Rare Ferrari F40 prototype up for sale

Were you to leaf through the history of this rare Ferrari F40, you would find much to interest your automotive-detail-obsessed mind. Factory evaluations, build sheets, eyewitness accounts, race trophies - you name it. But there is one overwhelming aspect that makes it very intriguing.

It isn't red.

This is a very rare Ferrari F40 prototype, and it's going up for auction next month at RM Auctions' annual Monaco sale. And the history behind it is almost - almost - as fascinating as seeing an F40 in any colour other than red.

So we head back to 1987. The new Ferrari F40 is unveiled in Maranello and wows the world: it is the last supercar overseen by Enzo, built as an anniversary present to the company. But rumours about a harder, racier version spring up almost immediately after the launch, and soon enough, respected tuner Guiliano Michelotto is entrusted with the task of making the F40 even faster. He worked on the Lancia Stratos rally cars and Ferrari 308 IMSAs, so it's fair to say he knows his way around a hammer.

This particular example - car number 74047 - is the sixth of eight F40 prototypes used by the factory for testing, and was handed over to Michelotto between May and July 1987, prior to public displays, for "extensive GT modification". So the ride was chopped by 5cm, the engine - that fabulous, twin-turbocharged 3.0-litre V8 - was boosted to 590bhp, the brakes were upgraded to Brembos, and it was installed with a racing uniball suspension system, quick fill fuel system, extra cooling ducts and wider Speedline wheels.

After this, 74047 was sold to a privateer racer named Luca Sartori who raced the F40 in the 1992 Gran Criterium Supercar GT Series, winning twice and claiming 2nd six times in the season. The car finished 2nd overall, and was repainted in Ferrari Club Italia colours ahead of the 1993 season.

It was later sold on to a "renowned" collector in Milan, who drove it sparingly and covered it in its current ‘ToTip' racing livery. Ferrari Classiche has attested to its provenance, and the car is offered with all the documentation you require to bore friends and loved ones for many years to come.

We'll bring you more details of this auction - including the 502bhp Ferrari speedboat up for grabs - after the sale, held 11-12 May in Monaco. For now, why not click through the pictures, dream, and then begin finding small Internet businesses to flog for millions so that you may finance this machine.