Classic & Sports Car, December 2022
'Be warned: if you buy this in-depth focus on the many sensational Ferrari F40, any yearning you may have to drive one will be amplified.'
'The layout, by C&SC contributor Martin Port, makes dramatic us of the ealth of 400-plus photos. With fascinating production-line shots and technical illustrations, every aspect is vividly presented.'
'This well-priced book is the ideal celebration of an iconic Maranello supercar.' MW
Octane, January 2023
'Here Bluemel has gone about creating a definitive reference work, and it's certainly very thorough indeed. He has sourced many under-the-skin photos as well as technical graphics, all of which illustrate how this composite-bodied car came together.'
Racing Spirit, December 2022
'One of the very few artefacts in this world to justify that overused term 'icon', the Ferrari F40 (debuted on the company's 40th anniversary) is dealt with in depth by that doyen of Ferrari writers, Keith Bluemel. It's all here from conception to the last race. The car was never intended to compete but is, as owner Nick Mason say's, 'still the most exciting road car to rive' and this is its beautifully produced story. A great addition to the enthusiast's library.' Review by Peter Collins
Ferrari Owner's Club, December 2022
'Another gift guide, another magnificent book from Porter Press. This one tells you everything you ever needed to know about the F40, and because it's been put together by Keith Bluemel you know it's going to be good.'
'Containing more than 400 images and priced at just £69, there's every chance that this book will sell out very quickly, just as David Wheeler's 250 GTE tome did a year ago. When that book wasn't reprinted, values trebled overnight (from £95 to £300), so order your copy of his one while it's still available.'
Auto Italia, December 2022
'Our first thought on receiving this new arrival was, does the world need another book on the Ferrari F40? The answer, though, is yes. The author – occasional Auto Italia contributor, UK-based Keith Bluemel – is well known in Ferrari concours judging circles, and as you'd expect of such an authority, his book is both in-depth and well researched. It feels classy as soon as you pick it up: large-format, very high quality and packed with over 400 beautifully reproduced images. Ferrari's F40 needs no introduction to Auto Italia readers but there will still be nuggets of novelty for almost everyone. The views of Dario Benuzzi, the F40 development driver, are fascinating, while the interview with Nicola Materazzi, the father of the F40, is particularly poignant because he passed away just before publication.'
'We also enjoyed the views of Nick Mason and John Reaks on ownership.'
GP Racing, December 2022
'Author Keith Bluemel is a life member of the Ferrari Owner's Club of Great Britain and has acted as a judge at prestigious concours events. As such the contents are not only painstakingly accurate, but blessed with access to insider figures such as engineer Nicola Materazzi and development driver Dario Benuzzi.'
Classic Car Weekly, November 2022
'A lavish car deserves a lavish book, and in this latest work by well-known Ferrari authority Keith Bluemel, the F40 has got it. The large format book, running to 240 pages with over 400 illustrations, delves deep into the now near-legendary machine the Italian marque launched in 1987 as a 40th birthday to itself. After a brief introductory chapter on the history of Ferrari, the book dives into the F40's life and times with authoritative gusto, including sections looking at componentry, owning and running, and detailed specs, production data and factory literature. Naturally, the car's racing career is also chronicled in detail, and there are interviews with Nicola Materazzi, widely-known as the F40's father, and Dario Benuzzi, the car's development driver. With excellent, high quality period and modern photography to match the words, this is a book for which the word 'definitive' fully applies.'
Auto Express, October 2022
'FERRARIS make for some of the best coffee table books – and this title is no exception. It's an extremely good-looking book, with high-production values and gorgeous photos throughout. It's also well written, and although there are very few stories about the F40 that haven't been told already, you won't feel short-changed if you read through.'
Classic Cars, October 2022
'There are few Ferrari authorities with more gravitas than Keith Bluemel. and this 240-page tome on the F40 is expectedly excellent. It's about far more than the 202mph supercar – here, Bluemel examines a whole era of Ferrari, at a time when it found its back against the wall in F1, turned to rallying and GT racing to improve its breed, and generated a whole new bloodline of classic road cars in the process. It contains what must be the last interview with chief engineer and Enzo confidant Nicola Materazzi, who died last month, as well as precise details of its styling and engineering process. Pleasingly, half the book is dedicated to the often-overlooked story of the competition F40s, which in turn covers a turbulent time in the world of sports-racing, again in a kind of detail lacking in other books. Well worth the price – you'll learn a lot.'
Iain P W Robertson, October 2022
'...this stunning, large format, 240pp commemorative book could only ever be produced by the Great British publishing house of Porter Press International, which maintains not only the reverence worthy of such a motorcar but the high reproduction qualities that make this a collector's book par excellence.'
Austro Classic, June 2022
'The Ferrari F40 was presented in 1987 and is still one of the really great “super cars”. This 240-page, large-format volume has now been published to mark the unround 35th birthday. As you would expect from Ferrari experts Bluemel, he delivers a highly knowledgeable text on the history (including prehistory) of the F40, which is supplemented by a wealth of historical and current photos. Interviews with contemporary witnesses, appendices with racing successes, technical data, production figures and chassis numbers complete the book.'
Austro Classic, June 2022
'As you would expect from Ferrari expert Bluemel, he delivers a highly competent text on the history (including prehistory) of the F40, which is supplemented by a wealth of historical and current photos. Interviews with contemporary witnesses, appendices with racing successes, technical data, production figures and chassis numbers complete the book.'
Speedreaders
'There is no extraneous fluff in an F40, and there isn’t any in this book—it is super solid, a joy to read and view (plenty of well-chosen illustrations), and will fully enable you to hold forth on this subject without fear of contradiction. In recent years prices for pretty much everything have gone up because of supply chain issues but even in a “pre-pandemic” context, this book had/has a very buyer-friendly price! Unusual for a Porter Press book, this one does not come in big-ticket, limited-edition, super-trick, deluxe versions. You can, however, obtain autographed copies directly from the publisher.
Copyright 2023, Sabu Advani (Speedreaders.info)'