A Ferrari F40 That Once Belonged to F1 Legend Alain Prost Could Fetch Over $3 Million at Auction
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Being a Formula 1 driver comes with some serious perks. Just look at the car Alain Prost received after joining Ferrari in 1990—a brand-new F40.
The French driver’s supercar will be auctioned off by RM Sotheby’s next month. The gorgeous red speed machine remains in impeccable shape more than three decades after rolling off the line and even bears Prost’s signature on its roof.
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Prost was riding high at the start of the 1990s. He was coming off three driver’s championships in five seasons while racing for McLaren, so it was only natural he’d join the sport’s most glamorous and successful team, Scuderia Ferrari. To welcome him to the fold, the Italian marque gave him an example of its range-topping model, the F40. Oddly, Prost doesn’t seem to have been all that impressed by the gift. He sold the car shortly after taking delivery, having never once driven the car, according to the auction house. It probably should have been viewed by all involved as a sign of things to come. Prost and Ferrari would acrimoniously part ways after just two years, with the driver having won just five races while with the team, all of which came in his first season.
Prost may have been unimpressed by the F40, but we can’t imagine many others will share the sentiment. The sports coupé was an attempt to merge the best aspects of a road vehicle with those of a race car and was released to celebrate the automaker’s 40th anniversary. It features a boldly sculpted body that was designed by famed coachbuilder Pininfarina and is finished in the marque’s trademark Rosso Corsa. Powering the supercar is a mid-mounted twin-turbocharged 2.9-liter V-8. The mill is mated to a five-speed manual transmission that sends power to the rear wheels and is capable of generating an impressive 471 horses and 426 ft lbs of twist. Thanks to all that oomph, the car could rocket from zero to 60 mph in 4.2 seconds and hit a top speed of 201 mph.
Before selling this particular F40, chassis no. 83249, Prost autographed its roof and had his signature covered in a clear coat so that it’s still visible to this day. The car also retains its original chassis, engine and gearbox, according to the listing. It comes with Ferrari Classiche certification and has been driven less than 3,700 miles since it was first registered in 1990, so you can count on it still being in great condition.
Unsurprisingly, RM Sotheby’s has high hopes for Prost’s F40. The company expects the supercar to sell for between $2.75 million and $3.3 million when it hits the block. The single-lot Sotheby’s Sealed auction is scheduled to run from May 10 to 12.
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Click here for more photos of Alain Prost’s 1990 Ferrari F40.
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