Il Commendatore and his influence.

Enzo Ferrari was not an incredible driver, but certainly was born to change the racing car industry forever.

Enzo Ferrari. Picture taken from wikipedia.org

 

Besides founding the most recognizable and successful brand in racing history, he also “inspired” (notice the sarcasm) some colleagues to do their bit.

His refusal to accept the suggestions from Ferruccio Lamborghini gave birth to one of the most important brands of Supercars nowadays.

Ferruccio Lamborghini. Picture taken from robbreport.com

 

The embarrassment he caused to Henry Ford II, gave us the Ford GT40.

 

 

Henry Ford II and the GT40. Pictures taken from Wikepdia.org

 

And then we have to consider the other brands like Aston Martin, Mercedes-Benz, Alfa Romeo, Maserati and others, that might have not received a direct offence from Il Commendatore, but the simple fact that Enzo was beating them left and right, was enough to spark the flame that drives most of these companies today.

 

Maranello headquarters

Il Drake was selfish and stubborn, and his company reflected and still reflects his attitude towards the world.

Enzo died in 1988, but must of his rules and ideas are still the north star of the company and the race team now.

The exclusivity of Ferrari reaches unimaginable highs, here are some of the requirements to buy some of the most famous Ferraris.

1. Ferrari Enzo. You needed to have the F40 and the F50 to enter the potential buyers list.
2. Ferrari FXX, you can buy it, but you can never drive it in the street, select a racing circuit and we will bring it to you so you can enjoy it.
3. Did you paint your Ferrari in a color that was not approved by Ferrari? You will be requested to return the car to its original condition or you will be blacklisted and never be able to buy a Ferrari again.
4. Did you modify your Ferrari? Same conditions, return it to the original condition or else.

 

Ferrari Enzo and Ferrari F40. Pictures taken from wikipedia.org

 

Meanwhile companies like Porsche and Lamborghini sometimes even encourage they’re buyers to customize and make their cars unique, Ferrari believes, just like Enzo did in his time, that there is no way that you can make a Ferrari more beautiful than it already is.

  

RWB Porsche. Picture taken from motortrend.com

Deadmau5's "Nyanborghini Purracan". Picture taken from thedrive.com

The tunning Culture and the arrival of companies like LBWK

So, while Ferrari was dominating streets and circuits since the 50s, on the land of the rising Sun, late in the 80s, the Japanese cars started to become faster and faster, which increased the amount of accidents and deaths in the country, specially among young people, so the core companies of Japan came to a Gentleman’s agreement and limit their cars to a top speed of 180 km/h, but on the side, a lot of other companies started selling body kits and performance parts to bring MO POWA BABEH!!

The Tunning culture was born, the drifting started, Initial D came along, and just like wildfire, the idea spread and everyone was into JDMs.

Movies like Fast & Furious only made the phenomenon grow, and as we grew up along with them, these new ideas of performance and modification were slowly making a home in our minds, so it is no surprise that in the 2000s, new companies specializing in performance tuning started to appear.

One of these companied is Liberty Walk, or LBWK for short. The company was established by Wataru Kato and it has become one of the biggest tunning companies in the world, and there is not a lot of companies that are willing to take risks as big as LBWK takes.

 

How does Ferrari and LBWK relate?

Well, that’s a simple answer, they don’t.

Ferrari refuses anything related to tunning, until recently they were also not much into aerodynamics. According to Enzo, if you have a great engine, you don't need aerodynamics. So, as you can see, everything was about performance of the mechanics for the good old Enzo.

On the other side, LBWK uses a different approach, they want to extract a high performance from a car, while at the same time they also want to make it look like a spaceship.

LB☆Super Silhouette S15 SILVIA Body Kit. Picture taken from https://libertywalk.shop/

 

So, you can imagine that, when LBWK decided to modify an F40, the bomb exploded, and I’m pretty sure Enzo died once again.

Ferrari didn’t accept the idea, they forbade LBWK to even try to touch a F40 and even further, if they did, the car couldn't be called a Ferrari, because it was no longer a Ferrari.

Of course, the challenging nature of LBWK was fueled by the refusal, but, we live in a legal world after all, and the car cannot bear the Ferrari name, That's why it's called the LBWK (F40) and not Ferrari LBWK (F40)

In 2023 they brought the amazingly beautiful White version to the Tokyo Auto Salon, and by 2024, they wrapped the F40 in blue and brought us our Model of the Month. the LBWK F40 with the Pilot livery.

LBWK (F40) Tokyo Auto Salon 2023. Picture taken from speedhunters.com

 

INNO64 – LBWK (F40) Tokyo Auto Salon 2024.

LBWK (F40) Tokyo Auto Salon 2024. Picture taken from reddit.com

The Inno64 models brings to a smaller scale every single detail of the real car, the first thing you will notice is the wider ass with a customized back wing in carbon fiber.

If we remain in the back, you will catch a glance on the original white color of the F40, with red acrylic inserts for the taillights and details like a nameplate, exhaust pipes and a back diffuser also in carbon fiber.

Turning 180° to the front and you find more carbon fiber in the front and lateral spoilers. The front grill is as realistic as you can ask for, and it has these incredible headlights made with 2 individual pieces, the lightbulbs inside and the acrylic covers outside.

The main sponsor is Pilot, as we mentioned, but you have the logos of LB, Toyo Tires and Sparco, among others.

Staying outside we see the white side mirrors and the white rims in the wheels that have a brake and caliper system that might be difficult to spot in pictures, but believe me, is there.

And if you are a purist, and you like your cars to roll, you’ll be happy to hear that the rubber threaded tires have no problem at all and the brake and caliper system aforementioned stays static while your car moves around.

The model rolls as freely as a Hot Wheels. But I would recommend you to refrain from putting this blue wonder in the Orange Track, or else you might loose some of the beautiful pieces. Because of their small and slim nature, they are really fragile.

The engine bay allows you to take a look at the 2.9L twin-turbo V8 that powers this legendary monster, all protected by a red reinforced rod.

And moving to the inside, you’ll find the red racing seats with 5-point seatbelts that the real car has. Let's not forget to at least mention the details in the wheel and the dashboard that I was not able to capture in a picture.

In terms of heritage, despite the rejection from Ferrari to recognize this model,  LBWK is still adding some Ferrari logos and a Italian flag below the back wing. But not only that, the "Pilot" also shows 3 different Japanese flags to remind you where did the customizers came from.

To round it up, the model comes bolted to a white plastic base and an acrylic case that protects it against dust.

  

So, I think that after you see this model, there’s not much doubt of why is in the top spot this month, a combination of an eternal classic with the defiance of the new kids on the block.

Everything wrapped in a striking livery, in a little model that will make you feel like Il Commendatore of your own little garage.