Ferrari Enzo Review

Ferrari launched the Enzo in 2002, the year Michael Schumacher clinched the drivers' title after only 11 grands prix, and named it for the founder who had died fourteen years earlier. Ken Okuyama, then Pininfarina's head of design, drew it, and Ferrari describes it as the link between its racing know-how and road use. The company planned 399 cars and sent invitations to existing customers, specifically those who had bought F40s and F50s; a 400th was built in 2004 and donated to the Vatican, which sold it at a Sotheby's auction for $1.1 million.

The V12 was the first of Ferrari's F140 family: 6.0 liters, 651 hp at 7,800 rpm and an 8,200 rpm redline. Around it sit a carbon fiber body, carbon ceramic brakes, underbody flaps and an adjustable rear spoiler that together make about 775 kg of downforce at 186 mph, and pushrod suspension that can be adjusted from the cabin. Ferrari quotes 3.65 seconds to 62 mph and more than 217 mph, and Evo lapped the Nordschleife in 7:25.21 in a car with a broken damper. The weak link is the gearbox, a first-generation single-clutch F1 automated manual built by Graziano. Its 150 millisecond shifts were quick in 2002, but it has long drawn complaints for abrupt changes.

It is easier to live with than an F40 or F50: ABS, ASR traction control and power steering are standard. The costs are hypercar costs. The clutch wears quickly on a car that has been driven hard, the F1 system's hydraulics are expensive to replace, the carbon ceramic discs were among the first on a road car and cost accordingly, and the EPA rates it at 8 mpg combined. It cost about $650,000 new in America. Auction results have run past $17 million, a record set by a yellow car at Mecum's Kissimmee sale in January 2026, and several others have sold for more than $9 million since.

The Enzo was the most technically ambitious Ferrari of its time, and much of it, from the V12 to the carbon brakes and the steering wheel controls, went straight into later Ferraris. Its styling divided opinion: Bloomberg Businessweek put it on a list of the ugliest cars of the past fifty years, while Motor Trend Classic ranked it fourth among the greatest Ferraris. Its gearbox has aged worse than anything else on it. It is a great Ferrari with one dated component, which is a better position than most cars of its era can claim.