F2004 sells for $3.3M

Let's see, 355 Berlinetta or a useless steering wheel... good choice...

 

Well given the money and object, I would not hesitate to take a random guess and that the new owner of that steering wheel probably is so well off that he can use it as door stop to a garage that probably has an Enzo, F50, F40, 288GTO already inside. 355 is a wonderful car, but Im sure the to the high rollers who went to this auction a 355 is like a beat up Geo Metro. Oh well.

RocketBoy

 

An automobile or a piece of legendary history.... no choice!

 

What's the annual cost of maintenance on the car?

 

$12M only ?

With a 2 very important Ferraris , a racing MC12 and an F2004 offered ?

 

odd. Is it just me, or did that seem cheaper than what I thought an F1 car within the past three years would go for?

 

Who bought it?

 

I'm not surprised since it's the F2004. F1 cars regularly don't sell anywhere near this amount (non-Ferrari F1 cars). You can buy a 1999 McLaren chassis (just no engine) for 25,000 British Pounds (I've seen a couple online for that much). A 2001 Jordan EJ11 could be had with a Honda engine for about $80k USD. Most of the time, a newer F1 car that doesn't have a racing history (spare car) or very little will go for a lot less than you or I would expect. If it has a race win or some history, the price will go up a lot!

 

http://search.sothebys.com/jsps/live/event/EventDetail.jsp?event_id=27054

The website has the catalogue and the results of the entire auction.

The biggest shock of the day was

LOT 125
EX–1940 INDIANAPOLIS 500
f - MASERATI 8CL 1940
It was expected to sell for 2,000,000—2,800,000 EUR
The Hammer Price with Buyer's Premium: 1,825,000 EUR
http://search.sothebys.com/jsps/live/lot/LotDetail.jsp?sale_number=MI0250&live_lot_id=125

LOT 133 was FERRARI F1/F-2004 2004
It was expected to sell for 2,000,000—2,200,000 EUR
The Hammer Price with Buyer's Premium: 2,650,000 EUR
http://search.sothebys.com/jsps/live/lot/LotDetail.jsp?sale_number=MI0250&live_lot_id=133

As always, most of the buyers are anonymous.

 

2 people out of 5 people who i know, that are "in the know", are saying that Frank Mountain bought the F2004.

All those guys are in the UK.

Anyone heard anything like this?

 

F2001 ...and now he buys a F2004.
incredible

 

I cant confirm that info to be true, but found it interesting that is what these guys have heard. Of course, the new buyer does not want to be known.

Put it this way. I could believe that Frank bought it.

 

wonder if he will let the F2001 go on the cheap???

 

CS not fast enough for ya?

You get the F2001, i get the CS.

Sounds like a deal to me!

 

So that explains how they were able to sell such a recent Formula 1 car without having to worry about the technology sunset.

 

OR........

an automobile that will become a piece of history (like all Ferrari's) or a steering wheel that was inside a pice of history....

 

Does the 3 laptops and 5 people that are necessary to start it come with the car too?

 

I'm pretty sure you need more than 5 people to even start the thing.

 

Pretty sure? Based on what?

You only need two people to start a modern F1 car. The driver, who turns on the ignition, and someone to operate the external starter which plugs into the back of the car to turn the engine over.

It's a car guys, not the space shuttle...

 

I have a video that I'll probably upload later with 3 Honda's racing in the 1/4 mile (car, boat, and motorcycle) and the F1 car needed quite a number of people to start it. There are a lot more parts that need to be checked and prepped when starting it than the engine.

 

Yes I have that video.

You don't physically need a bunch of mechanics and engineers to start a Formula 1 car. 2 people will do. You don't have to monitor everything on several laptops. Obviously if you are running an F1 car, for whatever purpose, it is a good idea to check and double check what you're doing. Having more people helps to do that. But it's the same for a touring car, kart, whatever.

And exactly what parts of a Formula 1 car need to be "prepped" immediately before starting the engine?

So the driver is sitting in the garage, strapped into the cockpit.

The driver turns on the electrical system using a switch, and power is drawn from the battery. The ignition is turned on, again using a switch inside the cockpit. After doing this, the driver raises an arm, which acts as the signal of readiness to start the engine. The external starter is inserted into the back of the car and connects with the flywheel to turn the engine over.
Now you're idling. Pull on one of the wheel-mounted clutch paddles, select first gear with the gear selector paddle on the other side of the steering wheel, then ease off the clutch to start rolling and give it a bit of gas when out of the garage. You see the green light at the end of the pitlane, switch off the pit limiter, and away you go! That's all there is to it.

 

Mmm, kind of.

You need a laptop, which connects to the car via a "umblical" cord which connects the ECU of the car-within the umblical is a NIC cable-this then goes back to the laptop via the very clever box of tricks which normally has a network switch in it and a multi cell battery, also connected is a throttle control which combined with the software needed to start the car, the "systems engineer" will start the car once the ignition is turned on normally by the No2 Mechanic (drivers rarely touch it) and also there is a mechanic needed with the starter motor to turn the engine over. This is the method ALWAYS used within the garage or the grid. However, if the car stalls in the pitlane or the laptops fail on the grid (a brown trouser moment-but you ALWAYS have a spare nearby), the driver can start the car himself at the flick of switch, but still needs the manual intervention of a starter motor.

The software for starting the cars is very very complex.

Peter

 

Then these guys must have it all wrong

http://uploadhut.com/view.php/192620.asf

What else are you gonna do with a Formula 1 car than to race it? (Well maybe put it on display). Just starting it with the starter and racing it right after isn't exactly a good thing for the car. There's more to getting the car ready than just starting the engine.

 

What does the software and the 'box of tricks' connected to the laptop actually do when starting the car? Are they for altering setting before starting the car, or do they actually perform some function during the start (other than allowing the engineers to monitor the status of the car's systems)?
Is remote access to the throttle actually needed to start the car, or is it again just there to enable the engineers to have a play to see if things are working correctly?

As the mechanics seem to be able to fire up the car with the ignition left on and an external starter motor (e.g. if the driver stalls during a pitstop), then I take it that all of the aformentioned software, access to throttle etc isn't physically required to start the car?

I noticed when Fisichella stalled yesterday during the race, they lift the rear of the car when inserting the starter. Is this because when the engine stalls the driver is in first gear, and without the hydraulic pressure (run off the engine), the car will be stuck in 1st gear? As a result of this, they can't start the car before the rear wheels are freed?

If the car stalls, is stuck in first, and they jack it up, does the driver just wait for it to be started in 1st, drop it into N while still in the air, then once the car is lowered, put it back into 1st (with clutch held in) and then release it along with gas to drive away?