Am I Wrong, Or Does This Four-Cylinder Ferrari Racing Engine Sound Like A Lawn Mower?

Few automakers, if any, can stir the emotions quite so effectively as Ferrari. Driving a Ferrari is a pleasure only a handful will ever experience, and for us mere mortals, seeing and hearing one is as close as we'll ever get.

Thankfully, they sound great and look dramatic. Sure, things may have fallen a little south in recent years when it comes to the aural pleasure of a passing Prancing Horse, what with lesser-sounding turbocharged V6 engines taking the place of naturally aspirated V12s. But still, the sound they emit is far different from what we hear on a typical day on the road.

So while older Ferrari models are generally the go-to for those screaming 12-cylinder soundtracks, there are some exceptions to the rule. There are the eight-cylinder classics, the six-pot Dino, and even some very seldom-spotted four-cylinders from way back in the 1950s. Now, four-cylinder engines can sound wonderful, and surely storied sports car manufacturer Ferrari will have gotten the audible aspect absolutely spot on, right?

Erm, wrong. Just listen to this Ferrari 857 Monzo revving below.

Now, press play again, but this time close your eyes. It sounds just like a lawn mower, doesn't it? I'm not just being purposefully obtuse here — this thing sounds just like an old lawn mower, not an iconic '50s racer. You'd expect to see a John Deere lurching round the corner if you heard that exhaust note approaching, certainly not a track-prepared Ferrari.

We know that not all four-cylinder engines sound this unpleasant, so it's definitely possible for Ferrari to produce a sweeter note with this many cylinders. Well, this isn't just any inline-four — it's a Tipo 129 engine — and it was designed with one thing in mind: racing.

During the 1950s, Ferrari acquired the talents of Aurelio Lampredi to help build a series of reliable, high-performance four-cylinder engines. One of them was the Tipo 129 you see in the video above, a buzzy, fast-revving, high-compression inline-four that kicks out a potent 280 horsepower. Fuel is fed via a duo of 58 DCOA/3 Weber carburetors, plus it's a twin-cam, dry-sump design.

Now, hot but road-focused inline-fours need to sound appealing — nobody's going to buy an Abarth that sounds like a lawn mower. So its exhaust is tuned and tweaked for the perfect soundtrack, all while still adhering to various rules and regulations. 

The 857, on the other hand, was not held back by such restrictions. The exhaust was routed simply to help the gases to escape as swiftly as possible; the route is essentially a side-exit straight pipe from Ferrari. Open headers and straight pipes might bring about performance benefits, but they don't always give the sweetest idle.

Regardless of how unappealing the old 857 racer sounds when idling, it's still a classic Ferrari, and one with some serious racing pedigree. So don't go thinking that an awkward soundtrack means you can get your hands on a '50s Ferrari for cheap. It's the opposite, actually, as storied examples of the 857 change hands for in the millions of dollars. One recent notable sale saw a one-of-four 857 Sport fetch $5.35 million at a Gooding Christie's auction. It was freshly restored, and had been raced with much success by drivers including none other than Caroll Shelby.

Rest assured, though, if you do manage to save up the necessary $5 million or $6 million, and you fancy an old-school racing Ferrari, it doesn't have to sound like an old lawn mower. The trick seems to be simply to keep the revs up, as evidenced by the 3.0-liter inline-4 750 Monza depicted here:

Rather than an old piece of gardening equipment, when the Ferrari-Lampredi engine is working its way through the upper echelons of the rev range it sounds like an angered wasp — exactly the soundtrack you'd want from such a car.