The Ferrari F50 is regarded as not just one of the greatest cars to bear the prancing horse, but one of the greatest supercars of all time full-stop. On this latest episode of Jay Leno‘s garage, we saw not one, but two stunning examples of the Ferrari F50 make an appearance. Both cars belong to the renowned and coveted Ferrari collector, David Lee based out L.A.

Overview

‘The five most collectible Ferrari's on one track' about five years ago. The other cars included the F40, the la Ferrari, and the Ferrari Enzo among others.

But, this is perhaps the first time that Jay actually got the chance to take a closer look at the Ferrari F50 and what made it such a dominant supercar of the 90s. David Lee himself joins Jay, strangely wearing a Denim shirt, well that's no coincidence is it, to talk more about these incredible Ferraris.

David Lee really needs no introduction. The man owns a stunning collection of some truly stunning automobiles, but he is perhaps most known for all the Ferraris in his garage. David is one of those privileged collectors to whom Ferrari themselves reach out when a new limited edition model comes along. Yes, the Italian Marque cherry-picks its customers and whom they wish to sell cars, and this is especially true for limited edition models.

Two Stunning Examples of The Ferrari F50

The F50 was a tough act to follow after Ferrari‘s immensely successful F40 which was one of the first supercars to break the 200 mph barrier back in the 80s. However, the values of the F50 have been rising considering how rare they are. The F50, of course, was conceived as a celebration of Ferrari‘s 50th anniversary.

Anyway, moving to the cars, both the F50s at hand are from 1995. The entire body is pretty much made out of carbon fiber which was a material quite ahead of its time to be featured on a road-going car. To give you some context, Jay says that while it took about 2000 hours to make a carbon tub for a Mclaren, it only took 45 minutes by the time the P1 come along. The Ferrari F50 only weighs a feather-light 2,700 lbs.

The significance of yellow and red with this Ferraris is that David plans to have a big five iconic supercars in red and yellow so that’s five each of these exotics (Ferrari 288, Ferrari F40, Ferrari F50, Ferreri Enzo, La Ferrari). The 288 by far is David’s favorite as it was his dream car growing back in the day where when he was still in high school.

David briefly touches upon the engine's development which is derived from an early 90s Formula 1 engine and unlike the F40 That features a V-8, the F-50 had a naturally aspirated 4.7-liter V-12 heart. They open the engine cover to basket what’s looking underneath prancing horse sits proudly on a carbon-fiber engine cover that hides 512 Italian stallions.

Lets Hit The Road

Jay was now left with a dilemma as to which of these beautiful cars to take out on the road. Now, considering he had already previously driven the red car, Jay decided to take the yellow one out for a spin. The drive opens up with a shot of a Ferrari logo that sits on the fender.

Out on the road, Jay was thoroughly impressed by how nice the F50 felt from behind wheel. The F50 was never really got the attention of its predecessor, but it viewed in isolation, it is a car that is every bit a Ferrari, worthy of a prancing horse badge. A mid-engine V-12 Ferrari with a manual gearbox?

Speaking of the roof, the F 50 comes with a hardtop in a box whereas the soft top is rolled up and stacked up within the car. However, fitting either of them is a two-man job according to David, and is not something that you can do on the side of the road, should it start raining.

To Sum it Up

Well, the F50 has always lived in the shadow of its predecessor the F40, and its successor the Enzo, but true fans of the Ferrari brand realize how significant this model was and as a result, the values for F50s are on the rise. Only 349 examples were ever created. Red ones are more common and according to David will cost north of $4 million, Yellow examples are even harder to come by and cost well over $5 million, making them far more expensive than even the Ferrari Enzo.

Catch the entire episode in the video below