F50

F50, F.50 or F-50 may refer to:

Ferrari F50

The Ferrari F50 is a mid-engined range-topping sports car made by Ferrari. The F50 was introduced in 1995. The car is a two-door, two seat roadster with a removable hardtop. It has a 4.7 L naturally aspirated 60-valve V12 engine that was developed from the 3.5 L V12 used in the 1990 Ferrari 641 Formula One car.

Only 349 cars were made. The last F50 was produced in Maranello, Italy, in July 1997.

The F50's engine predated the car; it was used in the Ferrari 333 SP for the American IMSA series in 1994, allowing it to become eligible for the stock engine WSC category.

Racing

Following the motorsport theme, Ferrari developed the F50 GT, a prototype based on the F50 that was built to compete in GT1-class racing. The car had a fixed roof, large rear spoiler, new front spoiler and many other adjustments. The 4.7 litre V12 engine was tuned to generate around 750 bhp (559 kW). In testing in 1996 the car proved to be quicker even than the 333SP, but this went unnoticed as Ferrari cancelled the F50 GT project, instead focusing on Formula One. Ferrari sold off the three complete chassis that were built–the test car 001, 002 and 003. Chassis 002 and 003 had bodies fitted before being sold. The remaining three tubs were apparently destroyed.

Ferrari 288 GTO

The Ferrari GTO (often referred to as Ferrari 288 GTO) is an exotic homologation of the Ferrari 308 GTB produced from 1984 through 1987, designated GT for Gran Turismo and O for Omologato (homologated in Italian).

Background

The Ferrari GTO was built to compete in the new Group B Race series and a minimum of 200 cars were required for homologation. However, after the death of Henri Toivonen and his co-driver Sergio Cresto in the 1986 Tour de Corse, the FIA disestablished the class, leaving just the Group A Rally championship. As a result, the 288 GTO never raced and all 272 cars built remained purely road cars.

Some of the 288 GTO's styling features were first displayed on a 308 GTB design exercise by Pininfarina shown at the 1977 Geneva Salon. This included the deep front spoiler, fender flares, rear lip spoiler, front lid radiator cooling louvers and quadruple driving lights.

Engine

The GTO was based on the mid-engine, rear wheel drive 308 GTB (which has a 3.0 litre V8 engine). The "288" refers to the GTO's 2.8 litre V8 engine as it used a de-bored (by 1 mm) V8 with twin IHI turbochargers, intercoolers, and Weber-Marelli fuel injection. The 2855 cc engine capacity was dictated by the FIA's requirement for a Turbocharged engine's capacity to be multiplied by 1.4. This gave the GTO a theoretical engine capacity of 3997 cc, just under the Group B limit of 4.0 litres.

Ferrari

Ferrari S.p.A. is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello. Founded by Enzo Ferrari in 1939 as Auto Avio Costruzioni, the company built its first car in 1940. However, the company's inception as an auto manufacturer is usually recognized in 1947 when the first Ferrari-badged car was completed.

Ferrari is the world's most powerful brand according to Brand Finance. In May 2012 the 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO became the most expensive car in history, selling in a private transaction for $38,115,000 to American communications magnate Craig McCaw.

Fiat S.p.A. acquired 50% of Ferrari in 1969 and expanded its stake to 90% in 1988. In October 2014 Fiat Chrysler Automobiles announced its intentions to separate Ferrari from FCA; as of the announcement FCA owned 90% of Ferrari. The separation began in October 2015 with a restructuring that established Ferrari N.V. as the new holding company of the Ferrari group and the subsequent sale by FCA of a 10% of the shares in an IPO and concurrent listing of common shares on the New York Stock Exchange. Through the remainings steps of the separation, FCA's interest in Ferrari's business was distributed to shareholders of FCA, with a 10% continuing to be owned by Piero Ferrari. The spin-off was completed on January 3, 2016.