Lewis Hamilton has fulfilled a childhood dream by buying a Ferrari F40 that had reportedly sat unused in a garage for more than 30 years. The seven-time Formula 1 world champion revealed the car on his social channels after sending it directly to specialists in Maranello, who spent several weeks bringing it back to running condition.
Lewis Hamilton finally gets the Ferrari F40 he always wanted
“This is my dream car and has been for as long as I can remember,” Hamilton wrote, explaining that he found the F40 covered in dust and immediately knew he had to bring it home. He did not reveal where the car had been stored, how much he paid for it or exactly what work it required. He did, however, thank the Ferrari engineers and mechanics involved in the recovery and promised to share more details soon.
The purchase will not surprise anyone who remembers Hamilton’s first official day as a Ferrari driver. On January 20, 2025, he posed at Fiorano next to an F40 in a photo that generated nearly six million likes on Instagram. Later that year, Hamilton said he had sold his personal car collection and named the F40 as the one model he would still want to own. His latest purchase therefore turns that symbolic image into something much more personal.
Ferrari introduced the F40 in 1987 to celebrate the company’s 40th anniversary. It became the final road-going Ferrari unveiled while Enzo Ferrari was still alive. Its 2.9-liter twin-turbo V8 produces 478 hp and works with a five-speed manual transmission. A tubular chassis and extensive use of composite materials kept weight to around 2,425 pounds (1,100 kg), helping the F40 accelerate from 0-62 mph in 4.1 seconds and reach a claimed top speed of 201 mph (324 km/h).
Returning a car to the road after three decades of inactivity requires far more than routine maintenance. Long-term storage can affect numerous mechanical components even when the car has covered very few miles. Sending the F40 directly to Ferrari allowed specialists to preserve its original characteristics, although Hamilton has not said whether the car underwent a full Ferrari Classiche certification process.
Hamilton has not yet shown the interior or explained whether he plans to drive the F40 regularly. The first images nevertheless reveal the traditional red bodywork with no obvious major modifications.
The purchase also gives Hamilton a tangible connection to Ferrari’s history after spending most of his Formula 1 career with Mercedes. Now racing for the Scuderia, he finally owns one of the road cars he had admired long before joining Maranello.
