After years of waiting for a modern rendition of the F40, we now have two companies battling for our attention. Fly released their F40 first, in standard and 'Racing' versions but now we have the car that many enthusiasts have been eagerly anticipating - the Ferrari F40 from Slot.It.

The Le Mans test car featured here and the Totip race car are the first to be released, and more liveries are planned. Like many Ferrari slot cars, the Slot.It F40 is supplied as a kit. The large box contains the body, chassis and running gear parts and a display case to store the finished model. Clear pictorial instructions are printed inside the box lid.

Slot.It have earned a reputation for high-performance cars that are also highly detailed scale models. The F40 makes a good first impression, so let's take a closer look.

The body is supplied fully assembled and finished. I'm no Ferrari expert but the car looks right to me, the shape and stance of the F40 look right. There's plenty of detail to, from the vent-work on the sides and nose to the tow-hooks and tiny supports for the front splitter. There's even 'F40' engraved on one of the rear wing supports. 

The paintwork is also very good, though my photos don't do justice to the colour or finish! The paint is a deep, rich red and the finish is generally very good though there is a tiny hint of 'orange peel' in one or two spots.

The body mouldings are crisp and sharp with no visible flaws. I said 'mouldings' because the body is made up from seven or eight separate parts (or more). Slot.It do this to allow them to change detail pieces to model specific cars accurately - an innovative and commendable approach.

But it inevitably means that the cars are more complex to assemble in the factory. On my car the small panels between the door and rear wheel arch are misaligned. The join between the bonnet vent and bonnet is also poor.

The interior is also highly detailed. Two race seats, driver with separate harness, fire extinguisher and full dashboard instruments are some of the highlights. Looking through the vented rear windscreen we can feast our eyes on the twin-turbo V8, which looks so good you almost expect it to rumble into action!

There are some issues with the interior - more details and solution here. The article also mentions the body fixing screws - you will find these tucked into one end of the box, separate from the rest of the kit.

The car looks great and the level of detail is incredible, yet the F40 weighs only 75 grams. 

You will need to assemble the chassis but the instructions are clear so it's not difficult. The chassis carries an offset inline HRS motor-mount, although the sidewinder or anglewinder mount can be fitted. To use the angle-winder option you need to remove two small pieces from the chassis (they clip into place so you can replace them if you revert to inline or sidewinder). 

There isn't much clearance between the motor and the interior when using the inline mount, and even less if you use the anglewinder. A lightweight lexan interior will soon be available as a spare, well worth considering if you want maximum chassis flexibility.

The motor is the new V12/3 rated at 21,500 rpm, gears are the usual Slot.It precision items (9:26 ratio) along with hardened axles. The rear wheels are alloy, the fronts are push-on plastic items. The rear wheels and crown gear are all secured with grub screws, so you will need an allen key (supplied in the kit) to remove or adjust them.

On track the F40 is everything we expect from Slot.It. It runs beautifully, quiet, smooth and very quick. But it's not an over-powered monster; the motor delivers its power and torque smoothly and predictably and the chassis deals with it easily. Acceleration and braking are both strong and consistent.

The tyres supplied in the kit are wide and fairly soft and give the F40 a lot of grip on my track so cornering grip is brilliant, the car can be hustled rapidly through the bends. The car feels very capable yet easy to drive quickly because although it's fast, the F40 is also quite forgiving. It will twitch or slide if you push too hard but it remains composed and controllable, seemingly unwilling to relinquish it's hold on the track. 

I've been looking forward to this car ever since it was announced early in 2008. 

I'm very impressed with the way Slot.It have dealt with the (quite minor) issues with the car in such an open and honest way. In the UK at least, the information was available before the cars went on sale.

I'm a tiny bit disappointed with the ill-fitted panels but overall I am very pleased with the F40 - any defects in its appearance are invisible from more than a couple of inches away. The outstanding performance speaks for itself, the car is a joy to drive and race which is what it's all about after all.

There are more liveries scheduled for release this year, I think you'll be disappointed if you don't get at least one of them...