Given the success and acclaim of Ferrari’s F40, the 40th anniversary supercar that debuted in 1987, Maranello’s engineers recognized that an even more superlative model would be necessary to properly commemorate the automaker’s soon-to-follow 50th anniversary.

Four years of development was invested in a dedicated road car with characteristically strong ties to Ferrari’s racing technologies, starting with the chassis design, which was founded on a lightweight carbon fiber tub.

The designers at Pininfarina outdid themselves with curvaceous coachwork molded from carbon fiber, Kevlar, and Nomex honeycomb, eschewing the wedge motifs of the 1980s in favor of free-flowing lines that were evocative of Maranello’s most legendary sports-racers of the 1950s and 1960s.

To boot, the body included a solid removable targa top stored in an accompanying road case that allowed the F50 to strike the pose of a barchetta or berlinetta, encapsulating the best of both worlds.

A new naturally aspirated 4....