Imagine taking an F1 car’s engine and basic structure, widening the track, and draping it with minimalistic bodywork made of lightweight composites. Retain the 11,000-plus RPM redline and the manic howl of the four-liter V12, and add the bright Ferrari rosso corsa paint, and you’ll have some sense of how audacious the F333 SP is. The first Ferrari sportscar racer since the early 1970s, the F333 SP carried some heavy expectations that were entirely satisfied by the F333 SP’s long and successful racing career. The story of how the engine came about is interesting—race regulations required the car to run a production motor. Luckily, Ferrari had the F50 under development, and that car’s V12 engine was actually a bored-out derivation of the Ferrari F92A Formula One car. Since it met the requirements, back into race spec it went, and it found a home amidships in the F333 SP with a deep-breathing five-valve head. This 1998 version, class winner at the 1998 24 Hours of Le Mans, is a second-generation car with a few refinements, particularly the larger headlights and revised front spoiler.
