The Ferrari Enzo was launched 20 years ago and I can’t believe it. It was just so ahead of its time that it makes some modern supercars today look old. To name a car after the founder is a big risk. Especially when the founder is the founder of Ferrari. Therefore, the Enzo had to be the best car in the world. It couldn’t just be your average Ferrari at all.
The Enzo was the replacement for the Ferrari F50, a car that was created to celebrate Ferrari’s 50th birthday. That car wasn’t perfect whatsoever, and it had way too many flaws. One of which is that the F50 was just way too rough. The most famous quote said by many “it’s like the engine has been bolted to your spine.”
Ferrari’s aim with the F50 was to make it an F1 car for the road. Unfortunately, an F1 car is no good for the road so the whole idea really flopped. Therefore, Ferrari shelved this whole idea for the Enzo and decided to just be a bit more “normal” for it. However, they still utilized F1-inspired technology including a flappy-paddle gearbox and push-tod suspension. All of this was completely revolutionary for the time.
So what made this car so special? Why is this car so special? Let’s find out.
It Looks Spectacular
The Ferrari Enzo looks awesome. It hasn’t aged one bit and I just love everything about it. The car was designed by Ken Okuyama, head of Pininfarina design. Admittedly, he wasn’t the best car designer in the world. Some of his projects like the Ferrari 456 and the 612 Scaleggeti were genuinely awful.
The Enzo isn’t a pretty car at all. It’s very aggressive and the design is very much function over form. It’s a very wide car, especially from the back. The front of the car is a tad narrower but it is designed to essentially cut through the air. The nose looks as if it’s been snatched straight from an F1 car.
Then there are the huge side vents which just make the whole car look and feel so much more dramatic. If there is one word that describes the design as a whole, it is dramatic. The rear of the car includes four taillights, four exhausts, and a huge carbon fiber diffuser. That look inspired many of the Ferrari cars that came after the Enzo including the 599, which was also designed by Ken Okuyama.
The Enzo is massive. Everything about it is huge and somewhat intimidating. The rear quarter of the car especially, since it’s just so long. The reason why it’s so long is that it houses a mammoth of an engine. If the Ferrari Enzo was a woman, it would be a fiery long-legged tall blonde supermodel.
Inside, it is very driver-focused. The steering wheel is inspired by F1 with its LED shifter lights and there is carbon fiber everywhere. In fact, the whole car is made from carbon fiber.
The Driving Dynamics Are Incredible.
The Enzo as mentioned earlier has a few F1 goodies on board. It’s not an F1 car for the road by any means, but since Ferrari was the best F1 team in the world when the Enzo was launched, best believe that their flagship car is pretty much similar in some ways to their F1 cars.
The first F1-inspired feature is the semi-automated manual gearbox otherwise known by many as the “flappy paddle” gearbox. The F50 was never fitted with this at all. That had a 6-speed manual. The gearbox is extremely brutal when at full chap but at slow speeds it is hopeless. The gearbox was designed in the late 1990s and it was first fitted to the F355 Ferrari. Obviously, the one in the Enzo was built to a higher standard.
The brakes are carbon-ceramics. More specifically, Brembo 15-inch Carbon fiber reinforced silicon carbide ceramic brakes. The Enzo actually has some advanced features that F1 cars at the time were not allowed to have. These include active aerodynamics which affects the downforce of the car. The Active aero system includes things like an underbody flap, adjustable spoiler, and rear diffuser.
The real party piece though is the 6 liter Tipo F140 B V12. The car pushes out 651hp and 485 lb-ft of torque with an 8200 rpm redline. There are no turbos or superchargers and no sight of any hybrid technology at all. It was mounted behind the driver ina. rear-mid setup. The power is sent to the rear wheels.
Performance-wise, this car hits 60 in 3.14 seconds and the fastest speed ever recorded for this car was as high as 221 mph. that’s absolutely ridiculous if you ask me. Still faster than many supercars in this day and age. The Enzo features four-wheel independent suspension with push-road actuated shock absorbers. These can all be adjusted from the cabin. The car also has anti-roll bars front and rear. It’s all very advanced indeed.
The Enzo uses 19-inch alloys which are fitted via one single lug nut. The tires are Bridgestone Potenza’s.
To Conclude:
The Enzo is one of the best cars ever made. Everything about it is so ahead of its time and it really did change Ferrari as a whole. Ferrari states that 399 customer cars were built, and the final 400th car went to the Vatican where it was then auctioned for charity.
However, Ferrari Enzo enthusiast Carbon McCoy confirmed that actually, the true production number for the Enzo is 493. That’s 93 over what Ferrari states. The Enzo was offered in a few colors such as Nero (Black), Giallo Modena (Yellow), and Bianco Fuji (white). Most Enzo’s though were sold in red or black. I have never seen a white or silver one. The rarest Enzo color though is unpainted carbon which looks crazy.
You had to be invited to buy an Enzo. Only those who had an F40 and F5 previously were allowed. People like Pink Floyd drummer, Nick Mason. Micheal Schumacher also had one as at the time he was Ferrari’s world champion.