Japanese tuner Liberty Walk made waves at the Tokyo Auto Salon final 12 months when it confirmed off a Ferrari F40 that had been slammed, chopped up and fitted with a widebody equipment and different excessive styling modifications. Ferrari was apparently so mad that it eliminated that F40 from its official registry. Liberty Walk didn’t care — the truth is, ultimately weekend’s TAS 2024 it doubled down, bringing the F40 again with a revised livery and likewise revealing a brand new Countach physique equipment.
Sitting alongside these two legit supercars at Liberty Walk’s Auto Salon stand was one thing an entire lot smaller and cuter. This is the Liberty Walk LB40, a complete restyling equipment for Mazda’s Nineteen Nineties Autozam AZ-1 that transforms the mid-engined kei sports activities automotive right into a shrunken-down Ferrari F40 lookalike. Normal F40s do nothing for me and by no means have — I’m rather more of an F50 and Enzo man — however this AZ-1 is sensible.
The LB40 equipment consists of a brand new clamshell entrance finish and entrance bumper, which mimics the look of the F40 LM race automobiles (and Liberty Walk’s F40) with clear headlight covers as an alternative of pop-up lamps. There are slotted vents on high of the entrance fenders, a low splitter, canards on the bumper corners and large intakes within the hood. New door panels, facet skirts and bolted-on rear fenders additional add to the F40 look, although the higher NACA duct isn’t actual.
I feel the rear finish seems particularly cute, as a inventory AZ-1 is almost two toes narrower in width than an actual F40. Liberty Walk’s equipment offers the AZ-1 a rear “grille” panel that homes 4 spherical taillights, a giant F40 LM–fashion rear wing and a brand new bumper that even has a teeny set of three exhaust ideas which might be formed and organized just like the F40’s iconic structure.
Open the AZ-1’s gullwing doorways and also you’ll see vibrant crimson Sparco bucket seats with racing harnesses and a Sparco racing wheel, although these objects don’t appear to be part of Liberty Walk’s equipment. And the LB40 equipment doesn’t really embody the headlights or taillights; you’ll have so as to add these your self.
All within the LB40 equipment will run you $22,660, which is about the identical quantity {that a} inventory, already imported AZ-1 prices, and the solid wheels (16s up entrance and 17s within the rear) are an additional $14,300. But take a look at it this fashion — that’s fairly actually hundreds of thousands of {dollars} cheaper than an precise Ferrari F40, for one thing a lot, a lot cooler and extra distinctive. I higher see one at Monterey Car Week this 12 months.
Source: jalopnik.com