Is the Inno64 LBWK F40 a classic yet ?

This article is a particular one, and I did not see it coming. When I got my models from Inno64 for reviews in late December, I was happy to discover, as usual, the new models, including the LBWK F40. I was not disappointed by the quality of execution (we will discuss this point later), but as you know me, the LBWK aspect wasn’t exciting me much (and it still doesn’t).

Once unwrapped, I discovered 3 colors : white, red and mat black. I thought I would have the raw chase piece and the Christmas edition. I had an idea to feature this Christmas car in a particular way with fake snow. Obviously, nothing happened as planned. And in a big way, because the Lamley team was preparing the Lamley Awards (and I thank them for the great work they did) and some team mates wanted to include this LBWK F40. My article was once again upset. Imagine the car wins ? And guess what.

The LBWK F40 in white with red circle paying homage to the Japan flag from Tokyo Auto Salon 2023 actually made it and won the Lamley Awards 32 cars tournament of Best Premium Model of the Year. As many of you might have followed, the Lamley Awards were all about classic polls on the blog and tournaments on the Instragam stories of the boss. For this particular tournament, 32 cars were facing each other by pairs, and each run ended up with 50% of losses, downing from 32 to 16 to 8 to 4 to 2 to the F40. I’ve watched it with a lot of attention, and read a lot of comments and it seems that this car is really appreciated by many collectors. Once again, I didn’t really see it coming, probably because this type of cars doesn’t talk to me much, but this win was very clear. The LBWK F40 is the model that many collectors want. You can find it on eBay in various colors.

There is so much so say about this car and the tournament it won, and the long and intense discussions we had with the Lamley team, about licensing, kits, real Ferrari or not, diverting license process or not, legitimacy of such a car in the Awards, versus absolutely unthinkable that it would not be included in … many messages, discussions and points of views. In the end, it won and let’s face it (and it my personal view) : I’m happy an Inno64 model won a part of the Awards for the aura it will bring to the brand, and the efforts I’ve made trough years to promote it as much as I could. But I would have preferred another model more in concordance with my collecting tastes won, but in the end who am I to judge. It’s collectors voice and I’m fine with it. On my hand, I’m also fine with the license approach, as the car is licensed by Liberty Walk. Not by Ferrari ? of course not, how can it be. First, Ferrari licenses are just purely impossible to have without paying such incredible amounts of money, and it is a shame. But I promise you that A LOT of brands are not paying a single euro to Ferrari for a lot of Ferrari models they make, specially old models. Second, according to Ferrari itself, this destroyed LBWK F40 is not a Ferrari anymore in the records. On a purely legal aspect, isn’t it the icing on the cake ? Licensing is an important matter, and it is a jurist writing here (I studied business law for 6 years), but I also want to highlight another aspect that is significant to me : the efforts a brand puts in to get licences – and I far as I know, Inno64 models are licensed – and the efforts a brand is making to produce the cars. In the case of Inno64, I love that the team gets it’s own factory and is producing it’s own models from scratch. In my collector approach, I’m more interested by all the efforts and money invested into such processes than simple collabs with others brands, recolors, re-use of existing molds. That’s my point, and I’m happy to be able to express it.

Looking at the car itself, it is indeed hard for me to appreciate a F40 so much destroyed. On a purely execution aspect, this replica is amazing for the price. I don’t know if Inno64 predicted to have such a success with this car but they went all in with it. The car is very, very detailed and treated with care. In my opinion, it is far better than the 997 LBWK from a few years ago. The car is low, the stance is good, the lines are fine particularly on the windows with this typical little wave of the F40 and the very sharped rear window is good too. I appreciate the black lines around the windows and all the details from carbon aspect to the little pieces to maintain the rear and front spoilers. Really impressive. Sometimes, while looking at it, I just regret Inno64 doesn’t get the Ferrari license! You can spot the engine through the back window too … Collectors didn’t miss it, the replica is another level.

My preference remains the red one even if I’m not sure the car really exists. But it works, a red Ferrari (I mean, not a Ferrari) with black wheels is fine. The mat black is a bit less desirable to me, maybe it’s due to the chrome circles on the wheels. The white line of the car works well on the contrary. Overall, the replica is very good. A improvement point ? the gills on the front fenders that are just tampo work, and not an engraving of the mold.

As a sum up, and a conclusion, I would say that this LBWK F40 is a piece of art in term of execution, but it won’t please everybody for what it represents. Meanwhile, it will have it’s glory time for being a winner from a Lamley Awards tournament and maybe become, if it is not already, a classic among many collectors.

I highly suggest you to grab one, to make yourself an opinion (eBay link).

@Willdiecast