Chaps, I have just returned from the northern wastelands that be the north west of this fine country, and heard tale of a Testarrosa tucked away in a barn on a farm near Warrington. Apparently this car was first owned by a certain Mr N Mansell. I have of coursed requested pictures, but does anyone know anything about this car?
Mansell's F40 was left hand drive, like the rest of them, excluding the Brunei cars. What was different about his was that it had tan leather interior. Regarding him owning the aforementioned Testarossa, I have nothing to validate this claim, but don't forget he was once upon a time a Ferrari main dealer, Nigel Mansell Sports Cars, and sold many a Testarossa and as a result his name would appear on all Testarossa warranty cards and they also had their own demonstrator, which may be the car in question. Paul
He had a red one that he drove at the end of his Mansell And ferrari video. Made in teh days when he raced for them. I remember a story about him selling his F40 for about £680k at the height of the 80's boom., The person who bought then sold it for £1m+. And Mansell tried suing him for whatever reason. Maybe someone who can remember better could elabrorate?
No idea about the Testarossa, but I thought the grey F40 was a Brunei car. Mansell's was the one with the leather trimmed interior, wasn't it?
The grey RHD F40 was indeed an ex Brunei car it was being sold by Talacrest a few years back but at that time IIRC it was a brownish colour and has since been painted grey, I am sure JT can put is in the picture about it.
A trick Colin Chapman used to very good effect. I was at a seminar at Hethel when a guy put his hand up and said he had just bought Colins personal car. The speaker laughed and said that Lotus registered cars they couldnt sell, in his name, to make them more appealing. They also had an agreement with the dealers that they had to take at least one of each model of car. If stock of a particular model was building up, theyd stick a stripe on it and call it a special edition, forcing the dealers to take another car... Alls fair in love and car sales it appears....
The F40 is up for auction next month in Paris. http://www.artcurial.com/en/asp/fullCatalogue.asp?salelot=2107+++++313+&refno=10377186
Mansells F40 did not originally have tan leather, it was red cloth as all F40's had.See attached photograph of Mansell with the then FOC club secretary Ken Bradshaw taken from the Autumn 1989 owners club magazine.The seats were trimmed in leather at a later stage ,possibly whilst the car was being looked after by the current owners club secretary Peter Everingham, looked after the collection of cars the F40 was in. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Incidentally Testarossa #84482 WAS a Nigel Mansell Sports Cars Ltd demonstrator.Then again he also owned a 328 GTB and a 456 GT which interestingly did not have his or indeed any name in the book.There was even apparently ,a 400 registered to "Nigel Mansell Sports Cars Ltd"
Are you sure about that? This F40 http://www.bonhams.com/eur/auction/19286/lot/436/ is chassis # 84482. Paul
I was told Mansell also recently owned a 328 for a short while. I saw the car around Christmas and it was immaculate. But apparently Nigel let it go, perhaps because it wasn't quite the bullit his F40 was. This is at least what I was told at the dealer's. BTW, this happened to me Monday last: I walked into the BA airport lounge at Gatwick, and I noticed that among the complimentary magazines there was a copy of Motorsport. Just one, the last one. That's a bit of good fortune, I thought! Great magazine, and this month's main feature is an interview with Patrick Head. The cover shows "Red 5", the FW14B in which Nigel Mansell became F1 world champion in 1992. Some ladies were sitting opposite my table and I had some breakfast and read the newspaper. Then I take up the magazine and start reading the editorial. It starts with discussing Nigel Mansell. I notice in my peripheral vision that someone is looking at me. I didn't notice that he sat down where the ladies were sitting. To get a better look, I drop the magazine slightly and.... I stare straight into the moustached face of Nigel Mansell himself! He was clearly checking out the cover of the magazine to see why his car was on there. I was so shocked by the reality of it all, I couldn't manage more than a polite nod. As I know he hates being famous, I didn't bother him any further and chuckled to myself at the odds. Later I shared a plane with him to Jersey - he lives here, and perhaps I will run into him again. It would be nice to tell him I appreciated his commitment and gritty racing style back in the day, for Ferrari as well as Williams. FWIW, Patrick Head, in his interview in the magazine, put him at the same level as Prost. Onno
That would be this one then!The second owner bought the car from Mansell's and as I recall it was actually his wifes.We jested at the time about how many cars Mansell had "owned" but I do think this was one.He also had a 456 #99158which was bought for him to use when in the UK,when it wasnt being used by him, his dealership used it as a demonstrator.What gave that one away there was no name at all in the service book,which was unusual. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Brilliant!Never noticed that before,just goes to show how mistakes can be made.That plaque was attached by Mansells!
