own right.
