Guide: Ferrari Enzo — Supercar Nostalgia (2024)

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Ferrari - Ferrari Enzo - 2000s Italian Cars - 2000s Supercars - Pininfarina

Background

When Ferrari decided to create the twin turbocharged V8-powered 288 GTO of 1984-1985, the reason was to hom*ologate a racing car for the Group B era.

Although the planned-for GTO competition programme never materialised, Ferrari quickly sold all the 200 cars required for hom*ologation. Such was demand, they even built quite a few extras; having abandoned the production of limited volume super expensive flagship models in the late 1960s, it seemed there was once again a market for such machinery.

As a consequence of the 288’s commercial success, Ferrari turned the GTO Evoluzione (the planned-for competition variant) into a test-bed for a successor model: the F40.

The F40 was an even more hardcore interpretation of the GTO theme and Ferrari eventually sold around 1300 examples between 1987 and 1992.

The F40 was in turn followed by a third flagship: the F50.

At the heart of the F50 was a normally aspirated V12 created to hom*ologate the use of a similar powerplant in the 333 SP racing car.

349 F50s were sold between 1995 and 1997.

By this stage, it was inconceivable that the F50 would not itself be replaced by a fourth generation flagship in a similar vein.

Just such a car was launched at the Paris Motor Show in September 2002: the Enzo.

Originally codenamed FX and given type number F140, the Enzo had a simple design philosophy: to employ the greatest crossover of F1 technology ever seen and become the most aerodynamically advanced road car of its time.

As expected, the Enzo was the fastest, most powerful and most expensive production car Ferrari had ever made.

A run of 399 units was originally announced, all of which would be left-hand drive.

The option to buy an Enzo was offered by invitation to Ferrari’s existing VIP customers. Every car was pre-sold before production began in October 2002.

The new machine joined a Ferrari line up that included the V8-powered 360 Modena / Spider and two front V12-engined Grand Tourers: the 456 M four seater and the 575 M two-seater.

Chassis

The Enzo was built around a brand new carbonfibre monocoque with aluminium honeycomb sandwiched in between. The roof was bonded to the tub and the complete monocoque weighed just 92kg (compared to 102kg for the F50). At 2650mm, the Enzo’s wheelbase was 69mm longer than its predecessor.

In order to contain unwanted noise and vibration (a major criticism of the F50), Ferrari mounted the engine on a special cast alloy subframe as opposed to directly onto the monocoque.

Double wishbone suspension employed co*ckpit-adjustable pushrod-actuated coil / damper units mounted to the tub at the front and to the subframe at the rear. Skyhook adaptive dampers underwent constant adjustment to optimise ride comfort and body control. An anti-roll bar was fitted at either end.

Carbon ceramic brake discs were used for the first time on a Ferrari road car. They were supplied by Brembo and had an enormous 380mm diameter all round. Six-piston calipers were fitted up front and four-caliper units at the rear.

Compared to the carbon discs subsequently used by Porsche and Mercedes-Benz, the Enzo’s were less sensitive to wear and temperature and thus better suited to road use. They also offered a considerable weight-saving over conventional cast-iron discs.

ABS was standard along with an ASR traction control system and power steering.

The Enzo’s centre-locking 19-inch diameter wheels were manufactured in-house by Ferrari. They had a five twin-spoke design and measured 9-inches wide up front and 13-inches wide at the rear. Specially developed Bridgestone Potenza RE050A Scuderia tyres were originally fitted.

Two 55-litre aluminium alloy fuel tanks were installed either side of the engine up against the rear bulkhead.

Engine / Gearbox

The longitudinally-mounted Tipo F140B engine was a completely new normally aspirated 65° V12 - the most powerful ever fitted to a road car.

It featured an alloy block and heads, titanium connecting rods, a new piston design, lightweight crankshaft and ‘pentroof-type’ combustion chambers with four-valves per cylinder.

Displacement was 5998cc thanks to a bore and stroke of 92mm and 75.2mm respectively.

The chain-driven timing gear employed dual overhead camshafts, direct valve control and hydraulic tappets. The timing of the inlet and exhaust manifolds was continuously variable.

Lubrication was via a dry-sump system.

A variable length induction system extended the length of the induction pipes from 340mm to 430mm via hydraulic actuators.

Electronic engine management was courtesy of specially developed Bosch Motronic ME7 software. This controlled the PFI multiple injection system, the drive-by-wire throttle valve and the single coils on each spark plug.

With a compression ratio of 11.2:1, peak output was 650bhp at 7800rpm and 485lb-ft at 5500rpm.

For comparison, the F50’s 4.7-litre V12 had developed 512bhp at 8500rpm and 347lb-ft at 6500rpm.

The Enzo’s rear-mounted six-speed F1 gearbox was coupled directly to the engine by an element that incorporated the engine oil tank, the bevel gear pair and the self-locking limited-slip differential. The clutch was a twin-plate electro-hydraulic unit.

Gear shifts had to be carried out manually via carbonfibre paddles mounted behind the steering wheel.

There were three driving modes: Sport, Race and No ASR. Each mode came with its own integrated software map that controlled damping and the traction control system.

Race mode offered shift times of just 150 milliseconds. With the traction control system turned off, Race mode also included a launch control facility.

Bodywork

The Enzo’s exterior styling was the work of Pininfarina although Ferrari provided much input with regard to the aerodynamics.

Given the aforementioned performance targets, it was no surprise that functionality dictated form; the end result was a state-of-the-art design that drew heavily from Scuderia Ferrari’s Formula 1 experience.

Nowhere was this more apparent that the Enzo’s F1-style nose which had a raised and pointed central section that flowed backwards in a V-shaped fashion. Large radiator intakes on either side directed hot air to the upper body via two enormous vents and thus prevented it disrupting the underbody airflow.

The advanced underbody design together with a massive rear diffuser meant the Enzo didn’t need the kind of spoilers found on the F40 and F50. Instead, fast air travelling below the car was used to generate huge amounts of downforce – as much as 775kg at 186mph. Additionally, electronically-activated flaps ahead of the front wheels continuously worked in unison with a discrete rear spoiler to adjust the aero balance and increase downforce at high speeds.

Other interesting details included forward-hinging butterfly doors, a 360 Modena-style fastback glass engine cover and distinctive new light clusters.

Body panels were formed from sandwich panels of carbonfibre and Nomex.

Interior

The Enzo’s hi-tech interior was arguably the most advanced of its day.

Most of the surfaces were left in exposed carbonfibre. Leather was used to cover the seats, knee roll, door inserts, the passenger-side airbag cover, the roof, pillars, sun visors, rear bulkhead panel and parts of the steering wheel.

Sparco carbonfibre-shelled bucket seats were manually adjustable. They came with four-point harnesses and a Cavallino Rampante embossed upon each headrest.

To further save weight, the windows used traditional rotary winders and there was no stereo.

One of the most striking features of the Enzo’s co*ckpit was its complex steering wheel - it housed controls for the driving modes, traction control, axle lift, onboard computer, reverse gear and wing angles. In the absence of traditional stalks, the indicator controls were also located on the steering wheel.

In a fashion that mimicked F1 cars of the period, the steering wheel’s upper rim housed five LEDs that lit up in 500rpm increments beyond 5500rpm.

The cowled instrument binnacle contained a pair of analogue gauges for road and engine speed plus an array of warning lights. To the left-hand side was a supplementary binnacle that housed a digital read out for other relevant information.

Located in a central control panel were the air-conditioning controls, underneath which was a slim vertical console that was home to the rest of the switchgear including the engine start button.

Options

Other than a choice of interior and exterior shades, the only options were for seat size, coloured brake calipers, coloured instrumentation, contrast stitching and alcantara trim inserts.

Ferrari originally stated that only three exterior colours would be available: red, yellow and black. However, this was ultimately opened up to allow customers the choice from Ferrari’s full range of shades.

Weight / Performance

The Enzo weighed in at 1365kg which was a little heavier than Ferrari had hoped for and 135kg up on the F50.

However, thanks to its slippery profile, top speed of the new model was 217mph compared to 202mph for its heavily be-spoilered predecessor. In addition, the Enzo could hit 62mph from a standstill in just 3.1 seconds (six tenths quicker than the F50).

Around Ferrari’s Fioranop test track, the Enzo was a staggering 4.5 seconds faster than the F50.

Production

When the Enzo was originally announced, a production run of 349 cars was anticipated although this was increased to 399 by the time the car was unveiled in Paris in September 2002.

A 400th example was then gifted to Pope John Paul II which was auctioned to fund recovery efforts after the Indian Ocean earthquake and subsequent tsunami on Boxing Day 2004.

Ferrari then unofficially upped production again and although no precise figure has ever been forthcoming the total number of Enzos built is thought to be around the 500 mark.

The first deliveries began in October 2002 and the last car rolled off the production line in May 2004.

Two spin off models were also built: the Maserati M12 GT1 hom*ologation special and the track-only Ferrari FXX which came with a bigger 6.3-litre engine, a special gearbox, revised aero and myriad other upgrades to include a full data / telemetry system.

A replacement model, the LaFerrari, ultimately followed in 2013. It was powered by a hybrid V12 which meant the Enzo was almost certainly the last of Ferrari’s naturally aspirated flagships.

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