Ferrari F40: The fastest car I’ve ever driven

Or should this read “the fastest I’ve driven a car”? As far as the fastest car I’ve ever driven…that is definitely a Ferrari F40. While selling luxury cars in Las Vegas, our owner bought some $2M dollars (back in 1998) of cars from a very wealthy client. We needed to transport the cars, among them, the F40, a Diablo, Hummer H1, Ferrari 328 GTBi, and other not so exotic luxury cars. I had the privilege of driving the F40 for a few precious moments. The twin turbo V-8 suffered from turbo lag but when they spooled up, it was like taking off in a jet plane…unbelievable.

Now for the car I’ve driven the fastest. In my first role as a General Manager for another dealership in Vegas, my used car manager came across a 2001 BMW M5 and I bought it. Back then, it was THE ultimate 4 door sedan and coming from someone whose owned 10 BMW’s over the past 15 years it lived up to it’s billing. Case in point. As being the leader of the dealership, I loved to give the usual daily Sales Meeting but on Saturdays the meetings had a different tone because of my drive in. I lived some 15 miles away from the dealership, would leave for work at 6am or 6:30am and was lucky enough to find this most amazing route. It was the frontage road merging to with the 215 Freeway. After crossing Decatur Boulevard, there was an opportunity to take that car to its 155mph limiter for a couple of miles and I did so almost each and every Saturday morning…what a rush. The sensation was unbelievable but as I would take the McCarran Airport exit, I would have to brake hard to exit. I would then bear right and turn left under the 215, I would go under the airports runways, sunroof open at this point just to hear the roar of the 5.0 liter V-8 revving to 7000 rpms. Then another heavy braking zone to get on Sunset Road for an opportunity to test my “heel and toe” technique…I knew then as I know now, in these days of cars being faster, more advanced and just a little more sterile, that was the greatest car, on the right road and at the right time.

I just wonder what that F40 would have been like.