The M5 takes the win from the Maserati by a slim margin, with 53% of the vote. Talk Me Out of It is all about fantasy and fun, and this week we’ll add a third F (no, not that one silly). F is for Fighter! What if I told you that right now, you could buy a real, honest-to-God, fires missiles F-4 Phantom for less than the cost of a car that also involves the letter F. The Ferrari F40.
The 1992 Ferrari F40 vs the 1959 McDonnell Douglas F4H-1F Phantom II
There are a lot of supercars out there. Aventadors and Porsche 918s…yawn. Maybe a McLaren F1? Yea, but that car has a daddy. In fact, every supercar has the same daddy – the Ferrari F40.
It was the poster car for everyone my age. Seeing one now is still nearly impossible. The design is timeless – I’d make the argument that every Ferrari since has owed its good looks to this car. It was the first production car to reach a 200 MPH top speed, and the last Ferrari personally approved by Enzo Ferrari. Its carbon fiber body weighed just 3,000 pounds, and its twin turbo V-8 put out 477 horsepower. This in a car from 1987.
This is a raw car, and I can’t really think of another that compares. Porsche’s 959 was never sold here, and that was so full of tech it could have damn near driven itself. So let’s look up. Higher. Yea, at 30,000 feet. I’ve done this once before, but now I’ve found a real fighter jet, and the price will absolutely shock you I’m sure. The Phantom was the Navy’s, Marine’s, and Air Force’s primary fighter from the late 1950s through the early eighties. Seeing that it’s very doubtful the U.S. government will ever allow an F-15 to be owned by civilians, this F-4 is your last and only chance to get into real fighter.
Let’s do the Phantom first.
The 1959 McDonnell Douglas F4H-1F Phantom II
You don’t have to know a lot about planes to know that they are going to be expensive to maintain, but hear me out:
- $950,000. Yea, really.
- Sold “as-is” on the tarmac in California
- Restoration is 80% complete – the engines still need to be overhauled (but they give you spares!)
- Just 800 hours on the airframe. Jets like this typically go for around 7,000 flight hours.
- A lot of the components are “0-time” condition, meaning brand new
- Ejection seats work!
- Has dual controls installed, so you can fly it from the back seat
- The paint looks terrific, done up in Navy livery
- Has yet to be demilitarized. Fun, because you can shoot down bad guys! Until you realize they won’t let you fly it until you take out some key components.
This thing has been under restoration for the last ten years, and it sounds like the current owner just wants it off their plate. The issue here isn’t so much the price of entry, but the upkeep. They say it’ll take another $1-$1.5 million to get flying, and then you need to store it, fuel it, and hire someone to maintain it. This isn’t something you can just put a tarp on over the winter.
One million to buy, plus 1.5 to fix, and let’s throw in another million so we can keep it flying. That’s $3.5 million. You know what else costs that exact amount?
The 1992 Ferrari F40
Let’s just say you’ll probably never see this car on Bring a Trailer or Cars & Bids:
- $3,499,900 (Finance offer: $58,339 per month!)
- 9,611 miles
- Clean record
- Rosso Corsa over Stoffa Vigogno cloth
- Recently had major service, including belts, suspension, fuel injectors and more
- Includes factory toolkit, service book – even the can of Fix-a-Flat
A quick look into F40 message boards show that adding 500 miles a year on these things is about as intense as it gets, so maintenance costs vary. Someone suggests $4k per year – not bad I suppose.
Ferrari F40 values are amazing – since 2020, over $112 million dollars worth of F40s have changed hands. This example is on the higher side – one just sold for 3.5, and the most expensive example was $3.9 million. Red seems to be the color on these – all the others are worth less.
So, what would your dream be? Can’t really beat the letter F today.
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