A critical part is always left out in any “diamond in the rough” story - the transformation! Anyone who has a passion for fixing ‘the broken’ understands it’s never a rosy affair. Nine out of ten times, you’ll spend more than twice the effort, money, and time needed to get the ‘rough’ out of a diamond. Scott Chivers of YouTube Channel Ratarossa almost learned that the hard way.
Scott Chivers, popularly known as Ratarossa, is a big Ferrari enthusiast. He’s dedicated his time and resources to finding and restoring Ferraris. VINwiki featured him in their latest episode, telling perhaps the wildest story of getting his hands on an abandoned Ferrari F40.
In mid-2020, at the height of the pandemic, he got wind of an abandoned Ferrari F40. This wasn’t just any F40 but the one that belonged to the infamous dictator Saddam Hussein's son. It was Uday Hussein’s most priced Ferrari F40.
Like any other prospector, this was music to Chiver’s ears, and he decided he would find the car lost in the desert.
“In mid-2020, during the lockdown, I received an email with a picture of a Ferrari F40 covered in dirt in a service station in Iraq,” Chiver’s said.
If you’ve watched The Devil’s Double (2011), you understand Uday Hussein’s love for cars. It’s believed that at one point, his dad, Saddam Hussein, burnt his entire fleet due to his perilous behavior, but clearly, not everything was destroyed.
Chiver’s initial plan was to first get it out of the country. He made a video about it on his channel, and it went viral.
As you’d imagine, Uday’s Ferrari F40 is part of Iraq’s political history. Getting it out of the country was out of the question, especially after news about it circulated online.
Additionally, the F40 was in a desolate state with a checkered history, and whoever was in its possession was asking for a ridiculous amount of money (about $1.3 million).
“To top it all off, on Twitter, Saddam Hussein’s daughter put a message out saying anyone who tries to take that car out of Iraq would face the consequences,” Chivers revealed.
At that point, his hunt for the most elusive Ferrari F40 came to a dramatic halt.
Humphrey is a car enthusiast whose love and passion for automobiles extended into collecting, writing, driving, and working on cars. He got his passion for cars from his Dad, who spent thousands of hours working on his old junky 1970 E20 Toyota Corolla. Years later, he would end up doing the same with a series of lemons he’s owned throughout his adult life. Full profile
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