Apart from being an incredibly beautiful machine, Alain Prost’s 1990 Ferrari F1->ke190 car is piece of racing history. The year before the Frenchman left McLaren to race for Ferrari he won the driver’s title after a championship deciding collision with then teammate Ayerton Senna.

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One year later, at the final round of the season at Suzuka, both drivers found themselves sitting on the front row. Although the Brazilian had won pole position, he was placed on the inside, the dirty side, of the track. Like true racers when the lights went off both drivers raced into the first corner, neither giving the other an inch. The Ferrari and the McLaren collided and both cars ended up in the gravel, and because Prost didn’t finish the race, Senna was crowned World Champion.

Prost drove the Ferrari 641/2 chassis #121 to two third-place finishes, two second places and one victory, and was the car he was driving that fateful day at the Japanese Grand Prix. Since the incident the Ferrari has become a collectors item trading hands from owners in the U.S. and Japan. Recently the famed F1 car underwent a €110,000 restoration at the Ferrari factory. Next month as part of the Leggenda e Passione event, Prost’s F1 machine will be put up for auction along with the 1967 330 P4 and a 1957 250 Testa Rossa. The famed formula racer is expected to return as much as €400,000 when it crosses the auction block.

1990 Japanese GP

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