Lot 231: 1992 Ferrari F40 GTE Michelotto

The Ferrari F40 hardly needs any introduction. It is the quintessential 'ultracar', developed by Ferrari to blast its competitors out of the limelight. Launched in 1987 to celebrate Ferrari's fortieth year as a manufacturer, the F40 was to be Enzo Ferrari's swansong. Introduced in the year before the great man died, it was the last car sanctioned personally by him and was a fitting testimony to the no-compromise character of the man who had become one of motoring's leading figureheads. In the great Ferrari tradition of high-performance sports cars which were equally at home on the road or the race track, the twin-turbocharged, , three litre V8-engined, 471bhp F40 followed in the footsteps of such legends as the 250 Tour de France, Short Wheelbase and GTO. It, too, successfully competed in world-class endurance racing , while at the same time holding the title of 'World's Fastest Production Car'. Further competition success at national and club level in many countries, including the IMSA Championship in America, contributed to this incredible car's outstanding reputation, and it is now regarded as the most collectible of recent Ferraris and one which every enthusiast would dearly love to drive. The competiton version, the F40 GTE, was built by Ferrari's customer racing specialist Michelotto which competed in the BPR GT Championships between 1994 and '96 with a development mule (chassis 90001) that had completed two seasons in the Italian national series. In its first year, the BPR Championship attracted several marques back to GT racing, the international scene undergoing a renaissance after years in the shadows. Michelotto started work on 90001 during late 1993, enhancing it from GT '93 configuration to Le Mans spec. The monocque chassis was reinforced with carbonfibre and extra cross bracing, Michelotto also fitting thicker and stiffer anti-roll bars; later the track was widened by two inches at the front and one inch at the rear. Larger, uprated brakes and wheels were part of the package, while there was also a choice of three engines comprising a 3.0 litre for low fuel consumption tracks like Monza, a 3.5 litre for intermediate circuits and a 3.6 litre for Le Mans, with the most powerful producung 800bhp in unrestricted form . For 1995 a six-speed sequential transaxle, lifted from the 333 SP, replaced the more or less stock five-speed gaerbox previously used. This example of the highly developed and now legendary competition specification Ferrari has had only two owners from new and covered a mere 8,000km. Only ever maintained by the very best Michelotto specialist motor sport engineers, the car is currently producing between 750 and 900bhp depending on turbo' boost and with the gear ratios available it is capable of 360 kph. As to be expected, the car has ample stopping power courtesy of Le Mans specification Brembo brakes while the high specification engine management system, comprising a Bosch CPU, VM3000 programmer and Darab driving data computer, ensures smooth operation of the engine . It should also be noted the car is ccompanied by a sustainable spares package which includes a transaxle, tyres, air coolers, clutches and three different exhaust systems, as well as a specially-engineered engine management system reputed to have cost 40,000 euros to develop. In all, the entire package would have cost over 1,000,000 euros when new. This stunning Ferrari is offered with German road registration and TUV certificate valid until May 2008. Avec seulement deux anciens propritaires, cette Ferrari n'a parcourue jusqu' présent que 8.000Km. Elle a été entretenu par les meilleurs spécialistes Michelotto et est mise en vente avec de nombreuses pices supplémentaires dont en autres des pneus, un embrayage et un refroidisseur d'air. Elle est immatriculée en Allemagne et son TUV est valable jusqu'en mai 2008.