# The mamouth F40 detail..... Part 1 (56K dont bother!!)



## Monaco Detailer (Dec 3, 2007)

The Ferrari F40……​
An icon of car design, the last production Ferrari commissioned by the late Enzo Ferrari.​








​
The Ferrari F40 is a mid-engine, rear wheel drive, two-door coupé produced by Ferrari from 1987 to 1992 as the successor to the Ferrari 288 GTO. From 1987 to 1989 it held the title as the world's fastest production car, and during its years of production, was Ferrari's fastest, most powerful, and most expensive car.
The car debued with a factory suggested retail price of approximately US$400,000, although some buyers were reported as paying as much as US$1.6 million. A total 1,315 F40s were produced.

*Concept*

The F40 was, in the most literal sense, designed as the successor to the company's GTO supercar, but the project's meaning ran deeper. At ninety years old, Enzo Ferrari was keenly aware that his life was coming to an end, and was somewhat disappointed that Ferrari's dominance in international motorsport had faded somewhat over the years. As a result, Enzo wanted a new pet project put into the pipelines, something that could remind the world of the company's capabilities as a manufacturer as well as provide both a competitor to the Porsche 959 and come to be his masterpiece; the company's impending 40th anniversary provided just the right occasion for the car to debut. The plan was simple: create a vehicle that combined the company's best technologies into a no-frills sports car that would come as close as possible to being a full fledged race vehicle while still retaining the necessary equipment to be a street-legal product. It was the last car to be commissioned by Enzo himself before his death.
It was intended that there were to be 400 F40s made, all painted red.

*Development*

*Origin*

As early as 1984, the Maranello factory had begun development of an evolution model of the 288 GTO intended to compete against the 959 in FIA Group B. However, when the FIA brought an end to the Group B category for the 1986 season, Enzo was left with five 288 GTO Evoluzione development cars, and no series in which to campaign them. Enzo's desire to leave a legacy in his final supercar allowed the Evoluzione program to be further developed to produce a car exclusively for road use.

*Drivetrain and suspension*

Power came from an enlarged, 2.9 L (2936 cc) version of the GTO's twin IHI turbocharged V8 developing 478 PS (352 kW; 471 hp) under 110 kPa (16 psi) of boost. The F40 did without a catalytic converter until 1990 when US regulations made them a requirement for emissions control reasons.
The suspension setup was similar to the GTO's double wishbone setup, though many parts were upgraded and settings were changed; the unusually low ground clearance prompted Ferrari to include the ability to raise the vehicle's ground clearance when necessary.

*Body and interior*

The body was an entirely new design by Pininfarina featuring panels made of kevlar, carbon fiber, and aluminum for strength and low weight, and intense aerodynamic testing was employed (see below). Weight was further minimized through the use of a plastic windshield and windows and no carpets, sound system, or door handles were installed although the cars did have air conditioning. Early cars had fixed windows, although newer windows that could be rolled down were installed into later cars.

*Aerodynamics*

The F40 was designed with aerodynamics in mind, and is very much a creation of its time. For speed the car relied more on its shape than its power. Frontal area was reduced, and airflow greatly smoothed, but stability rather than terminal velocity was a primary concern. So too was cooling as the forced induction engine generated a great deal of heat. In consequence, the car was somewhat like an open-wheel racing car with a body. It had a partial undertray to smooth airflow beneath the radiator, front section, and the cabin, and a second one with diffusers behind the motor, but the engine bay was not sealed. Nonetheless, the F40 had an impressively low Cd of 0.34 with lift controlled by its spoilers and wing.

*Racing*

The factory never intended to race the F40, but the car saw competition as early as 1989 when it debuted in the Laguna Seca round of the IMSA, appearing in the GTO category, with a LM evolution model driven by Jean Alesi, finishing third to the two faster spaceframed four wheel drive Audi 90 and beating a host of other factory backed spaceframe specials that dominated the races. Despite lack of factory backing, the car would soon have another successful season there under a host of guest drivers such as Jean-Pierre Jabouille, Jacques Laffite and Hurley Haywood taking a total of three second places and one third.
Although the F40 would not return to IMSA for the following season, it would later be a popular choice by privateers to compete in numerous domestic GT series including JGTC. In 1994, the car made its debut in international competitions, with one cars campaigned in the BPR Global GT Series by Strandell, winning at the 4 Hours of Vallelunga. In 1995, the number of F40s climbed to four, developed independently by Pilot-Aldix Racing (F40 LM) and Strandell (F40 GTE, racing under the Ferrari Club Italia banner), winning the 4 Hours of Anderstorp. No longer competitive against the McLaren F1 GTR, the Ferrari F40 returned for another year in 1996, managing to repeat the previous year's Anderstorp win, and from then on it was no longer seen in GT racing.

*Succession*

The F40 was discontinued in 1992 and in 1995 was succeeded by the F50, which until a newer generation of factory backed GT1 cars that came along, remained competitive.

Performance

The F40's light weight of 1100 kg (2425 lb) and high power output of 478 PS (352 kW; 471 hp) at 7000 rpm gave the vehicle tremendous performance potential. Road tests have produced 0-100 km/h (62 mph) times as low as 3.8 seconds (while the track only version came in at 3.2 seconds), with 0-160 km/h (100 mph) in 7.6 seconds and 0-200 km/h (125 mph) in 11 seconds giving the F40 a slight advantage in acceleration over the Porsche 959, its primary competitor at the time.

The F40 was the first road legal production car to break the 200 mph (322 km/h) barrier. From its introduction in 1987 until 1989, it held the record as the world's fastest production car, with a top speed of 324 km/h (201 mph); the record was broken by the Ruf CTR "Yellowbird"'s 340 km/h (211 mph) top speed. The F40 was publicly proven capable of its rated top speed in 1992 through an infamous incident in which a Japanese dealership owner proved the car's potential by filming himself touching its top speed on an expressway only to be arrested after he sold a videotape to an undercover policeman. By that time, he already sold ten thousand videos.
During the 2006 Bonneville Speed Week, Amir Rosenbaum of Spectre Performance managed to take his F40 with minor air intake modifications to 226 miles per hour (364 km/h).

*The detail…..*

The client gave me the car on a no expenses spared detail, prob the first and last detail I will ever here those words said.

I collected the car & drove the short distance to my workshop, where I needed help to watch me in through the door as I knew the car was low & would catch even with a ramp we have had built to get in, as sure as hell I was not proved wrong! The wheel on the back drivers corner needed a little lift by some wood we have for cars like this - in it came with no problems then. The number plates were removed as per clients request.
The car drives perfect, its very bumpy due to the suspension, the sound from just behind your head is immense! On a long distance you would be deaf for sure! Needless to say the smile on my face while watching turists snap away at the sight of it was one of the nicest pleasures to acompany the fact I was driving one of my all time favorite cars - The F40.
I started to have a good look round the car making notes on the little bits that you would forget like screws that need painting etc & documenting these for the client as I do with all big details. It is then I realise the work that is involved in this detail - a lot is not the word!
































































There was no need to wash the car as it had been covered in a garage. I started to strip the main bits that could be stripped off the car like badges, air vents etc


























I then inspected the body work, masked up ready for machining.


























Products used were

Swissvax Quick Finish
Swissvax Paint rubber (blue)
Swissvax cleaner flud strong, medium & professional

Car was then clayed










followed bay a good old machine polish with the strong & lambswool head @ 2000rpm, i choose the lambswool because of its abilty to remove scratches quick, a keen eye is a must and it is important to keep the surface moist, to do this i use QF and give a quick spray on the machine head every now a then. Following the strong came another machine over with the medium @ 1500rpm on a med cut pad to remove some of the fine swirls that the lambswool head had put in, it was then done again with the professional @ 1000rpm with a fine finish pad.




























































Hard to reach bits were done by hand











Then came the job of the rear perspex screen, how hard was this to do!

Out came the trusted cleaner fluids again!










so i set to work..........

Machining this was an art as to much heat would have burnt the perspex, i used very low revs for all the products, the underside of it was even harder with me having to sit on the engine with a cushion!


























It was then given an application of SWISSVAX Shield on both sides.

with the exterior done i then set to work stripping the interior, headlining out, seats out...


























The headlinging had dropped above the seats which is a common fault with the F40, with a little post on a forum asking how to remove it etc out it came.


























It was then cleaned with while the leather was still on.










Results










After it was cleaned i removed the leather of the hard bit that secured it which left a whole load of glue behind, this was removed with Autoglym tar & glue (very messy)

I then masked & painted all the seat runners with matte black to hide chips & scratches











Then the screw heads were done



















then the elecric cut off was taken apart & sprayed.










then on to the vents on the fron wings, all sprayed in matte black left to dry & fixed back on










Then it came to the arches, front and rears had servere stone chipping so everything was masked up & all painted in matte black

FRONT



















REARS BEFORE










AFTER


















Then it was the big task of removing the rear lights as the rear airfence had gone rusty, It was wire brushed back to remove the rust then painted











































then reasembled










THE ENGINE

Now this was the hardest part of all as it all had to be done by hand! Some of the dirt was so ingrained it would not move even with a strong degreaser.


























































Then on to the front section all cleaned by hand! The battery cover was removed & painted matte black.


































Seats were cleaned and put back in as well as the headlining










Wheels were cleaned but not protected as the owner decided to buy new ones from Ferrari at an astronomical cost! They were abit worse for wear with curb marks on etc.

After that it was done, so a trip to the port with owners permisson to take some snaps, but not before i had done the F430!










A few outside the office.... Plate is our trade one not clients.










































































To the port


































































There you go, i have only put the main bits up as all the intricate bits would have taken me an age to write about & document you guys with the piccys.

Over all i loved the car & detailing it, total time spent 2.5 weeks, i will not say the cost of the detail as the client wants to read this thread!

I hope you have enjoyed the read & sorry it took so long to get it posted.

All the best & happy detailing all!!

MD :thumb:

There is no Part 2 by the way i thought it would not fit on to one post!


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## VIPER (May 30, 2007)

WOW!!! :doublesho :doublesho

Man, is this going to keep me entertained whilst I'm eating my lunch 

Cheers MD, you really ARE the Supercar Supremo :thumb:

Enzo would be proud, dude!! Stunning work!!


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## ZedFour (May 6, 2008)

WOW!!!

Oh the dreams of handing something like this over on a 'no expense spared' remit....

Great work on a legend!!!


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## Blazebro (May 18, 2007)

That is immense. I can't think of a car more worthy to the work lashed upon it. Fantatsic work. :thumb:


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## wookey (Jul 13, 2007)

Fantastic write up and fantastic turn around :thumb:

Probably my favourite car of all time.


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## PaulN (Jan 17, 2008)

Bonkers! Wonder what that beasts worth now?


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## robsonj (Apr 14, 2007)

possibly the best post i've ever seen on here, awesome work mate, your very brave with the amount of trim you removed and renovated, i couldnt have fancied dealing with that headlining


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## Gandi (Dec 18, 2007)

Stunning work on one of my all time fave Cars


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## Monaco Detailer (Dec 3, 2007)

Pit Viper said:


> WOW!!! :doublesho :doublesho
> 
> Man, is this going to keep me entertained whilst I'm eating my lunch
> 
> ...


:lol: Thanks matey!



ZedFour said:


> WOW!!!
> 
> Oh the dreams of handing something like this over on a 'no expense spared' remit....
> 
> Great work on a legend!!!


I loved every minute of it but god was it hard work!



Blazebro said:


> That is immense. I can't think of a car more worthy to the work lashed upon it. Fantatsic work. :thumb:


agreed!



RS Adam said:


> Fantastic write up and fantastic turn around :thumb:
> 
> Probably my favourite car of all time.


Smae goes, F40 is my fave car on the planet!



PaulN said:


> Bonkers! Wonder what that beasts worth now?


who knows? it was in a mess when it came tho!



robsonj said:


> possibly the best post i've ever seen on here, awesome work mate, your very brave with the amount of trim you removed and renovated, i couldnt have fancied dealing with that headlining


I posted on a few ferrari forums to chat to some experts they guided me through it! so thanks to ferrari chat mainly for that§ :thumb:



Gandi said:


> Stunning work on one of my all time fave Cars


thanks a lot matey!


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## Gandi (Dec 18, 2007)

robsonj said:


> possibly the best post i've ever seen on here, awesome work mate, your very brave with the amount of trim you removed and renovated, i couldnt have fancied dealing with that headlining


Yea was going to say he must have mighty big balls to strip the F40 out like that


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## Monaco Detailer (Dec 3, 2007)

Gandi said:


> Yea was going to say he must have mighty big balls to strip the F40 out like that


6 years ago i stripped a 512TR. its just a case of going carefull naming or numbering everything & putting it in different boxes.

Not only that i never had one screw left! :thumb:


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## Scotty B (Jul 1, 2009)

Stunning. :doublesho:doublesho:doublesho

Fantastic work. :thumb:


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## Duke_Freedom (Jun 30, 2009)

Awesome!!! Made my cup of tea all the better lol


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## Nanolex (Jun 8, 2008)

I'm speechless - one word though - PERFECTION


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## conejero (Jun 8, 2007)

Stunning. 

Fantastic work. :doublesho


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## dps1973 (Dec 18, 2008)

One of the best write up's ive read on this forum :thumb:


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## Monaco Detailer (Dec 3, 2007)

Nanolex said:


> I'm speechless - one word though - PERFECTION


Thanks



conejero said:


> Stunning.
> 
> Fantastic work. :doublesho


Thanks



dps1973 said:


> One of the best write up's ive read on this forum :thumb:


Thanks


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## Kriminal (Jan 11, 2007)

Brilliant work on one off my all-time fave cars - thanks for sharing :thumb:

PS. not sure if I'd have had the patience and nuts to strip it, clean it, and re-assemble. I'm the kind off person who always had spares left from his MFI kitchen units


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## Monaco Detailer (Dec 3, 2007)

Kriminal said:


> Brilliant work on one off my all-time fave cars - thanks for sharing :thumb:
> 
> PS. not sure if I'd have had the patience and nuts to strip it, clean it, and re-assemble. I'm the kind off person who always had spares left from his MFI kitchen units


:lol: can you imagine having a spare screw from that??


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## Rowan83 (Aug 21, 2007)

WOW!!!!!!!!! :argie:

Mate, that looks sensational. My ulitmate dream car!! (apart from the Enzo )

You are so lucky to be able to work on such an iconic car.... and get to drive it too!!!! :doublesho

Another excellent detail.


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## baseballlover1 (Sep 25, 2007)

Looks great!

One day I will own one of those cars.


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## jpmcc (Mar 3, 2007)

Fantastic!

Stunning Works, thanks for sharing


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## Kriminal (Jan 11, 2007)

Monaco Detailer said:


> :lol: can you imagine having a spare screw from that??


With my MFI history ?....yes, *I* can :lol:

EDIT : one other thing that would concern me about owning that car is the slats over the engine.....the kids where I live would find that useful for 'posting' things through !!....hmmm, I'll have to re-think my purhcase


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## Monaco Detailer (Dec 3, 2007)

Kriminal said:


> With my MFI history ?....yes, *I* can :lol:
> 
> EDIT : one other thing that would concern me about owning that car is the slats over the engine.....the kids where I live would find that useful for 'posting' things through !!....hmmm, I'll have to re-think my purhcase


sticks, mud, leafs, conkers, sweet wrappers, squashed cans of coke to name a few!! :lol:


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## Summit Detailing (Oct 9, 2006)

Fabulous

Out of curiosity what did you use on the seats?


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## Monaco Detailer (Dec 3, 2007)

Chris_VRS said:


> Fabulous
> 
> Out of curiosity what did you use on the seats?


interior apc & water solution with a wet & dry vac left in sun to dry - perfect!


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## mba (Jun 17, 2006)

Oooops i put no on the vote :lol:, i meant yes 

My all time fave car the F40 is what "Super Cars" are all about

Great attention to detail, you are one lucky SOB for getting to drive that. I bet your ego was MAHOOOOSIVE after driving it round Monaco getting all the attention?


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## Slick 77 (Jun 19, 2007)

nice work :thumb:


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## mouthyman (May 1, 2006)

Stunning, the attention to detail is incredible. great work :thumb:


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## paddy328 (Mar 4, 2007)

Amazing detail D, got to be up there with the best of them.

Do you only ever use the swissvax polishes?

What did the owner say when he saw the car?


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## Monaco Detailer (Dec 3, 2007)

mba said:


> Oooops i put no on the vote :lol:, i meant yes
> 
> My all time fave car the F40 is what "Super Cars" are all about
> 
> Great attention to detail, you are one lucky SOB for getting to drive that. I bet your ego was MAHOOOOSIVE after driving it round Monaco getting all the attention?


i will not deny yes it was!! To hear the turbos spool up was insane, enough to suck up small villages and towns maybe even children! :car: i get to drive 95% of the cars i detail so i am very lucky!


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## kk1966 (Aug 8, 2007)

A stunning detail on an equally stunning car. 

Its nice to see a write up that is a bit more than a paint corrction and makes it really interesting to see the stripdown and attention to detail on the small things that make all the difference like taking out the interior to get to the seat runners and removing the air vents and such.

I can appreciate that after two weeks when it comes time to putting everything back the memory has faded a little and you can have the occasional moment...especially when looking at the pile of parts that have accumulated in the corner......when you think 'will it ever go back together again'. I remember feeling the same when i did the Aerial Atom stripdown and rebuild write up. 

Once again...fantastic job and dont be so long between write ups :thumb:


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## Monaco Detailer (Dec 3, 2007)

Krystal-Kleen said:


> A stunning detail on an equally stunning car.
> 
> Its nice to see a write up that is a bit more than a paint corrction and makes it really interesting to see the stripdown and attention to detail on the small things that make all the difference like taking out the interior to get to the seat runners and removing the air vents and such.
> 
> ...


Only reason why its taken a while is that ive been busy with other details like the F50 etc, i now what you mean when it comes to a pile of boxes, in the cellar here there was a huge pile of stuff for ages but all tagged etc.


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## chunkytfg (Feb 1, 2009)

Well worth the wait MD.

I cannot tell you how envious of you I am right now after reading that!

DW hall of fame for sure i rekon!

Thank you


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## m4rkie23 (May 19, 2009)

wow. that reali is stunning! such good work too!


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## Monaco Detailer (Dec 3, 2007)

chunkytfg said:


> Well worth the wait MD.
> 
> I cannot tell you how envious of you I am right now after reading that!
> 
> ...


Just doing my job, which just so happens to be my passion!


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## pdv40 (Sep 11, 2008)

absolutely stunning work there :thumb:

I was lucky enough to have a Michelotto LM version to work on a short while ago. It was well used as racer and covered in stone chips, I am no where near your standard so I left well alone. Heart-breakingly the car was recently crashed heavily at Spa exiting Eau Rouge at about 130mph


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## Monaco Detailer (Dec 3, 2007)

pdv40 said:


> absolutely stunning work there :thumb:
> 
> I was lucky enough to have a Michelotto LM version to work on a short while ago. It was well used as racer and covered in stone chips, I am no where near your standard so I left well alone. Heart-breakingly the car was recently crashed heavily at Spa exiting Eau Rouge at about 130mph


The client with the F50 has just bought an F40 LM to add to the F40 he already has!


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## chunkytfg (Feb 1, 2009)

Monaco Detailer said:


> Just doing my job, which just so happens to be my passion!


right in all seriousness, bearing in mind your client list have a fair bit of wedge between them. If one of them was to turn round to you and say

'I want to invest in your business to to allow you to expand it to another level'

What would you say?

From reading your posts from way back you started out like many of the detailers on here and progressed from nothing to detailing jets on a regular basis and then gave it all up to go to monaco and effectively start again although i'm guessing some of the clients you had back in the uk are based in monaco(?).

Do you have a desire to take the company to another level? Maybe expand? Maybe open another premesis in a different affluent area etc?

Or are you perfectly happy to carry on as you are doing what you obviously love without any change?


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## -Kev- (Oct 30, 2007)

fantastic as usual MD:thumb:


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## Robmgti (Jun 26, 2009)

Stunning! Im incredibly jealous, my favourite car of all time and has been since i was very young - used to draw them in Primary school whenever the teacher asked us to doodle for a while!

Thanks for sharing!


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## RP Stevie (Jan 24, 2007)

absolutely stunning, can only dream of getting the opportunity to clean an F40, never mind spending that length of time on it.


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## Monaco Detailer (Dec 3, 2007)

chunkytfg said:


> right in all seriousness, bearing in mind your client list have a fair bit of wedge between them. If one of them was to turn round to you and say
> 
> 'I want to invest in your business to to allow you to expand it to another level'
> 
> ...


Ok, i am looking to expand but these things take time and money, plus here everyone is work shy & cannot detail to the level i am looking for. french employment law is a pain in the ass so i have to be carefull.

My business in the UK is still going its run by my brother.

MD


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## chunkytfg (Feb 1, 2009)

Monaco Detailer said:


> Ok, i am looking to expand but these things take time and money, plus here everyone is work shy & cannot detail to the level i am looking for. french employment law is a pain in the ass so i have to be carefull.
> 
> My business in the UK is still going its run by my brother.
> 
> MD


Fair enough. I realised your brother took over your uk business.


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## rallyman1978 (Aug 8, 2007)

crikey!

No words left!


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## ChrisJD (Apr 15, 2009)

As said many times, truly stunning. Got to be the most iconing supercar.

Excellent write-up and fantastic job, truly, well done that man.

Chris.


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## Bristle Hound (May 31, 2009)

You'll have to stop posting these! They keep me up way to late at night!

2 1/2 weeks, now that is a labour of love (or should that be lust!) :lol:

ABSOLUTELY AWESOME! :doublesho


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## cam73 (Oct 5, 2008)

+1 :thumb:

My all time favourite Ferrari. Amazing job!


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## mobileman (Aug 10, 2008)

HUBBA HUBBA i've just messed my pants.

AWESOME as usual MD


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## PaulB (Mar 26, 2009)

incredible:doublesho


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## Jesse74 (Jul 19, 2008)

Darren, I've got to get to Monaco soon and sit in the corner on one of your details... fan-damn-tabulous work there my friend! Let me know if you ever need any F-Car schematics or "how to" (referring to body/engine/exterior work, etc.) instructions, mate.


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## Monaco Detailer (Dec 3, 2007)

Clever Nickname said:


> Darren, I've got to get to Monaco soon and sit in the corner on one of your details... fan-damn-tabulous work there my friend! Let me know if you ever need any F-Car schematics or "how to" (referring to body/engine/exterior work, etc.) instructions, mate.


Thanks for the offer, but unfortunately my friend works at Ferrari here so he is the guy i ask, will bear you in mind though. I have several tourists a day that stand for about 10 mins a go watching me :buffer:, thats enough for me!


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## s3 rav (Apr 30, 2008)

great work on the best car in the world imo.


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## Auto Detox (Dec 22, 2007)

Awesome ! I was just talking about F40's with a client today & then find this, you lucky bugger I'm so jealous 

Cheers
Baz


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## [email protected] (Sep 6, 2008)

Awesome, the stuff of schoolboy dreams the F40, I remember having a picture of one of them on my wall as a boy!!

Fantastic write up as ever, and yes bring on the F50!:thumb:


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## Ross (Apr 25, 2007)

Fantastic lovely work Iconic car


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## Justin182 (Jul 18, 2006)

Superb!


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## scooby73 (Mar 20, 2007)

Stunning write-up, pics and detail!:thumb:

Really enjoyed the history and technical data on the car too!

Awesome :driver: machine!!!


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## Monaco Detailer (Dec 3, 2007)

shinybluevec said:


> Awesome, the stuff of schoolboy dreams the F40, I remember having a picture of one of them on my wall as a boy!!
> 
> Fantastic write up as ever, and yes bring on the F50!:thumb:


Small write up but a load of piccys of the F50 in the same section as this!


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## evapor8 (Jun 23, 2009)

My favourite car ever.

Fantastic work mate!

Chris


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## Teabag (Dec 17, 2008)

did you rag the car down to the port and back?


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## MadMerc (Sep 8, 2008)

WOW!! Best post that I have seen in a while, and that's saying something!
Great job.:doublesho


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## Steve G (Feb 24, 2008)

Great job there, but the owner has given it rough time!! Mind you, if that's because he drives it rather than keeping it garaged then he's a top bloke :thumb:


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## S3 Nattie (Jul 14, 2009)

Wow !!!!


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