One of the wildest F40s ever built is about to change hands, and it didn’t come out of Maranello. It came out of Michelotto, the race shop that turned the F40 into a Le Mans car.
RM Sotheby’s is bringing the “Jean Sage” F40 to its Woodcote Park sale on July 8th, and the backstory is as loaded as the spec sheet. This wasn’t some collector who bought an F40 and rang up a tuner for clout. It was commissioned by the man who ran Ferrari France’s F40 IMSA campaign.
A Pedigree You Can’t Fake
Jean Sage ran Renault’s turbo-era F1 effort before joining Ferrari France, where he personally oversaw the brand’s F40 program in the States. By the time he ordered this build in 1994, he understood the car about as well as anyone alive.
Chassis 84642 started life as a “non-cat, non-adjust” example, widely considered the purest factory F40 spec before catalytic converters and adjustable suspension entered the picture.
Lighter Than an F50, Somehow
Michelotto had already built 18 F40 LM racers by the time Sage’s car hit the bench. They rebuilt the V8 with a pair of special I.H.I. turbos and a lightweight Chabord exhaust, shoving output to 527 horsepower and a perfectly ridiculous 626 lb-ft of torque.
Then they went after the weight. Lightweight clamshells, sliding windows, carbon buckets, and a deleted air-con system stripped 136 kilos (right around 300 pounds) out of the car. The result undercuts a standard F40 on the scales, and somehow an F50 too.
The Part That Should Embarrass Actual Race Cars
Numbers on a build sheet are one thing, but prroving them is another.
At the 1995 BPR Global Endurance qualifying session at Paul Ricard, Sage’s road-legal F40 set the fastest time in its GT4 class and finished within six seconds of a full-blown F40 LM race car. A car you could legally drive to the grocery store ran in the same ballpark as a purpose-built endurance racer.
Spec Sheet
Model: 1990 Ferrari F40 ‘Jean Sage’ by Michelotto
Chassis: 84642
Engine: Twin-turbocharged 2.9L Ferrari V8 (I.H.I. turbos)
Power: 527 HP (up 49 HP from stock)
Torque: 626 lb-ft
Transmission: 5-speed manual
Drivetrain: Rear-wheel drive
Weight Savings: 136 kg (~300 lbs) vs. standard F40
Wheels: OZ Racing 17-inch monoblock
Mileage: 22,699 km (~14,105 miles)
Modifications: Michelotto, 1994, CSAI GT-inspired spec
Pricing & Availability
The “Jean Sage” F40 crosses the block as Lot 136 at RM Sotheby’s Woodcote Park Auction on July 8th, 2026. The estimate runs between £2.7 million and £3.2 million, or roughly $3.65 million to $4.3 million, and given the ownership and spec, few would be shocked to see it land near the top or blow right past it. It comes documented with its Schedoni leather folio, original service and warranty book, a Massini report, and matching-numbers engine and gearbox.
Recap
1990 Ferrari F40 ‘Jean Sage’ by Michelotto
Commissioned by the man who ran Ferrari France’s F40 program and built by the shop behind the F40 LM, this 527-HP F40 is somehow lighter than an F50.
