YouTuber Builds Ferrari F40 From Scratch With Original Body Panels, DIY Chassis And A V12

The Ferrari F40 is not just a car—it’s the car. It’s the poster-child for ‘80s excess, Maranello magic, and the kind of brutal, turbocharged insanity that makes modern supercars seem tame. Naturally, this also means that buying one requires a bank account big enough to make Jeff Bezos smirk. But Mike Burroughs of Stanceworks didn’t let that stop him. Instead of coughing up millions for an original, he’s building his own F40 from scratch, and it’s shaping up to be very, very special.

Eager to push his creative boundaries (and likely drive his YouTube views through the roof), Burroughs is venturing into the world of Ferrari, despite admitting he’s not much of a supercar guy. After a lot of searching, he’s been able to track down all of the original body panels needed to build an F40 from scratch.

Building the Bones: A Better Chassis?

Here’s the tricky part. Securing an authentic F40 chassis is borderline impossible unless you have some very shady connections or a time machine. So Burroughs did what any determined builder with fabrication chops would do: he made his own. Using an original F40 chassis CAD model as a guide, he constructed a bespoke tubular frame. However, rather than replicating that chassis, he is aiming to make it better, and is simply using this CAD files for reference.

Any crazy Ferrari project like this requires a crazy engine. While it would have been easy to throw in an LS V8 and call it a day, Burroughs flew to Germany to acquire a legit Ferrari V12. The engine in question is a 6.5-liter naturally-aspirated mill from an 812 Superfast, known as the F140-GA.

Read: Ferrari’s F40 Didn’t Have A V12, But Simpson Motorsport’s F40 Does

This engine is related to the original F140B 6.0-liter V12 used by the Ferrari Enzo, but has been extensively upgraded by Ferrari over the years. In the Enzo, it delivered 651 hp, while in the 812 Superfast it pumps out 789 hp. By comparison, the original F40’s twin-turbo V8 put out 471 hp way back in 1987. Shows how much supercars have progressed since then, doesn’t it?

To make this engine even more fiery, Burroughs will craft a bespoke pair of 6-into-1 headers for it. A sequential gearbox from Holinger is also being built to connect to the V12 and will feature a pneumatic air shifter system. Interestingly, this is the same transmission used in the limited-run Brabham BT62.

We’re eager to see this project come to life, but what do you think? Is is possible to build a better chassis than Ferrari itself? Is putting one of Maranello’s V12s in the back instead of the famously ferocious twin-turbo V8 heresy or a superb alternative that stays true to the brand’s spirit? And, given all those changes, can it even be considered an F40, despite sporting an original bodywork?

H/T to Carbuzz!