Carmack Ferrari F50 & Testarossa turbocharged - 1998 - NOPI - Texas Motorplex - Dallas - Ennis,TX
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- Опубліковано 8 лют 2025
- Aug 16th, 1998 - NOPI Import/Domestic ID DRAG WARS @ Texas Motorplex - Dallas (Ennis), TX - Eric Hedstrom's home video
This was the first ever Number One Parts, Incorporated (NOPI) event in Texas.
Online there seems to be nostalgic interest regarding the history of John Carmack's (creator of Castle Wolfenstein, Doom, Quake, Id Software etc) old Ferrari collection along with his partnership with Bob Norwood who built the cars (Bob is the tall person directing the F50 where to park when it arrived at the track, John C was not at the track *update: someone in the comments section confirmed John was the driver of the cars on the track). I had some old video so I thought I would post it up. I have edited my video to focus specifically on John's modified Ferrari F50 and Testarossa.
Back then we all loved that John was not afraid to modify his cars. He did not attend this NOPI but he could frequently be seen driving his cars to work and around town. It is a pretty awesome story - a young computer kid from my town making it to the big time! Being both a computer (shoutout to all the fellow BBS SysOps 😂) and car nerd I really thought this was super cool.
Although his cars did not have a strong showing at this event, they certainly had a strong showing running around the streets of Dallas. We were all in our early to mid 20's at the time and his cars totally blew our minds. ;)
See also my home vid of John Carmack's Ferrari F40 - • Carmack Ferrari F40 & ...
See also my home vid of John Carmack's Ferrari F40 - ua-cam.com/video/k0gWgnB40oU/v-deo.html
Wow, I can't believe you posted this, thanks so much! So, funny story, I was the kid driving the F50 to the drag race. No lie. :) I worked for Bob back then, mainly cleaning floors, oil changes, etc. The guy who was supposed to drive didn't show and of the 3 cars we had to drive the F50 was the tamest so begrudgingly Bob had me drive it. John Carmack actually was there and was the one to actually drive the cars on the track. I got to talk with him for a few minutes, amazingly cool guy. No, the cars didn't turn great times. Despite having a lot of raw horsepower they just weren't geared for drag, those shifts gates are STIFF, and they had street tires. The Testarossa dyno'd out at 1,100 HP and the F50 dyno'd at 650. At the time John stayed "conservative" with the F50 because he'd intended it to be his daily driver and the Testarossa was fresh out of being in the shop for a year after he blew it up due to a stuck nitrous valve. I'm so lost in nostalgia right now!
Well I can't confirm or deny it was you of course but I will take you for your word. This is pretty cool you found my video - thanks for the comments and history/detail. Were you around and working for Bob when I was at the shop with John's F40 (my other vid)? I did speak to a few folks wrenching around as Bob grabbed a vacuum bleeder for me to use so I could get back on the dyno. Anyway I am glad you found this vid hope you liked watching it.
Dude that’s amazing, that you got to experience that! Any idea where that F50 ended up?
You have balls of steel.
Amazing bit of nostalgia and so badass thet you got the chance to drive the only Twin Turbo F50 ever! The dream of all dream cars.
Whats ur name bud bob is trying to remember ya
My husband Edward owns this actual testarossa. He loves it! John Carmack took excellent care of it! It's great to watch it in action thank you for posting this.
Super cool to hear, thanks for commenting. Everyone always wants to know what happened to John C’s old cars. I am curious - may I ask what area of the country you are in? Or at least if this is still a Texas car?
@@ISpinUWin we are in Pennsylvania near New Hope
@@jeaninewalsh5120 is it still 1100 hp or was it toned down?
Im here with bob norwood, we wanted to know how the ol girl is lol. Thanks for keeping such an icon. And being as I'm a pa boy myself from Clearfield county I love to hear its up there !
Who ever uploaded thanks for letting me get a blast from the past as a kid!
You’re welcome!
Im literally standing here watching this with bob norwood himself. Loves it!
Haha wow thx - Hope he saw my vid of him and the F40 too.
@@ISpinUWin he has. We have it saved on his pc lol
This is Bob Norwood the F50 project was limited by the carbon intake manifold. The engine was stock with high compression. We ran e85 fuel and it never blew up.
The Testrossa was the first of 35 that were turboed. The input shaft was a problem and also the diff broke in the early cars.We really got these cars sorted out but you have to be careful with the trans. They are not drag cars. They are incredible with a rolling start. We are doing one now with 1400 HP
How did Carmack get his greasy little hands on a Ferrari F50? I thought those went straight from the factory to preferred clients?
@@1954telecasterSo, I remember that discussion back then but honestly, I can’t remember what the answer was. Bob may or may not reply and remind us. Don’t forget Carmack also also had an F40 which I also posted avideo of.
@@ISpinUWin apparently he bought it used, freshly off lease from the previous owner. Ferrari F50 is considerably more rare/valuable than the F40. Any idea if he still has it?
@@1954telecaster I think he got out of the car game by the early 00’s. One of the current owners of one of them posted here in the comments, but I recall also reading history in the forums. There was a lot of discussion back then on Reddit and ferrarichat.com. He also touches on it in a Joe Rogan podcast a year or two ago.
I really love that current owners, Mr Norwood etc get a kick out of seeing these videos. I think it’s really cool.
Hah, the end with the playback options would make a lot of Retro-heads happy, man this channel again, filled with gems.
This is awesome!!
Back in the day there was a 5 story building, right next to town east ford dealership in mesquite texas.
On weekends there would be exotic cars parked in the parking lot there.
Never thought really anything of it.
Until I found out the guys who made Id software used that building. You know games like Quake. Yeah it’s these guys!!!!
So while I was going to the mall or around that area, these guys were working on weekends.
I heard these guys are still in the dfw area. Wish they would make a new quake game!
So it’s now September 2024.
I just did a search. I Was watching an old Barrett Jackson auction from Houston 2021 just now on Vizio watch free.
This Testarossa comes on the block and it says this one is modified with twin turbos from Norwood auto craft!
That reminds me of looking at being at Norwood Autocraft looking at twin turbo setups years ago. So I start to search for that auction video, and here I am!!
Small world.
Thank you, for posting this amazing video! I live just down the street, and have seen some amazing cars there over the years. I couldn’t even imagine what it felt like to see a gorgeous F50 in action. A turbo one at that!
Thank you I appreciate the comment! I bet you have seen a lot of awesome cars around you on the way to that track! If interested I also posted my home video of his modified F40 at the dyno. I know he did also take it to that track but it was a private day with just him and his buddies.
Excellent vid bro, really some full on nostalgia right here!!!
Funny that this is a modified twin turbo car.
I may have a related story. I went by Norwood auto craft, after moving back to Hunt county after my military service.
Norwood auto craft was the only place doing efi and custom twin turbo stuff then. Had to be around 1998-2000 time frame.
I was there to ask them about Accel Dfi fuel injection and turbocharging.
The fabricator was working on the stainless exhaust system for the turbo setup. I’m a hot rodder and aircraft mechanic and welder, and self taught tig welder. I wanted to build my own setup.
There was an F50 and Testarossa there at the time.
Maybe it was these two?
Small world.
Amazing that these cars made 4 digit hp back then and it’s taken 20 years for everyone to catch up.
Gale Banks was also making 1000 plus hp twin turbo cars cars in the late 80’s also.
Wow, thanks for sharing this.
@@ISpinUWin I was just searching "f50 carmack" to find an old automotiveforums post I made years ago talking about John Carmack and his Ferraris (and video games), and I was so surprised to see this video. I had never see actual footage like this of his cars (or Romero's). Especially surprised to see it only posted 2 weeks ago!
Thank you I am glad you enjoyed it. I am not otherwise on social media so my vids are kinda a secret unless someone searches and they come up. Check out vid I have of his F40 too. I’m glad I got to witness this stuff. ;)
@@ISpinUWin I saw (found) that video too! Thanks again!
Absolutely Phenomenal SuperCar Video All The Best 110%.
Went straight to search bar after watching Joe Rogan video, this is so cool
Wow, the JUN Silvia.
@hardcoreep I believe I recall I was at the event mostly to see Carmack's cars and Jun's... and I was a Mustang guy then too so that didn't hurt either.
The F50 is posting better times than the Testarossa even though it has like half the power. The sequential gearbox on the F50 makes it much easier to drive. Anyway, thanks for the video, I just finished Masters of Doom so this is perfect.
Thx! You might be interested in watching my vid of his F40 on the dyno too. Glad you enjoyed the vid! The good ‘ol days!
@@ISpinUWin Already did! Loved your Mustang, as well. I’ve owned a 2001 GT and a 2003 Cobra with all the possible bolt-ons. Mustangs will always have a special place in my heart.
They also broke the input shaft a few times on the tr, it has an m/sport input shaft but still they were worried about breaking it again with that sticky track
"Look its a Sprite Can" LMAO !
I had NO idea there was another turbocharged F50 outside of the short lived Koenig car. Do you have any more information I can read about this?
I didn’t know about Koenig car. At the time this was the first and only modified F50. Watch JRE episode that inspired me to dig up my VHS or search for Carmack F50 and I think there are some small mentions. I don’t really know of other detail other than what I knew back then. See also his F40 vid that I have too. Thx for note I hope you enjoyed it!
Bob Norwood built this Turbo F50.
@@scottjua That is correct, Bob is in this video and I have some info also if you look at the description of this video and my F40 video.
:33 "not all imports are funny looking" -bro, bro..😑👍😂💙🇺🇸
Its funny, young Eric still sounds like old Eric. lol. Why did it only run 12s?
Ha, I thought the same thing about me. For the cars I don't recall knowing what was wrong with either car. If it was just street tire traction or something else. However, we all were expecting much faster times and higher speeds - that I do remember. It is why I mentioned they didn't make a strong showing at the track (this time at least). They certainly did on the street however.
The Civic you claim runs 17s, looks like Kenny Tran’s Civic.
@Chanandler I can't remember anymore but if that is the case (Jotec) then most likely it didn't run 17s but plenty of them did back then. In the vid I guessed right however that it was slower than Jun's car as at the time it was the fastest (unfair compare I know I was just being 22-year-ago funny).
Eric H: Yes, 10 or 11 second car in 1998. Went on to run 8s.
that bad boy runs 17's 🤣🤣🤣
Goddamnit I wish I invented Quake
😂 for a little more depression you can also see the F40 he had at the time in my other vid.
I saw this videos from Barret Jackson in Houston in 2021.
At 1:24:00 in the video, the car guy Hoovie covers some info on Testarossa that Norwood modified with twin turbos.
ua-cam.com/video/6spDWggTuWc/v-deo.htmlsi=Y1pJZY_je8t4Flby
Oh boy, those times weren't impressive
Yeah I mention that in the vid description and some of the comments by others also have some reasons for that. On the street from a roll the Testarossa cleaned the clock of basically everyone else at the time. It’s one of the main reasons I went to the event because of the rumors that it would be there.
I would never mod a F50