Five Cars That Are Sure To Make You Scream Like a Fool! Four and Five of Five

Ferrari F-40 & Jaguar XJ220

There are many enthusiasts out there that have a car that pulled them into their passion of the automobile.  Even as a small child there was something that attracted me to our staple of transportation and so I can't really say that it was a car itself that pulled me in.  Rather it was something innate; something that has always been a part of who I am.  However, there are a handful of cars out there that I must admit are held slightly higher on my list of cars that have influenced my passion and seem to have made it extra special.  

I have chosen to highlight the Ferrari F-40 and Jaguar XJ200 together for several reasons.  First, if I were to encounter either one of these cars in actual reality they would force me to generate an absolute cacophony of shrieks and high-pitched shouts.  Second, these two cars are extremely different from one another and yet subtly similar.

While the Jaguar's design is very fluid, the Ferrari is decidedly more edgy.  The Jaguar made it into production almost as a fluke while the Ferrari was a dedicated super car.  The ferrari is the lightweight jockey and the Jaguar is the debonair supermodel.  The biggest difference between these two cars however is most noticeable inside their respective cockpits.

   The Italian Stallion has been accused of having fewer accommodations than a jail cell; the bone stock Ferrari doesn't have leather seats, power windows, power steering, power brakes or a stereo.  The F-40 doesn't even have door handles or carpet!  Instead this thoroughbred is a no nonsense super car; while the luxuries amount to quite literally nothing the Ferrari takes all that weight that would have been used to pamper the passenger and instead uses it to transport that passenger around a track in the fastest way possible.

At just under 2,500 pounds the Ferrari F-40 is most definitely a light weight and with a 478HP twin-turbo 3.0L V8 sitting in the back, the F-40 is wickedly fast.  So fast in fact that it can reach 60 MPH in 3.8 seconds and reach a top speed of 201 MPH.  The F-40 was produced from 1987 to 1992 and while that was two decades ago it can still keep up with and often out perform many of todays best super cars.  The Ferrari F-40 is almost nothing more than a pair of seats strapped to high performance engine in a carbon fiber tub; that is what I love about it.  It's a beautiful car in a completely raw and savage sort of way and that is what makes this Ferrari so special.

Not only is this car a special favorite because of it's stunning performance and iconic profile but also because of it's sentimental aspects as well.  Yes it's true, a car this brutally fast and performance oriented can, in fact, have a softer side.

Enzo Ferrari was 90 years old when the F-40 was on the drawing board.  Obviously ready for retirement, and I don't mean from the job, the father of Ferrari wanted the last Italian Stallion developed under his commission to be one that was special.  Ferrari is, and always has been, amongst the most revered automakers in the world when it comes to premier performance cars and motor racing.  Enzo Ferrari wanted to go out with a bang and he did just that with the F-40; two decades old and his last hurrah still stands as arguably the most sought after Ferrari of all time.

The Jaguar XJ220 takes a completely different approach to transporting it's passengers and what else would you expect from a Jag?  Weighing in at just over 3,000 pounds the XJ is quite a bit  larger than its Italian counterpart but that doesn't make it any slower; in a straight line that is.  The XJ220, while no slouch on the race track, isn't quite as adept on the twisties as the F-40.  Line them up for a drag race however and this big british bruiser will take the checkered flag home every time .

While the XJ220 was originally meant to be powered by a version of Jaguar's venerable V12 it ended up with a twin-turbo version of its 3.5L V6 in order to save on weight.  Churning out 548HP, the blown V6 was no push over and it created enough push to launch the big Jag from 0-60 in 3.8 seconds and if there was enough roadway clear on up to a stratospheric 217 MPH.

As mentioned before the Ferrari F-40 was built to celebrate Ferrari's 40th anniversary as a motor company and to send Enzo Ferrari himself off in blazing red glory.  The Jag on the other hand was conceived when a group of Jaguar design employees were meeting at their weekly "Saturday's Club".  It began as just another concept idea but it wasn't long before Jaguar was on a mission to build the worlds fastest car with the goal of 220 MPH where the XJ220 gets its name.

With leather seats, air conditioning and a number of other Jaguaresque features, the XJ220 is drastically more accommodating than the Ferrari but in the F-40's defense that isn't really the point of these two cars.

The point of these two cars is to go really, really fast and make you look like a million-bucks; that is where these two cars begin to show their similarities.  To put it plainly, the XJ220 was built to compete against the F-40 and so naturally there are some similarities.

Both cars use forced induction to take their relatively small engines to the max.  When it comes to the internal combustion engine the more air you can shove into those cylinders the more power you're going to be able generate.  While the respective 3.0 liters of the Ferrari and 3.5 liters of the Jaguar  seem pint sized when compared to the likes of the Dodge Viper and it's 8.3L these two turbo charged titans can swap punches with the best of them.  By using turbo chargers the big Brit and petite Italian use the air that would otherwise escape out of their exhausts, spool it up, compress it and push it back into their cylinders to create big power.  The result is absolutely astonishing as these two mid-engine exotics dominate the tracks that they so rarely grace.  A rarity only because of their limited numbers and not for their lacking in popularity.

These two cars, in the automotive world, are considered to be royalty, an endangered species if you will.  There were only 281 XJ220s produced between 1992 and 1994 and although the 1,315 F-40's that were built between 1987 and 1992 are double the number of Jaguar's it is still a very limited number.  It's sad to say but you're about as likely to get gored by a dairy cow as you are to see one of these beauties carving up the corners.

There are hundreds of cars, past and present that are the object of many a mans desire and while I have a long list of cars that would likely bring me to my knees none would do it quicker that the Ferrari F-40 and the Jaguar XJ220.  While the incredibly basic primitive F-40 takes the very basics of italian automotive engineering and creates an absolutely organic sense of raw handling and acceleration the Jaguar takes the more refined road to blast you from point A to point B in true british fashion.  Then again with these two cars, it has nothing to do with going from point A to point B; it has everything to do with the experience of driving and making it the most supreme and abiding experience you'll ever have.  Point A and Point B no longer are thought of as destinations but rather time periods in between drives.

        

Five Cars That Are Sure To Make You Scream Like a Fool! 3 of 5

Porsche 911

Whenever discussing automotive greats, it is absolutely necessary to include Porsche; not doing so would be an absolute crime and a complete waste of a conversation.  With a rich and hallowed history in motor-sports and automotive firsts, such as the worlds first gasoline/electric hybrid, Porsche stands as one of the pillars for the four-wheeled society.




Over the years Porsche has developed a plethora of cars worth remembering, collecting, racing, or just plain experiencing.  Among the most well known cars in the Porsche lineup is, of course, the 911 which has been around since 1964.  Being one of the longest running models to have ever been produced, the Porsche 911 has followed a very successful, if not quirky, formula.  The majority of the sports car nation have their bonnets up front and their boots in the back and most of those whom do not follow that formula have their engine centered squarely between the rear axels, if not a little forward.  The 911's engine however likes to hang back and is centered behind the rear axle!  This engine, I must add, hasn't changed since 1964 other than in it's size, use of good old technology, and an engine that has such a unique, raspy exhaust note that clearly sets it apart from any other.

Many cars with such a layout tend to be unstable when driven hard because all that weight from the engine sits in the back and, when pushed, the tail tends to want to swing around and overtake the front.  The 911 however is somewhat of an anomaly in the handling arena because when others of the RR tribe are sent spinning of the road it hunkers down and flies around the corners as if it were glued there.

The Porsche 911 has made the list of "Ten Cars That Are Sure To Make You Scream Like a Fool" not only because it is one of my personal favorites of all time but also because of how dynamic a vehicle it really is.  If you're in the market for a sports car and your willing and able to spend a minimum of nearly 80K, the 911 comes in so many flavors that there is most assuredly a piece of Porsche to fit your needs.

Whether you want to look classy in your classic Porsche 911 Carrera, equipped with it's sturdy 3.6L flat six and 345 HP or your one of those raw speed freaks that needs a precision instrument of speed and aerodynamics, the 911 GT2 would be right up your alley with it's turbo charged ability to reach the "Mt. Everest-like" 200 MPH.  The 911 line has a number of faces, from super car to convertible cruiser. It has done it with such style and consistency over the years that it has created a legacy for itself; a legacy that continues to stretch with each passing year.