While not as old as the Ferrari 250 GTO, a sports car->ke506 famous for fetching millions of dollars at auction, the turbocharged F40 -- built between 1987 and 1992 -- is arguably one of the most appealing vehicles produced over the past three decades. That statement has been confirmed yet again during the Bonhams auction event at Knokke-Le-Zoute, Belgium, where a 1989 model year F40 changed owners for a whopping $870,000.

One of 1,315 examples made, the F40 in question is a bit more special, as it once belonged to Nigel Mansell, a former Formula One and Indy champion. The British driver bought the supercar->ke177 in 1989, during his first season with Scuderia Ferrari,->ke664 a team he raced for through 1990 before returning to Williams.

Mansell's F40 sold to an unidentified telephone bidder for $870,000, becoming the most expensive car auctioned during an event that reported total sales of nearly $4.8 million. Despite being the most expensive car auctioned at Knokke-Le-Zoute, Mansell's former supercar is not the most expensive F40 ever to go under the hammer. The record for road-legal F40s belongs to an example that fetched $1.43 million. The highest price for an F40, however, went to a 1993 LM-spec version that sold for $2.2 million.

Click past the jump to read more about Ferrari F40.

Why it matters

Ferrari cars continue to excel during public auctions, and that's far from surprising. Very few automobiles manage to fetch the huge amounts of cash commanded by classic Ferraris, and it seems Maranello-made supercars from the 1980s and 1990s are increasing in value as well. While Mansell's example failed to reach the $1-million mark, the F40 is already a million-dollar car, a feat very few vehicles from that era can claim.

Ferrari F40

Built between 1987 and 1992, the Ferrari F40 is known for several major feats. It's the last Ferrari approved by Mr. Enzo himself, it was Maranello's final turbocharged car until the California T arrived in 2014, and it's an important piece in the company's line of range-topping supercars, which includes the 288 GTO, the F50, the Enzo, and the LaFerrari.

Powered by a twin-turbo, 2.9-liter, V-8 engine rated at 471 horsepower and 425 pound-feet of torque, the F40 was the fastest and most powerful Ferrari sold to the public at the time of its release. Its performance figures were impressive for the era. The F40 needed only 3.8 seconds to accelerate from naught to 60 mph, and reached 125 mph from a standing start in just nine seconds. The quarter-mile took 11.9 seconds, while top speed stood at 200 mph.

What's more, it was also the most expensive Ferrari to hit dealerships by the late 1980s, carrying a sticker of around $400,000 in 1987. Only 1,315 F40s were manufactured in six years.