This is One of the Greatest V12's You Will Hear Today

(Preliminary note: the F50 GT appears thirty-one seconds into the video!)

Above is a video of a Ferrari F50 GT driving at a track, and to some, it could have the greatest V12 note in the world. It looks similar to its roadworthy counterpart, the F50, but with a hood scoop and a more track-oriented appearance, including a roof scoop, a front spoiler, a large diffuser, and a wing large enough for Thanksgiving dinner. It probably would be worth giving thanks to Ferrari just for the appearance, taking the ridiculed F50’s appearance and making it a demon painted in Rosso Corsa, able to hurl 750 HP to the rear wheels at 10,500 revolutions per minute from a 4.7 liter V12.

The car, also known as the F50 GT1, was intended to be used in the BPR Global GT Series as Ferrari’s answer to the McLaren F1 GTR and the Porsche 911 GT1 because of its rigidity that was gained from a lack of subframes and the use of a sold mounted chassis and braking capabilities, but by the time the series fell apart, Ferrari produced only three cars. Seeing no reason to continue, the one prototype and two fully-assembled examples, with the latter two being built for certain, important customers, were sold to the public. Co-developed with Dallara, the car weighed a mere 2,005 pounds, which was enough to send it to 60 miles per hour in 2.9 seconds, topping out at 235 MPH even with the extreme aerodynamics.

When the F50 GT was tested at the Fiorano test track, it set a faster lap than a 333 SP prototype racer with a 4.0 liter V12 in it.

The first chassis, number 001, was sent to Micholelotti, the same company that helped with creating the F40 GT/LM and the 333 SP; they were allowed to modify any component on the original road car, placing an adujstible rear wing on a flat rear deck, much larger air apertures and a low front splitter on the front bumper, and a metal cover for the engine bay. Along with this, a six-speed sequential transmission was used to send the 750 cavallinos to the rears without breaking anything, using a three-disc carbon clutch that was much stronger than that originally used. Along with this, a more adjustable suspension, carbon fiber disc brakes, a lower ride hight, and twenty-inch Speedline wheels completed the unraced racer’s look, and inside the car, there was only one racing seat, a digital display, and many more complex electronics focused on delicately and precisely shaving milliseconds like hairs, including a Magneti Marelli Competition system. This chassis, the original development mule, was sold to Art Zafiropoulo, who still owns the car, but the car was crashed when Johannes von Overbeck crashed the car with cold tires at Sears Point. After a year, the repaired example returned, and with a vengeance; the car was upgraded to a greater specification. After testing the resurrected example, Michael Schumacher signed the dashboard, but Art would lose control again in 2004 at the Monterey Historics race at Laguna Seca, where he lost control while accelerating after the final turn, launching it headfirst into the wall.

As for chassis number 002, it was sold to Yoshikuni Okamoto, and it still sits in his collection. It rarely comes out of the garage, staying in his Japanese garage for him to admire as a symbol of dedicated labor.

The last one, chassis number 003, is the one that’s been sent to the auction house the most, being originally sold to Jim Spiro. In 2000, he put the car into the RM Auction in Scottsdale, with the final bid reaching $1.43 million. The car would be sent to Australia, also spending time sitting about on a pedestal like its 002 brother, but it stayed in a showroom at a dealership. It visited a few track days, and the last time it was sold, it was by Oaksfield and was sent to England, with the price staying a mystery.

Take this car out on the track, however, and one realizes that it was never meant to be a show car. The engine could rev to an eye-watering 11,000 revolutions per minute, producing a sound that harkens back to the F50’s mantra of a road-going Formula One car. Unlike its older brother, the F40 LM, it’s unhampered by turbo lag and its scream uninterrupted by a whistling turbocharger; in the video above, it becomes evident that there were no efforts by Ferrari to dampen the sound, creating that glorious sound of an unraced racer stretching its legs for the world to see and the opposition to fear.

What are your thoughts? Are there any V12 notes that compete with this warbly scream? Comment below; thank you in advance!