Both the 288 GTO and the F40 were Group B cars.
That's incorrect. The F40 wasn't a Group B car and was never indended to be raced by Ferrari. Many pressume the car was born from the 288 GTO and although it has some DNA from that car, it is the Evoluzione model of the 288 where you'll find it's direct predecessor. When you look at that car, you can instantly see where the F40's design ethics were born.
The F40 was the car Enzo himself wanted to leave as his legacy (he knew by '87 he was deteriotaing and did not have much more time left). The fact that Group B had been canceled at the end of '86 meant Ferrari had a lot of lost development for it's proposed Group B entrant. Rather than let all that R&D go to waste, the programme was toned down (the GTO Evo had 650hp, suspension and brakes more suited to road use), refined (body & aerodynamics etc) and made more reliable (less power, bigger displacement & improved drivetrain).
F40 was purely designed as a road car, the ultimate road car. A road car that had no power assisted steering, no power assisted brakes, no radio, no interior to speak of (not even a door handle, although it did have A/C) and no clever electronic handling devices. The first versions didn't even have wind down windows, just a sliding piece of perspex found on most racecars of the time.
It achieved this and can never be done again. Newer legislation for car manufacturers means creating a modern car like the F40 would be illegal to put it on the road. That's why I and many others, both enthusiast and professional, regard the F40 as the greatest sports car that has ever been made, and ever will be made.
