When you think of the most iconic Ferraris ever made, the F40 isn’t just on the list, it defines it. Unveiled in 1987 to celebrate the brand’s 40th anniversary, the F40 was the final car personally approved by Enzo Ferrari himself, and it shows. Built with racing in its DNA, this was no polished luxury GT, it was raw, radical, and unapologetically extreme.
Born from the ashes of the canceled FIA Group B rally class, the F40 was originally based on the already insane 288 GTO Evoluzione. With a twin-turbocharged 2.9-liter V8 pushing 478 horsepower and 425 lb-ft of torque, it could rocket from 0–60 mph in 3.8 seconds and hit a top speed of 201 mph — jaw-dropping numbers for the late ’80s, and still impressive today.
Its lightweight chassis featured a steel tube frame, race-tuned suspension, and four-caliper ventilated disc brakes. The body, designed by Pietro Camardella under the direction of Ferrari design legend Leonardo Fioravanti, was wind-tunnel tested at Pininfarina and made from a mix of Kevlar and carbon fiber. The result? A chassis 20% lighter and three times stiffer than traditional builds.
The F40 looked every bit the race car it was meant to be. Its sharp, wedge-shaped silhouette, massive rear wing, and NACA ducts made it clear this was a machine built for speed — not comfort. Inside, the spartan cockpit ditched luxury in favor of weight savings: plastic composite bucket seats, cloth upholstery, drilled pedals, pull-strap doors, and even Perspex sliding windows.
Initially, Ferrari planned to build just 400 units. But demand exploded, and by the time production ended in 1992, 1,315 F40s had left Maranello. Along the way, the F40 underwent minor changes to meet global safety and emissions standards — some models gained catalytic converters and an optional adjustable suspension system. These features made the car more street-friendly, but purists often prefer the earliest “non-cat, non-adjust” cars for their rawer driving experience and better reliability.
Today, the Ferrari F40 remains a benchmark in the world of supercars. It was brutal, beautiful, and borderline terrifying, a machine that demanded skill and rewarded bravery. For many, it’s still the gold standard: the hypercar that showed the world just how far Ferrari was willing to go, and at the time of writing, there is one listed for sale on Craigslist, at a staggering $5,000,000 asking price, and yes, it’s for real, it’s not a scam, but there is a story behind this one.
Chassis 86230 is a 1990 Ferrari F40 (Type F120) finished in original Rosso Corsa. More importantly, this is a US-spec car, originally delivered in Southern California, one of only 213 units that left the factory in Maranello as a US-spec F40. While this car shows 7,430 miles from new today, it’s still an opportunity of a lifetime to find such a rarity for sale; most Ferrari F40s are stored away in private collections. Their value just keeps rising with every single day that passes; these will be worth $5,000,000 at some point in the future, but perhaps not today, so why is the Craigslist listing for that amount?
The sale of this specific Ferrari F40 has been ordered by the court, and the people who’ve listed the car on Craigslist are in fact the court-appointed broker of record to sell this vehicle for the US Federal Court Central District of California, Northern Division. The final sale will occur in the US Federal Court in Santa Barbara, CA on August 12th, 2025 at 1 pm PST with bidding via Zoom or in person. There is an opening bid for the Asset made by RM Auctions Inc. d.b.a RM Sotheby’s and contracted in the amount of $2,555,000.00 USD.
The Federal Judge has authorized the broker to sell this very special Ferrari F40 at a buy-it-now valuation of $5,000,000.00 USD, hence the listing on Craigslist, a buy-it-now purchaser would immediately cancel the auction on the TBD date of sale and upon full payment transfer ownership to the buy-it-now purchaser, but you can also become an overbidder at $2,600,000.00 USD, just check out the official website for this sale at F40ForSale.com.
If you would like to see more about this 1990 Ferrari F40, and even hear the V8 rumble, take a look at this YouTube video from Emilia Hartford when she goes to take a look at the car, and even makes an offer to buy it:
