Ferrari F40 tipped to be inspiration for next Icona series

When it comes to iconic Ferraris, the F40, the last Prancing Horse signed off by Enzo himself, is right up there with the very best.

It was launched in 1987 to mark Ferrari's 40th anniversary, and also saw Ferrari return to its tradition of launching road cars derived from race cars, in this case the 288 GTO Evoluzione being the basis.

Piero and Enzo Ferrari at the Ferrari F40 debut - July 21, 1987

We're now just a couple of years out from Ferrari's 80th anniversary, and Top Gear, citing what it claimed are “highly reliable sources,” reported on Nov. 8 that a modern take on the F40 could be the next car in Ferrari's Icona series.

Ferrari launched the Icona series in 2018 with the 812-based Monza SP1 and Monza SP2, which took inspiration from Ferrari race cars of the 1950s, namely the 750 and 860 Monza. The LaFerrari-based Daytona SP3 followed in 2021, whose inspiration came from Ferrari's sports prototype endurance racers of the 1960.

Ferrari Monza SP1 and SP2

The Icona series targets collectors looking to purchase a low-volume model with styling inspired by past classics, which seems to be popular with today's wealthy. The cars are developed by the same Special Projects team responsible for Ferrari's one-off cars, hence the SP initials in the names.

The F40 already served as inspiration for the one-off SP38 unveiled in 2018, which was based on the bones of a 488 GTB. However, that car was developed for an individual client, likely using ideas from the person paying the bill. The Icona cars are pure Ferrari design.

Ferrari F80

Ferrari's new F80 hypercar, whose name was picked to mark Ferrari's upcoming 80th anniversary (deliveries start in 2026, one year before the anniversary), already features several clear nods to the F40's design, and any Icona model could potentially further channel the iconic '80s supercar, a bit like what Lamborghini did a couple of years back with its modern Countach.

There are plenty of modern designs for the F40 created by independent designers, which you'll find using a quick Google search. One of the best was penned in 2018 by Samir Sadikhov, a graduate of the Istituto Europeo di Design, and the designer responsible for some of Rezvani's creations.