Behold the unique F40 of the man who built Ferrari’s composite bodies
All F40s are pretty special, given that Ferrari’s 40th anniversary series represents a zeitgeist that just can’t make a comeback. The F40 is the closest thing to a road-going prototype race car with an ultra-low weight figure to match, a Ferrari designed by Pininfarina and the second-to-last production car officially approved by Enzo himself.
Yet of the 1311 produced, it’s hard to name more than a few unique F40s. There were eight prototypes with no catalytic converters (obviously) and the non-adjustable suspensions. Pininfarina built ten right-hand-drive cars for the Sultan of Brunei, some complete with Testarossa interiors. There are also the hardcore racing LMs made by Michelotto Automobili for IMSA, Japan’s JGTC, and the British BPR Global GT Series.
On top of that, the question usually revolves around whether an F40 is an early car with the slide Lexan windows, no catalytic converters on the twin-turbo V-8, and the standard suspension; or a later car with the goodies of the ’90s.
What you may not know, then, is what a certain Casare Bagni had to do with Enzo Ferrari’s most cherished cars. As a composite specialist, Bagni helped out Ferrari by supplying the factory with lightweight bodies for prototypes, like the Ferrari 312 PB, and then for the 712 production fiberglass 308 GTBs built between 1975 and ’77. Bagani also came up with the Kevlar-intense composite bodies of the 288 GTOs as well as the succeeding F40s and F50s.
Despite living a modest life, on April 2, 1990, Casare Bagni ordered his personal F40 direct from the factory. Wearing the Reggio Emilia plates RE-599600, Bagni’s F40 hasn’t seen a lot of use and was later factory-upgraded with the adjustable suspension, as well as the shift knob of an F50. Anything for a friend of the former il Commendatore.
Maintained by Michelotto and Autofficina Bonini Carlo, Bagni’s personal F40 was purchased from his family by Ferrari specialist DK Engineering in 2018. This British team may have sold quite a few F40s by now, but never anything quite like this unique piece of Ferrari history. Now serviced and ready to go, Bagni’s F40 awaits its next owner with under 2500 miles on the clock. And the price of such a well-preserved machine? We can only guess…
