Layla, Cocaine, Tears In Heaven, Wonderful Tonight. Make no mistake about it, Eric Clapton definitely sure knows what a good song is made of. Other than music, the 71-year-old English songwriter also knows his way around cars. Here’s a case in point: 1991 Ferrari F40 finished in Rosso Corsa.
Recently subjected to a paint correction detail, the ex-Eric Clapton Ferrari F40 is now offered for sale. GVE London wants £925,000 for it, which is not much considering the vehicle’s famous first owner and the F40’s status in the automotive world. Oh, and another thing: the 26-year-old F40 pictured above shows just 6,761 miles on the clock.
“You know what really grinds my gears about the F40? Its spartan interior,” some may think. However, that remark is off the mark. “Focused” would be a better term for a damn good reason: if it doesn’t make the car launch harder, go faster or carve corners better, than that particular feature doesn’t have a place in the Ferrari F40. Hence the wind-down windows and lack of a glove box and door panels.
On the upside, the F40 does come with air conditioning. Clapton’s car is sold together with the original tool kit, an extensive service and MOT history, as well as the owner’s manual. This being a European-spec car, the rubber fuel cells were replaced in 2008 by the former owner. The U.S.-spec model is equipped with the more durable aluminum tanks, which don’t need replacing every 10 years or so.
Like all 1,311 units manufactured in total, the beating heart of this F40 is a 2,936 cc F120A twin-turbo V8. When it was new, the force-fed engine was rated 478 PS (471 hp) at the crank, and it was matched exclusively with a gated manual.
Couple those numbers with a weight of 1,369 kg (3,018 lbs) and you get pretty interesting performance figures, including a top speed of 324 km/h (201 mph). But beyond the fact this is the first production car to break the 200 mph barrier, the F40 is a true driver’s car.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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