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Celebrating the Ferrari F40 and the man who raced it

The Ferrari F40 has become one of the iconic cars of the last 50 years. It presaged the supercars of the future with its extensive use of carbon fiber and turbocharged engine, but it was also old school with no traction control, stability control or even anti-lock supervision to save the driver if they got in over their head. In its latest video, XCar Films takes a look at the F40 through the lens of a man in the UK who specializes in keeping them on the road and occasionally races these quintessential sports cars.
John Pogson has spent his entire life surrounded by engines. His father was a transport manager for a trucking company and he used to accompany him out on repairs. When he was old enough, John started repairing vehicles at a Lancia dealer, and from there, he started working for Ferrari. Eventually, he saved up enough money to open his own, independent Italian car garage. His new business proved successful, and Pogson's customers started asking him to race their Ferraris, including the F40 - something he did with great success. How could you say no to that opportunity?
While Italian cars are his specialty, Pogson also has a soft spot for all performance cars. The video shows him driving his AC Cobra with a claimed 600 horsepower and doing some smoky donuts in it. Scroll down to learn more about the F40 from one of the people that knows it best.

Chris Harris enjoys the song of a Ferrari 212

We often see Chris Harris sliding around in the modern elite of supercars, but he eschews every bit of the cutting edge in his latest clip for the opportunity to get behind the wheel of an absolute classic. Harris drives a 1952 Ferrari 212 Barchetta with a body by Touring, and the Italian hills come alive with the sound of this little car's beautiful music. The V12 engine that's nestled under the Barchetta's hood might be short on displacement, but this thing can absolutely roar. It thunders down the road under hard acceleration and then makes a symphony of pops and snaps as the driver downshifts into a corner. You can own this Ferrari, too. RM Auctions is selling it, but the reserve is somewhere between 5 million and 7 million euros ($5.6 million - $7.9 million). Given Harris' proclivity to slide just about anything he drives, do you think he drifts this Barchetta? Watch the video to find out, and it's probably worth turning up the speakers, too.

Ferrari 458 Speciale already sold out for first year

Ferrari tends to sell its models out extremely quickly - its wait lists are the stuff of legend. That's especially true when the cars in question are of the fastest or most exclusive variety. If new reports are to be believed, Maranello has already sold the entire 499-unit production run of its new LaFerrari hypercar, and now Australia's Motoring is claiming that Ferrari has also filled its order book for the entire first year's production run of its new 458 Speciale.
For those unfamiliar, the 458 Speciale follows in a proud line of hardcore mid-engined V8 Ferraris in the footsteps of the 360 Challenge Stradale and 430 Scuderia. It's lighter, more powerful and more aerodynamically advanced than the 458 Italia upon which it's based, and just trails half a second behind the more powerful F12 Berlinetta (and the aforementioned LaFerrari) as the third-quickest road car ever to lap the Italian automaker's Fiorano test track. That means it's quicker even than the 599 GTO and Enzo.
Although we've yet to receive official word, we're expecting a sticker price approaching $300,000 - about a quarter more than the 458 Italia. But that doesn't appear to have stopped Ferrari from raking in the orders. Check it out in our substantially updated image gallery above.