Market view

Ferrari launched the F40 at the height of the speculators’ market of the 1980s, and intended to make only 400 of them. Once it had realised it was onto a good thing, that figure crept up to more than 1300. They were all red – although some have since been resprayed a different colour – and all apart from two cars ordered by the Sultan of Brunei were left-hookers.

“F40s were at £300-350,000 for quite a few years,” says Mark Hawkins of Ferrari specialist Rardley Motors (www.rardleymotors.com), “then three or four years ago they jumped to £500-600,000. You do hear of cars going for £1million, but those tend to be 2000-mile, one-owner examples that come out of the woodwork. If you eliminate extremes such as that, most cars are now £600-700,000.”

There are three basic types of roadgoing F40 – those with neither catalytic converters nor adjustable suspension, those with cats and non-adjustable suspension, and those with cats and adjustable suspension. Each variant has its supporters, Hawkins reports, with other factors being more important. “Mileage plays its part,” he explains. “Most of the ones that we’ve sold have been between 6000 and 50,000 miles. But it’s better to have a 50,000-mile car with an immaculate service record than it is to have a 25,000-miler with sketchy history. Originality, condition and a verifiable past are all vital.”