Ferrari F40 Owned by Rod Stewart Heading to Auction
At the end of the eighties, the 'First Supercar War' was at its peak. The Lamborghini Countach had scissor doors and a mighty V12 and the Porsche 959 was a technological masterpiece with four-wheel drive and a twin-turbo flat-six engine. It became the fastest production car in the world, with a top speed of 317 km/h. Upon seeing this, Enzo Ferrari decided he couldn't let this record stay in the hands of the Germans. His answer was sadly the last car he would ever approve personally, and it is still known by a lot of people as the ultimate Ferrari. This car was the F40.
Powered by a twin-turbo V8 engine displacing 2.9 litres and producing a massive 470 HP, the F40 also made massive use of carbon fibre. It may not be impressive today, but when it came out, the F40 was the first production vehicle to use this material. The result was a feather-light 1000 kilos, and blistering performance: 0-100 in 3.8 seconds and a top speed of 323 km/h, thus beating the Porsche 959.
Even if they sold for today's equivalent of $400,000 when they were new, they have appreciated in value, and are actually quite rare - however one of them just became available. It used to belong to Rod Stewart, has only 7000 miles on the odometer, and is a pristine state. This means it should fetch between 1 and 1.3 million USD when it goes under the hammer at Auctions America, where it will be sold.
I'm already writing a check!