Honeycomb composite with carbon fibers, Kevlar and other materials
Not on view
The Formula 1 Racing Car is designed for a single purpose: to win the Grand Prix, a series of sixteen races held each season in different parts of the world. Incorporating state-of-the-art technology and engineering, the car’s body and engine are designed using a size/weight/materials formula within which the designer may exploit any mechanical or aerodynamic advantage to improve the car's prospect for victory. The car's shape is largely determined by exhaustive wind-tunnel studies; the silhouette allows air to pass over the body with minimal drag and maximal down-force, ensuring precision handling even at speeds over two hundred miles per hour. This Formula 1 car, the Ferrari 641,can withstand lateral forces of up to 4 G on turns. It has a carbon fiber composite chassis, a 3.5-liter V-12 engine, a curb weight of 1,105 pounds, and a top speed of 215 miles per hour. It made its debut in 1990 and, in the hands of legendary drivers Alain Prost of France and Nigel Mansell of England, won six races and nearly triumphed at the World Championship.
2005.
Publication excerpt from The Museum of Modern Art , MoMA Highlights , New York: The Museum of Modern Art, revised 2004, originally published 1999, p. 319.
This Formula 1 Racing Car—with an exterior body designed by Barnard and interior chassis engineered and designed by the Ferrari company—clearly illustrates the modernist dictum "form follows function." The shape of its exterior has been determined by the laws of physics and aerodynamics, and falls within the rules and guidelines set up by the governing body of the sport of automobile racing. The sleek and sculptural silhouette of this Ferrari allows air to pass over the body with minimal drag and maximal down–force, which ensures precision handling even at speeds in excess of two hundred miles per hour.
High–performance racing cars represent the ultimate achievement of one of the world's largest industries. Painstakingly engineered to go faster, handle better, and stop more quickly than any other kind of automobile, they are the most technologically rational and complex type of motorcar produced. Experimentation and innovation in design, stimulated by the desire to win, are constants in the ongoing quest for the optimal racing machine.
Explore more
Industrial design
A process of design that emerged after the Industrial Revolution, applied to products that are mass-produced and machine-made.
Learn more →
From MoMA Design Store
Installation views
We have identified this work in the following photos from our exhibition history.
Licensing
Artwork or archival images
If you would like to reproduce an image of a work of art in MoMA's collection, or an image of a MoMA publication or archival material (including installation views, checklists, and press releases), please contact Art Resource (publication in North America) or Scala Archives (publication in all other geographic locations).
Audio and film clips
MoMA licenses archival audio and select out of copyright film clips from our film collection. At this time, MoMA produced video cannot be licensed by MoMA/Scala. All requests to license archival audio or out of copyright film clips should be addressed to Scala Archives at [email protected]. Motion picture film stills cannot be licensed by MoMA/Scala. For access to motion picture film stills for research purposes, please contact the Film Study Center at [email protected]. For more information about film loans and our Circulating Film and Video Library, please visit Circulating Film and Video Library.
Text from a publication or the archives
If you would like to reproduce text from a MoMA publication, please email [email protected]. If you would like to publish text from MoMA's archival materials, please fill out this permission form and send to [email protected].
Feedback
This record is a work in progress. If you have additional information or spotted an error, please fill out this feedback form.