A Ferrari F1 Engine Is Being Auctioned With No Reserve and We Should All Lowball It

One of the engines that powered Michael Schumacher’s Ferrari F300 Formula 1 car during the 1998 season is headed to auction in Paris on February 5. Engines like these cross the block from time to time, but what makes this particular example special is that it was signed by the seven-time world champ himself. This V10 is estimated to sell for between about $62,000 and $83,000, which is either a lot for an old V10 or a solid deal on a motor of the highest racing pedigree, depending on how you look at it. Then again, RM Sotheby’s is also offering it at no reserve, meaning it could theoretically sell for far less money—if we all agree to do what’s right and lowball the hell out of it.

This F300 motor comes from the collection of former F1 engineer Nigel Stepney, perhaps best known for his involvement in the “spygate” saga that rocked the 2007 season. It turns out that Stepney held quite an impressive collection of F1 memorabilia before he died in 2014, including a racing suit worn by Ayrton Senna. This engine is one of the collection’s coolest pieces, as it comes with numerous numbered parts like an exhaust manifold, crankshaft, two camshafts, and a set of numbered gears.

The “Tipo 047 B/C” was a 3.0-liter naturally aspirated V10 from the glory days of F1 engines. This one made 700 horsepower, according to the paperwork, and those F1 V10s typically revved past 17,000 rpm. But the best part had to be the noise it made. Can you imagine stuffing one of these in a road car? Forget a K-swap—imagine telling people your latest project is powered by one of Michael Schumacher’s race motors. In truth, without nitty-gritty details or being able to check out the internals in person, it’s unclear how much work would be required to get this thing running again. Reassembling it seems like a real possibility, though, considering all the parts included in the auction.

Schumacher missed out on the driver’s championship in 1998; that honor is of course held by Mika Häkkinen, who raced for McLaren-Mercedes at the time. But Schumacher was the runner-up, and he did go on to win one or five more titles in his career, making this engine a collector’s item if ever there was one. That’s kind of a shame; brilliant engineering like this deserves to rev, not spend the rest of its days behind glass.

Realistically, this is going to be bought by yet another collector who’s going to put it on display in their garage full of high-priced exotics, or become a stand for a glass-top coffee table holding interior design books nobody ever reads. Impossible though it may be, the fantasy of successfully getting away with a bargain F1 engine sure is an attractive one. What would you drop it in, given the chance?

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