Lee Iacocca’s 1991 Ferrari F40 Up for Auction

With radical styling, state-of-the-art technologies, go-kart reflexes and a howling exhaust note, the F40 is a genuine investment-quality supercar.
Conceived in 1986 and introduced in 1987, the F40 was built to commemorate Ferrari's 40th anniversary and was the last car Enzo Ferrari would see launched.Bridging the gap between road and race cars while further progressing the 288 GTO Evoluzione, technical specs on the F40 are the stuff of legend born from engineering where costs were no object. A carbon-fiber and Kevlar-reinforced steel space frame chassis with composite body panels was mated to a 2.9-liter twin-turbocharged four-cam V8 rated at 471hp.

With power sent to the wheels via a five-speed manual box, and weighing in at just 1,100kg, the F40 offered brutal acceleration and blinding performance. From standstill to 60mph the F40 was timed at 3.9 seconds, and from 0-140mph a mere 14 seconds, making it the fastest road car ever produced.Initial production of the car was limited to around 400 but with overwhelming market demand production continued and by the time it came to an end in 1991, 1,315 F40s had been built. American Ferrari enthusiasts had to wait until 1990 for the chance to own one and over a three-year period, just 213 examples were built for the US market.
This particular model from 1991 has covered just 300 miles and has had had three owners from new, with the original owner being none other than Lee Iococca who had the car specially built when he was chief executive of Chrysler.The car will be going under the hammer at RM Auctions in Arizona this Friday and is expected to be sold for between $650,000 and $750,000. With it will come extensive documentation confirming former ownership of Lee Iacocca, the Ferrari Certificate of Origin, and an engraved 'Built Especially for Lee Iacocca' card.Photos: Darin Schnabel/RM Auctions.

1953 Chevrolet Corvette Roadster Heads to Auction

The fifth Corvette ever built, and one of the first three examples ever sold to the public, is to cross the auction block this month.Based on the 1952 EX-122 concept, the Corvette remains one of the few GM designs that was virtually unmodified for production. It was truly unique, and its highly-anticipated introduction at New York's Waldorf-Astoria in early 1953 drew a crowd of over 300,000 before production commenced in Michigan in June of the same year.The multiple award-winning first-year example is not only one of 200 survivors of the 300 made in 1953, but believed to be one of the first three ever sold.

Bearing serial number 5 it was first purchased in July 1953 and after passing through several owners it wasn't until 1997 that its return to glory began.Over the ensuing 5 years, the Corvette was painstakingly researched and authentically restored to its original condition. Among its many interesting features, Number 5 is the last 1953 Corvette without an outside rear-view mirror and one of the few early Corvettes with a stainless-steel VIN tag as opposed to later aluminum versions. Corvette 5 was also built with a chrome speaker grille and sold to the public, along with Corvettes 4 and 6, with basic chrome Chevrolet Bel Air hubcaps.At the heart of the roadster is a 150hp 235ci 'Blue Flame' OHV inline six-cylinder engine mated to a two-speed automatic transmission. Corvette Number 5 retains an impressive, high-point presentation and is accompanied by copies of original sales invoice, GM correspondence and a fascinating document of Corvette's earliest transition from show car to production.As one of the first Corvettes ever sold, it ranks as one of the most important in existence. RM Auctions are thus confident it will meet its $450,000 to $650,000 estimate when it goes under the hammer on the 20 January in Arizona.