When I visit the car-auction site “Bring A Trailer,” I expect to see automobiles. But I’ll gladly make an exception for this recent Ferrari F40 engine listing, which is filled with mechanically pornographic imagery of the Ferrari F40's amazing 2.9-liter V8. Prepare your souls for an up-close view of greatness.
The legendary Ferrari F40 is a raw racing machine, with a wacky wedge design, a huge wing, a gated manual transmission and no electronic aids to keep the driver from doing something stupid. But key to the F40's aura is its 471-horsepower “Tipo” V8 that revs to nearly 8,000 RPM, and right now, an example of this majestic contraption is for sale on Bring A Trailer.
According to the listing, which was pointed out by Redditor supercars_official, this 1992 Ferrari V8 was initially shown off at a 1993-1994 exhibition at New York’s Museum of Modern Art called “Designed for Speed.”
The post says the motor was built to Ferrari specifications, though it was never “assigned to a corresponding chassis.” The seller is said to have purchased the engine in 1998, kept it on display for 12 years, then swapped a few of its parts with those from his own F40—which had been modified to compete in hill climb races and at Bonneville.
This means this Tipo F120D V8 isn’t a factory original example, though it’s apparently got “a factory dyno-tested stock block, used crankshaft, bearings, [and] used pistons,” and will come with the stock IHI turbos. BAT goes on, describing the modifications made to this engine, writing:
The package offered here includes the original block with custom steel cylinder liners, custom-machined and ported cylinder heads with larger valves, a titanium valvetrain, and customs cams. Intake manifolds have been ported and modified for larger injectors.
Still, despite its lack of 100 percent originality, the engine and its guts are beautiful.
BAT says the winning bidder F40 motor, who will pay at least $21,000 based on the current bid (it’s worth noting that a factory engine and trans were for sale a few years ago for about a quarter million) will have the engine delivered on a crate, completely disassembled as seen in these photos.
Apparently the motor comes with some extra goodies like custom charge air coolers, custom headers, Garrett turbochargers, two sets of pistons, stock F40 exhaust manifolds, a “rolling stand,” a spare set of connecting rods made of titanium and more.
The listing ends in five days, and while I’d bet the buyer will end up using its parts for a Ferrari F40—and part of me thinks that would be right and just—another part of me wouldn’t mind see this thing swapped into something bonkers.