Ferrari has taken lots of its highway automobiles racing, however the F40 wasn’t one among them. Whereas the manufacturing facility by no means raced the Eighties icon, this 1989 Ferrari F40 “Competizione” out there for personal sale by way of RM Sotheby’s is an instance of the various privateer F40 race automobiles that appeared through the years.
This automotive—chassis quantity 80782—left the Ferrari manufacturing facility as a highway automotive in November 1989, and was shipped to Kroymans BV, the official Ferrari importer for the Netherlands, in line with the public sale itemizing. It was transformed right into a race automotive three years later by Peter van Erp of Cavallino Tuning, the racing arm of Kroymans BV.
This marked the start of a contest profession that will final till 2009, with the F40 steadily accumulating extra modifications all through. That began with Intracks racing shocks, Stack devices, new brakes, and a few modifications to the bodywork. A roll hoop and air jacks have been added in 1995.
The dual-turbo 2.9-liter V-8 engine was initially left inventory, however sooner or later it acquired upgraded. The itemizing claims it now produces between 700 and 1,000 hp (relying on setup), a giant step up from the inventory 471 hp. Even the inventory score was sufficient to get the inventory F40 to 200 mph—making it the world’s quickest manufacturing automotive when it debuted in 1987—though turbo lag meant a Buick GNX might beat it within the quarter mile.
1989 Ferrari F40
Regardless of a lifetime on the observe, this F40 seems fairly recent. A earlier proprietor commissioned a mechanical servicing in 2019, together with crack testing the suspension and becoming a brand new hearth extinguisher and gas tanks. The present proprietor just lately had the automotive cosmetically restored, which concerned full disassembly and repainting into its present Grigio Nardo (grey) shade.
RM Sotheby’s did not publish a pre-auction estimate, however do not anticipate this F40’s modified state to have an effect on its hammer worth. A wrecked F40 rebuilt and modified on the Uncover Channel present “Quick N’ Loud” offered for $742,500 in 2014, and this instance has a real racing pedigree to justify its modifications.
