The Ferrari F40 road car was unveiled in 1987 to mark Ferrari's fortieth anniversary and was the last model personally approved by Enzo Ferrari. Three racing variants were prepared by Michelotto of Padua, the Ferrari-authorised specialist: the F40 LM, the F40 Competizione, and the F40 GTE. The LM debuted in IMSA competition in late 1989 with Jean Alesi driving, while the Competizione was a higher-powered version built on customer request. The GTE emerged as the definitive racing evolution, homologated for the BPR Global GT Series GT1 class.
All seven F40 GTE chassis were converted by Michelotto from F40 LM specification. The Type F120B engine underwent two capacity increases: from 3.0 litres to 3.5 litres for the 1995 season and again to 3.6 litres for 1996, with the final specification producing 620 PS (612 bhp). For 1996, Michelotto added significant aerodynamic improvements including a new rear wing, front splitter, rear diffuser, air intakes on the rear fender, and air extractors on the front fenders.
The F40 GTE entered the 1995 BPR Global GT Series through Ferrari Club Italia and Jolly Club. At the 4 Hours of Monza, Ferrari Club Italia drivers Anders Olofsson and Luciano Della Noce secured third place on the car's debut. Despite this promising start, reliability problems caused multiple retirements throughout the season.
ENNEA Ferrari Club Italia entered a pair of F40 GTEs in the GT1 class of the 1995 24 Hours of Le Mans. The No. 41 car, driven by Gary Ayles, Fabio Mancini, and Massimo Monti, completed the race in 18th place overall, ninth in class. The sister No. 40 entry suffered a gearbox failure and retired after seven hours. Olofsson and Della Noce added another third place at the 4 Hours of Silverstone before the season closed.
For 1996, the aerodynamically revised GTE showed improved pace at the opening round at Paul Ricard, where both Ennea Igol-entered cars finished second and third on the podium. Three GTEs were entered for the 1996 24 Hours of Le Mans under the Ennea SRL Igol banner, but none reached the finish. The No. 45 car retired in the fifth hour with an electrical problem, the No. 44 suffered an engine failure in the eighth hour, and the No. 59 was eliminated by a clutch failure in the thirteenth hour.
The F40 GTE's sole outright victory came at the 4 Hours of Anderstorp in 1996, when Anders Olofsson and Luciano Della Noce converted their strong pace into a race win — the only time the GTE stood on the top step of the podium.
The F40 GTE raced during a period in which the BPR Global GT Series was rapidly evolving into the dominant GT category. From 1995 the McLaren F1 GTR had emerged as the pace-setter, with factory-backed programs from Porsche and Mercedes soon to follow. The F40 GTE, as a privateer effort relying on an older platform, could not match the resources or technical development of those rivals, and the car was retired from international GT competition after 1996 following the collapse of the BPR into the FIA GT Championship.
The F40 GTE represents the terminal point of the F40's competitive lineage. Beginning as a road car built to celebrate Ferrari's fortieth year, then adapted by Michelotto across three successive racing variants, the GTE carried a fundamentally 1980s turbocharged platform into the mid-1990s GT endurance scene. Its occasional podium finishes against more modern machinery reflected both the durability of the original design and the skill of the small Italian teams that campaigned it, even as it foreshadowed the more purpose-built GT efforts Ferrari would mount in subsequent years.