Lewis Hamilton Bought His Dream Car, the Iconic Ferrari F40
Lewis Hamilton says he has largely sold off his car collection of late, but he was willing to make an exception for his dream car.
The seven-time Formula 1 world champion arrived at this year’s Italian Grand Prix in ultimate style, driving up in his recently acquired, pristine 1987 Ferrari F40. It’s a car he’s been pursuing for years, hoping to track down the perfect example among the 1,315 that rolled off the line before its production ended in 1991. His pursuit led him to a car that had sat dormant in a garage for 30 years.
“I wanted to find the most authentic one and managed to come across this one that the owner had bought it, drove it from Maranello to his home, 69 kilometres, and then parked it and never started it again,” Hamilton told Sky Sports Italia. “The passenger door had never been opened, you know. It just had this cover on it and all this dust.”
Once he acquired the example, he turned to his current employer to get it back in shape. “These cars are works of art and incredibly rare, so when I found this one, covered in dust after being sat in a garage for over 30 years, I knew I had to bring her home,” Hamilton wrote on Instagram earlier this week. “First to Maranello, where the master engineers and mechanics at the factory worked for weeks to bring her back to life.”
It turns out it may have been fate that the champ found this particular example, as those engineers recommissioned the vehicle, they found an engine marked with 44, Hamilton’s own number that has adorned his liveryLiveryThe distinctive, recognizable paint scheme, colors, and markings applied to a vehicle, aircraft, or yacht. Racing liveries, such as classic Gulf blue and orange, have become iconic, and owners increasinglyGo to Livery Glossary across his career.
Hamilton is certainly not alone in this particular model—the last one Enzo Ferrari sign off on before his passing in 1988—being his dream car. When we released our rankings of the 50 Greatest Ferraris of All Time earlier this year, the F40 topped the list.
And the F40 has long been not just a coveted car for Hamilton, but also an inspiration to design his very own Ferrari. “One of the things I really want to do is I want to design a Ferrari. I want to do an F44,” he said last year. “Baseline of an F40, with the actual stick shift. That’s what I’m gonna work on for the next few years.”
Now that he has his coveted F40 with him, Hamilton and Ferrari fans hope the next dream to become a reality would be him winning the Italian Grand Prix this weekend.
This article originally appeared in Robb Report US.
FAQs
Lewis Hamilton acquired a 1987 Ferrari F40, one of the most celebrated supercars ever built by the Italian marque.
Hamilton’s F40 had been driven just 69 kilometers before its original owner parked it for roughly 30 years. According to Hamilton, even the passenger door had never been opened.
After buying the car, Hamilton sent it to Ferrari’s factory in Maranello, where engineers and mechanics spent weeks recommissioning it and bringing it back to running condition.
During the restoration, Ferrari’s engineers reportedly discovered that the engine was marked with the number 44, the same racing number Hamilton has used throughout his Formula 1 career.
Hamilton has described the F40 as a dream car and has also cited it as inspiration for a future Ferrari concept he has called the “F44,” envisioned with F40-inspired styling and a manual transmission.