Ferrari F50 Design

The F50 was designed solely for its purpose: there was no styling in the normal sense of the word. The surfaces enveloped the mechanicals in a single sweep from the front air intake to the rear spoiler, volumes were kept to the minimum required by the project. Pininfarina succeeded in designing shapes that recalled the great prototype racers.

The strong traits that distinguished the car all have a specific technical motivation:
Front bonnet deeply scored by the radiator air vents
Fixed headlights, which are lighter and more aerodynamic
The shape of the front spoiler, rounded at the centre to help the passage of air under the body
Very rounded, wraparound windscreen like those of group C prototype cars
Large lateral air intakes to cool the engine bay, enclosed by the underbody fairing
Rear spoiler stretching the whole width of the car to balance the negative lift of the underbody.

Aerodynamics played an important role from the beginning of the F50 project because: it was a highly advanced car in terms of performance; there was a link between the internal aerodynamic components (cross-flows) and surface layer flows; there needed to be a balance between aerodynamic loads in the dual configuration (Berlinetta and Barchetta) because of the high performance.