Ferrari F1-89 (640) British GP (1989)

The Nigel Mansell model was offered with a special Nigel Mansell signed art quality prints. These prints have sold out.

The F1-89 (also known as the 640, its designated project number) was Ferrari’s entry into the 1989 FIA Formula One World Championship. Driven by future World Champion Nigel Mansell and Gerhard Berger, the F1-89 was the first Ferrari chiefly conceived by innovative British designer John Barnard. It was powered by a naturally aspirated 65-degree V12 cylinder engine, with 600 bhp at 12,000 rpm, and sported a sharp nose, with a narrow monocoque and bulging side-pods designed to house the radiators with maximum aerodynamic efficiency. With innovative aerodynamics and pushrod suspension with torsion bars instead of the classic coil springs, the F1-89 was fitted with a revolutionary semi-automatic gearbox, activated by the driver on the steering wheel. Though the gearbox proved to be unreliable during the season, hampering Ferrari’s efforts, such gearboxes would become the norm by the mid-1990s.

Mansell powered the Ferrari to a victory in its debut race in Brazil and the potential of the car was clear; on outright pace alone, the F1-89 was a leader. However, reliability soon proved to be the major concern for Ferrari and neither driver would see the chequered flag until the French Grand Prix six races later. There were to be no races in which both drivers finished, as the F1-89 suffered nineteen retirements from a possible thirty (Ferrari only entered one car in Monaco and Spain), including five double retirements, and yet, when the F1-89 reached the chequered flag, it never failed to finish on the podium. Mansell would win again in Hungary, as well achieving as second places in the French and British Grand Prix and third places in Germany and Belgium. Berger only managed to finish three races all season, winning in Portugal and achieving second place finishes in Italy and Spain.

Despite the poor reliability, the F1-89 would earn 59 points towards the Constructors’ Championship allowing Ferrari to claim third place behind McLaren and Williams.

This 1:8 scale model is of the Ferrari F1-89 (640) as raced by Gerhard Berger and Nigel Mansell at the 1989 British Grand Prix. It has been handcrafted and finished in our workshops with the co-operation and assistance of Ferrari regarding original finishes, materials, archive imagery and drawings. The use of supremely accurate digital scanning of the original car has allowed us to perfectly recreate every detail at scale. Furthermore, it has undergone detailed scrutiny by both engineering and design teams to ensure complete accuracy of representation. Every Amalgam 1:8 scale model is supplied in a luxury black presentation box and mounted on a carbon fibre or leather base protected by a clear acrylic dust cover. The model title, original branding and edition number are displayed on polished stainless steel plaques mounted at the front end of the base.

The 1:8 scale model of the Ferrari F1-89 is limited to only 199 pieces.

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