80679 is in-sequence to be a 1990 car per Ferrari SpA's records, I can attest to this on the basis of other 1990 F40s I have recently dealt with. 76687 on the other hand is a genuine F40 Prototype with chassis number in-sequence for an early prototype built in 1988, the fact that it was not released till 1990 only suggests that it was an important car which the factory decided to retain for a period. Two different cars, two different stories, 76697 is clearly an early Prototype chassis number, which has been openly disclosed & shared with documentation, images and films proving it is a genuine prototype. There is a reason I posted the DK film. It goes to show that open disclosure only establishes a car's provenance and making a claim with a few words is insufficient to convince anyone of a car's provenance. Anyway, chassis number 80679 is clearly a 1990 production car and we have seen nothing to prove otherwise.
If and when Marcel and others get to see the actual chassis of the example being discussed at some point in the future, which I am sure they will, then I imagine all will suddenly become very clear. Until such time, it is foolish to make assertions, as they often come back to bite people in the arse. Time will tell, as we know from the recent debacle over two F40s with the same VIN, all an actual VIN is on these cars is a bit of stamped metal spot welded to a chassis, which can easily be re welded onto a completely different chassis. Just because the car wears a certain VIN sequence does not mean it is related to the chassis it is attached to.
No, and please do not put words in my mouth either. no other car stakes a claim to that chassis number.
You brought up the recent debacle over two F40s with the same VIN, and then stated that all an actual VIN is on these cars is a bit of stamped metal spot welded to a chassis which can easily be re welded onto a completely different chassis, and then you pointed out that just because the car wears a certain VIN sequence does not mean it is related to the chassis it is attached to. Hence my understandable follow-up question. Nobody's putting words in your mouth, I was just making sure I understand why you brought up how easy it is for a car to have dual identity, all good. Here's 75052 being shown by John Collins, Talacrest who says "Prototypes always command a premium over normal cars".
Other ways to identify an F40 is by looking at the body number usually stamped at various locations. We have been thru this before already. Marcel Massini
To clarify what I was alluding to :- The VIN is a stamped piece of metal welded to the F40 frame once it is allocated a chassis number, prior to that the chassis is just a bunch of welded tubes with no identity, it could be the first one made or the 100th. In the case of the two F40s I mentioned, both wore the same piece of stamped metal, remove those and that metal chassis are back to being identical welded tubes of metal with no identity, That was the point I was making. The chassis is not numbered in sequence according to when it was made, only that stamped piece of metal is. As another example, wrap your F40 around a street lamp then send it to classiche and they say it needs a new frame, which they duly fit. Now that chassis was probably only made 6 months before, yet all Ferrari will do is grind off the welds of that chassis plate and attach it to the new chassis, they wont allocate a new 2021 chassis number. In this case the chassis also bears no age relation to the VIN number it wears. Say the reverse happens, and Ferrari when clearing out an old warehouse stumble on a new old stock unstamped F40 chassis made in 1989 and they fit that instead to the bent 1992 F40 they have in for repair, in this case the chassis is 3 years older than the car, but yet again it wears a 1992 VIN. Get the picture! Tom has clearly done his homework, and is continuing to do so, he is well proven not to be some random fantasist, so I would simply suggest that the doubters rather than being vocal about such and then ending up with egg on the face just hold their horses and wait until more information trickles out as and when it can. Only a few months ago you were adamant Joe that no more than a tiny handful of Enzo's existed beyond the 399 Ferrari claimed, and that those few were all post production, yet now you know you could fill a carpark with the extra nearly 100 that exist all of which bar one were made during the production period.
Here is a real and genuine F40 prototype, 73015, which I photographed on Tuesday, 21 July 1987, at Fiorano during the official press presentation. Car had no black front lip, no exterior mirrors. 73015 was later used for crash tests and no longer exists today. Marcel Massini Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Looks like it had an off, although not too serious. By the way is this image by Dennis Simanaitis of 74047? Image Unavailable, Please Login
74047 Toasted few years ago Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
I believe this is 73015 going round Fiorano, I'm not sure this image has been posted here before. Image Unavailable, Please Login
One curious detail also well illustrated by Marcel in post #359 here for 73015 is how the tinted cover over the front lights is darker on the passenger side. Perhaps testing two different 'tint' versions with the driver side version chosen for production? The mention of 'crash tests' makes you wonder if this was done at the Fiat facility in Michigan USA and where 73015 was carted off to as cheaply as possible... This was how a 1983 build Corvette prototype was found in Australia. The manufacturer didn't want to spend the money to ship the prototype back to Michigan after testing was completed. The car was found damaged but mostly intact; still in Australia. There was also the test F40 'ecologico' version that disappeared to.
