The Ferrari F50: A Ferocious Beast
When the Ferrari F50 was released in the ‘90s buyers had to jump through many hoops to even get their hands on one.
Written by Serena Aburahma
Reviewed by Kathleen Flear
As Ferrari is one of the largest car manufacturers in the world, it's no surprise that you get high-performance in a top-quality
luxury car
for hundreds of thousands of dollars. The Ferrari F50 was no exception, but to get your hands on one required jumping through hoops. What did paying for an F50 look like, and was it worth the difficult path to ownership?
Why was it hard to buy the Ferrari F50?
When the F40 came out in 1988, some buyers drove the price of the car up to $1 million because they would turn around and sell the vehicle right after they got their hands on it.
To avoid having that happen again, Ferrari changed the way they rolled out the F50 in the mid-90s. According to
Car and Driver
, when it was first introduced, you had to go through a strict regime to consider yourself worthy. First, you had to fill out a questionnaire that would ask questions like, "How many Ferrari's have you sold, and how much did you get for them." The brand would choose the prospective owners that gave the best answers.
If you passed that portion, you could sign up for the two-year lease program, which was the only way to get your hands on the vehicle. You couldn't buy it outright when it rolled off the production line. Of course, Ferrari didn't make the leasing process easy either.
You needed to pay $240,000 for a down payment to lease it. Then, you would pay 24 payments of $5,600 a month. When the two years were up, you would pay the final payment of $150,000. By the end of the lease program, you would have paid over $500,000 total.
After all the payments were made, Ferrari would hand over the title to it. The lease program didn't please too many people wanting to buy the vehicle. Some complained that they didn't feel like they owned the car.
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What features did it offer those lucky enough to get it?
MORE: The Coolest Ferraris Ever Made
The F50 model was created in celebration of the 50th anniversary of Ferrari as a car manufacturing company. It was produced as a nod to the F1 racing car, but only 349 units were built in the mid-90s.
Powering it up was a 4.7-liter naturally aspirated V12 engine from the F1-89 unit. This Ferrari clocked a top speed of 325 km and had an acceleration time of 3.87 seconds for a 0 to 100 km/h run. For the 0 to 1000 m run, it managed a 21.7 time, according to the
Ferrari
website. The brand molded the exterior body for aerodynamic functions, which differed from the aesthetics of the F40 model.
A more profound rear wing design commanded attention in a way the F40 never could. With the F50, you had your choice of five different color schemes. There were two shades of red to choose from. You could also get a yellow, black, and silver-painted model.
The interior had composite seats trimmed in leather and cloth centers. You could choose standard seat sizes or opt for the larger ones instead. The controls were all traditional, and in front of the driver, you got a multi-colored display showcasing your typical driving information.
Can you buy a Ferrari F50 now?
MORE: Why Is the Ferrari F40 One of the Most Coveted Italian Supercars?
The two-year lease program was up about a decade ago, so the question is, are there F50s available to buy today? The answer is yes, but there may not be as many up for sale as one would like.
Some owners, like Andy Evans, an investment analyst back in the ‘90s, had no intention of letting his F50 go from his collection. Other celebrities, like the Sultan of Brunei, who's known for an ever-expanding collection of expensive cars felt the same.
The first known F50 to go up for sale with a free and clear title was back in the late ‘90s from a Swiss seller. It went on the open market with an asking price of $608,300. So, if you can find one today, prepare for it to go pretty high.
Finding the right insurance for your beloved sports car
Sports cars aren't necessarily big-priced ones like the Ferrari F50. You can pretty much get one that matches just about any budget nowadays, with a few fewer bells and whistles than your typical high-performance vehicles. The issue is finding the right insurance to protect your sports car with.
While the search can be frustrating and time-consuming to find a company that won't overcharge you,
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