Jay Leno has one of the most notable private car collections in the world. It includes ‘forever’ icons like the Mercedes Benz 300 SL Gullwing coupe, Lamborghini Miura and the McLaren F1. Curiously though, there is no Ferrari, something Jay chalks off to his experience with the dealerships and overall customer experience.
However, that does not mean he will pass up the chance to drive one. In his latest Youtube video, he gets to check out a very special pair. The two Ferraris are both F50s, one red and one yellow. They belong to the same collector, a wealthy businessman popularly known as Ferrari Collector David Lee.
The Ferrari F50 never quite achieved the cult status of its older sibling – the F40. Such a shame, really, considering that the F50 was one heck of a performance machine. At its heart was a 4.7-litre V12 engine derived from a Ferrari Formula One racecar. It revved all the way to 8,500 rpm, churning out 541 hp and 347 lb-ft of torque in the process, with all the associated drama of a screaming naturally aspirated powerplant.
The supercar, created to celebrate Ferrari’s 50th anniversary, can accelerate to 60 mph in 3.8 seconds and max out at 203 mph. Those were pretty impressive numbers for the ’90s era. Jay Leno did not push the F50 to its limits. However, he did get to experience some of its rawness during a quick drive. He described the car as being the ‘best of both worlds.’ The F50 is rear-wheel-drive, and then there’s the glorious V12 engine, mated to a proper gated manual transmission. You can check out the video for his total impressions.
Only 349 units of the Ferrari F50 were made, making it a rarity today. The yellow one Jay got to drive is even more exclusive as it is one of just 31 finished in that colour. It is the first one on a new shopping list for Ferrari Collector David Lee. Having collected Ferrari’s ‘Big Five’ all in red, he now wants to repeat the feat, but this time, in yellow. The ‘Big Five’ refers to the 288 GTO, F40, F50, Enzo and the LaFerrari. Now, that’s quite a daunting task, but we wouldn’t bet against Lee. It would be no surprise to see the cars featured on Jay Leno’s Youtube channel in future, once every item on Lee’s list has been checked off.
