This kei Ferrari transformed by Liberty Walk is likely also the only F40 with gull-wing doors.
Famed for its extreme widebody kits, Japanese tuner Liberty Walk was certainly the talk of the town at last year’s Tokyo Auto Salon, when it caused a stir with the reveal of its slammed and wide-bodied Ferrari F40.
A creation that at the time had attracted a not insignificant amount of detractors who thought it sacrilege to mutilate one of the most legendary prancing horses to have come out of Maranello, it is therefore interesting to now see then for that same crowd this year to have gone mysteriously silent when Liberty Walk went to town again in cutting up yet another uber-rare two-door for its next creation. Though that could be because while chopping up a cutesy Autozam AZ-1 does not help in preserving the already minuscule herd of these gull-winged kei sports cars from the ‘90s, it is nevertheless hard to deny that turning one into a mini Ferrari F40 is nothing other than totally sugoi (cool).
Dubbed the Liberty Walk LB40, the comprehensive restyling kit to turn an Autozam into a Ferrari starts right up front with a totally redesigned clamshell and bumper, which with its clear headlight covers in place of the iconic pop-up units ape the look of the F40 LM race cars (and Liberty Walk’s F40). Also featured on up front is a massive splitter down under, canards on its bumper corners and a massive (presumably decorative) scoop carved into the bonnet.
Moving onto its side meanwhile, this tiny kei sports car’s new massively-flared front fenders are to be joined by a set of equally-ginormous boxy rear fender extensions. Completing its profile is then a set of new door panels (with the embossed shape of a NACA duct to emulate the F40’s appearance) and some extremely protruding side skirts, which are bookended by a new set of LB forged alloy wheels measuring 16 inches at the front and 17 inches at the rear.
As for the rear of this kei Ferrari, Liberty Walk has admittedly attempted its best in ticking off the major recognisable components of an F40, with the Autozam gaining the prancing horse’s table of a rear spoiler with big endplates and a diffuser that houses its iconic central-exit tri-pipes. In the kindest possible terms however, the overall visual proportions of this franken-F40’s rump does suffer somewhat from being two-feet shorter than the real deal.
Now interestingly, as the doors, greenhouse, roof, and upper rear deck being carried over from the original Autozam, this kei-Ferrari could indeed boast to one up the real deal by featuring a pair of flashy gull-wing doors. Liberty Walk has also added a set of bright red Sparco bucket seats with racing harnesses and a Sparco racing wheel, to further add to the sporty nature of this mini F40.
Unfortunately, Liberty Walk did not actually give this mini-Ferrari any additional power modifications to match its sporting looks. So the real deal will likely still easily run rings around its smaller clone, even if the Autozam did indeed come boosted from the factory — as said turbocharger was attached to a mid-mounted 657 cc three cylinder, that when new made all of 63 horsepower.
Though happily, procuring one of these kei-F40s will also likely not cost as much as the bonafide item. Such is as while the real deal is currently changing hands in the $2-3 million mark (RM 9 -14 million), the cost of the Liberty Walk kit for the Autozam is currently retailing for only $22,660 (RM 107,000). Although the price doesn’t include the lighting units nor the interior extras, or even the donor car for that matter. Oh, and the forged wheels would add another $14,300 (RM 67,000) into the mix…
In any case, it is perhaps more fun to now wonder what would Liberty Walk do next. Could we perhaps see them make a McLaren F1 out of a Honda Beat, or perhaps a Countach out of a Suzuki Cappuccino?
