F40 Silverstone Auctions withdrawn

for future reference and what the next description will be when offered again...

April 1990 this car heavily crashed near the Starnberger See (a Lake near Munich) in Germany.

Registration: H172NPR
Chassis Number: ZFFGJ34B000080726
Engine Number: 10305

Named in celebration of the company’s 40th birthday, the Ferrari F40 was the famous marque’s entry into the raging supercar war of the late 1980s. With the Lamborghini Countach as the poster-child for a generation and Porsche’s 959 pioneering technology never before seen in the automotive industry, Enzo Ferrari was predictably not keen that his rivals stole the show. Setting the 959’s top speed of 197 mph firmly in its sights, Ferrari decided that it would take that record back and achieved that aim with the F40 rocketing to a top speed of 201.4 mph, making it the first production car ever to break the 200 mph barrier.
Ferrari, however, focused on a different approach than Porsche. Rather than pursue the development of innovative new technologies, Ferrari turned to its Formula 1 team for inspiration and stuck with the tried-and-tested method of “less is more”, making the F40 as lightweight as possible pioneering the use of carbon fibre for its chassis and bodywork, and tipping the scales at a svelte 2,400 pounds. Its remarkable bodywork was designed with aerodynamics in mind and could provide excellent high-speed stability as well as plenty of cooling airflow to the engine. The interior made no compromises in the relentless pursuit of performance, either. Fitted with lightweight bucket seats and stripped out for racing, the car could be specified with roll-up or fixed windows, had no carpets, and even featured door pulls instead of traditional handles.
To make the most of the lightweight construction, the car would need a serious power unit and at the F40’s heart was its engine: a twin-turbocharged DOHC V-8 based on that of the 288 GTO. With bigger bores and a shorter stroke, the longitudinally mounted four-cam, with twin IHI turbochargers, was a masterpiece and produced a monstrous (at the time) 478 horsepower. 0–60 took just 3.8 seconds, and the car could hurtle itself through the quarter-mile in 11.8 seconds. Braking was equally impressive, and the F40 could go from 60 mph to a dramatic halt in just 119 feet.
Originally intended for a limited production of around 400 units, Ferrari quickly realised that demand for the F40 was much stronger than it had anticipated, and 1,315 examples were eventually assembled. Every F40 would leave the factory in Rosso Corsa paintwork and left-hand drive configuration. In 1987, its list price was roughly £165,000 in 1987 but many traded hands for much more than that at the time. It became the most profitable car in Ferrari's history and in every respect, was a much-appreciated 40th Birthday present.
Coincidentally, a few weeks ago it was the 30th anniversary of the first F40, and we at Silverstone Auctions are absolutely delighted to have been chosen to offer this amazing 1989, non-catalytic converter, non-adjustable suspension, Plexiglass sliding windows, F40 for sale at Salon Privé.
All F40s are desirable and normally well presented, but very rarely a car such as this comes to market with the kind of fastidious attention to detail that turns the heads of hardened Garagiste and seasoned auctioneers alike.
The vehicle was originally supplied to Herr Wolfgang Denzel in Austria in June 1989 and had its 1,500 km 'Free Service Coupon' honoured on 26/6/1989, and its next service completed on 20/4/1990, both by the supplying dealer. The car was then bought by an Italian collector who already owned an F40 and intended to convert this new car to an LM specification for track use. We are told that this conversion never took place so the car was effectively a static display vehicle for over 20 years, before being sold to the current owner by one of their clients, at which point the vehicle started its transformation back to the exceptional example you see today.
Carrozzeria Zanasi of 31, Via Farina Guiseppe in Maranello is a point of reference in classic Ferrari restoration. Their close collaboration with the factory began in 1964 when Enzo Ferrari was looking for a skilled artisan to help repair his accident-damaged racing cars and he met the young and talented Umberto Zanasi, and the partnership began. The Carrozzeria work closely with the Ferrari 'Classiche' Department, and prepare cars for the issue of Ferrari Certificates of Authenticity the special certification for all road-going Ferraris over 20 years old and all Ferrari competition cars. The facility is managed by factory trained technicians with experience in repairing Ferrari and Maserati according to Factory standards.
Having been lightly used for all those years, in 2016 the Ferrari was entrusted to Carrozzeria Zanasi and a full restoration to prepare it for Classiche certification was commissioned. This was duly carried out (details in the ownership file) and Classiche Certification granted and all, we understand, in exchange for over €300,000.
The car has only covered 592km since the restoration and during that process, the instruments were rebuilt including the odometer which was naturally 'zeroed', however, the mileage (verified) prior to that, was less than 3,000kms. Carrozzeria Zanasi has recently serviced the F40 in advance of the sale.
Should you be in the market for the best F40 you can find, we invite you to inspect this remarkable car and imagine that you will then, not have to look any further.

 

The unique F40 with the hump roof! mentioned on a previous post.

Not quite as described by the auction house/their vendor!

 

Am I wrong that Wolfgang Denzel was killed in this car in 1990?

Or was the car sold to Mayr Melnhof and did he crash the car and later the wreck was sold to the Italian guy?

If so, why was this important information left?

 

Isn't Wolfgang Denzl the Austrian car importer or is the name a coincidence? His death is stated as 15 April 1990 Berg Germany which is close to Munich. Age 82.

 

Second F40 in the last few months to have come up for auction in the UK where the Auction House has either done no research or hoped that no one else would spot the missing information

 

Why not just auction it as is? Just run it across the block and let the chips fall where they may.

 

i used to live near starnberg.

that is my only connection to this story

 

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/145538264-post51.html Tells the story of what happened to this car and its occupants

 

Confusing

"Franz Mayr-Melnhof took delivery of his new F40, s/n 80726, from the official importer Denzel.."
Whereas Description says: supplied TO wolfgang denzel

 

In June 1989 80726 was sold new through official dealer Wolfgang Denzel in Austria to the first owner, Baron Dr. Franz Mayr-Melnhof-Saurau, of Frohnleiten, one of the wealthiest Austrians at the time.
Franz Mayr-Melnhof was a very tall man and had difficulties to sit properly in the F40. He decided to have the car sent to Michelotto in Padova, Italy, to modify the roof with two double bubbles.
Franz Mayr-Melnhof, on the way back from Padova to Austria, was passenger in his Ferrari F40 on the motorway Udine-Pontebba in Italy, Thursday night, June 3, 1993, when the car crashed near Pontebba. He was airlifted to the special University clinic for burnt people in Munich, Germany where sadly he passed away on Monday, the 14th June 1993. He was just 44 years.
Driver of the car had been his friend and assistant Count Johann Thun-Hohenstein, aged 56, who was killed in the car.
The F40 had crashed into an Armco barrier coming out of the road (like a ramp) and the car was catapulted into the air. After some somersaulting the wreck came to a stop near the entrance of a motorway service station. The car was very badly damaged and burnt heavily.
The wreck later ended up at a body shop in Maranello.
It appears that somebody later built a car using the ID of the wreck.
The following pix were taken in Italy in May 1997 (four years after the crash).
Also here some articles about the crash and a death notice.
Baron Dr. Franz Mayr-Melnhof was a true gentleman, an exceptional Ferrari enthusiast with quite a collection (he owned more than 25 Ferraris over the years), that even included 330 LMB #4725 which he had purchased just 3 months before the fatal accident (in the F40).
I had personally known him for a number of years and was really shocked when I learned about the sad story, a real tragedy.
May both men rest in peace. With my utmost respect.

Marcel Massini
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Interesting that the roof crossbracing was not modified as part of the double bubble conversion. are there any photos of the car post conversion before the accident?

What a sad story.

The donor parts cars of these rebuilds must be very suspicious, it would take forever to collect the parts piece by piece.

Clearly the auction description is totally made up, and who would rebuild and zero such a low mileage speedo anyway!

 

So this car is Classiche Certification with the VIN tag likely being the only part that was present the day it came off the factory line?

 

Very sad story. I think when it comes to cars, one can never do to much pre purchase research.

 

Absolutely agree.
I have 8 more photos of the actual crash scene and wreck but cannot post them here.

Marcel Massini

 

Actually they never said it was actually Classiche - it simply says the restoration work was done by Carrozzeria who work closely with the Ferrari Classiche Department

Whole story just stinks

 

It only has to be "to the specification it came off the assembly line" I believe rather than untouched since then. So the car as presented to Classiche was correct in that respect. Shows how the process is flawed. with no research as to what happens to the cars after they originally left.

I bet even the VIN tag is new like the Enzo they rebuilt from scratch.

When I posted up pics a while back of a burned out F40 in a yard in the UK my inbox was full of people wanting to buy it!

I think there must be a few "lost" F40s still stashed away waiting for donor VINs to appear in order to legitimise them.

 

The first reply in this thread copied the description from the ad and this is what it said:

Is that line about classiche certification being granted also incorrect/misleading in the ad?

Yeah, I vaguely remember reading about that being the only real requirement...it makes no sense to me why people want to pay for that paper or buy a car that has one. It doesn't mean it's original/unmolested. This F40 rebuild is basically spares...do we even know if they are all original Ferrari parts? At least we know it wasn't assembled at Ferrari, but rather someones workshop elsewhere.

 

another member of this site, sherpa, rebuilt his f40 from many new spares. the whole story is documented in the garage section i think.

in any case, it is entirely possible to rebuild an f40 from the ground up and then get classiche....

 

I wonder what happened to the wrecked chassis after the ID was taken from it?

 

The difference is Sherpa had quite a bit of car left, these burned out ones have nothing that can be salvaged, not even the chassis in this case.

Therefore where does every single item come from, certainly not Ferrari, you would need a complete cars worth of parts to do it.

I imagine only that chassis section with the VIN stamp is actually re used, it is no doubt unstitched in a section from the damaged chassis at joints that can be well hidden and transferred into a complete stolen donor and voila you have a legitimate car with title, same with the engine block, these are often still ok when bare after a fire.

 

Not true.

 

So nothing can be salvaged from this charcoal charriot?
No tubes, main structure of chassis?