the performance deficit inflicted by ever more restrictive emissions regulations. In response to the quite simple, but very expensive car with relatively little out of the ordinary being called a "cynical money-making exercise" aimed at speculators, a figure from the Ferrari marketing department was quoted as saying "We wanted it to be very fast, sporting in the extreme and Spartan," "Customers had been saying our cars were becoming too plush and comfortable." "The F40 is for the most enthusiastic of our owners who want nothing but sheer performance. It isn't a laboratory for the future, as the 959 is. It is not Star Wars. And it wasn't created because Porsche built the 959. It would have happened anyway." In fact the reasons for the car's rawness and simplicity are very much linked to Materazzi's racing background (starting from the Stratos Gr.4, the Gr.5 Silhouette, then the Osella F2 and F1 cars, the 126C and eventually the 288 GTO). The body of the F40 was designed by Pietro Camardella under the supervision of, soon to retire, Aldo Brovarone of studio Pininfarina. Nicola Materazzi meanwhile worked on evolutions of the engine, gearbox and other mechanical parts of the car to make them roadworthy. Many of these were well validated in the 288 GTO Evoluzione, from which the F40 takes many styling cues. From the beginning of the project on 10 June 1986, Enzo Ferrari asked for the car to be completed in a very short space of time (11 months) and be presented in the summer of 1987. For this reason, he gave Materazzi permission to choose all the engineers on the team. Some of the development of the car, such as the bodywork was carried out at external companies like Michelotto Automobili (in Padua) which had experience in rally and race preparation (Stratos, GTO Evo, subsequently 333SP, 348, 355, 360, 430, 458). Power, torque, and suspension Power came from an enlarged, high-revving version of the 288 GTO's IHI four-stroke 90 degrees twin turbocharged and intercooled V8 engine generating a peak power output of at 7,000 rpm and of torque at 4,000 rpm as stated by the manufacturer. Gearing, torque curves, and actual power output differed among the cars. The F40 did without a catalytic converter until 1990, when US regulations made them a requirement for emissions control reasons. The flanking exhaust pipes guide exhaust gases from each bank of cylinders while