1995 Ferrari F50

We are pleased to offer 1995 Ferrari F50, the 31st of only 349 F50s built, a three-owner Supercar and the only Ferrari F50 to have a long and successful race history in the Maranello Ferrari Challenge. F50 was sold new on 01 Jan., 1996 by Specialist Cars in Bradford, England to Ian Hetherington. In early 1998 F50 was race prepared by Specialist Cars for a warm-up in the second-half of the 1998 Series and a full assault on the 1999 and 2000 Maranello Ferrari Challenge, a FIA licensed and sanctioned International series comparable to today’s Ferrari 488 and 296 Challenge Series. Additionally F50 has just completed a photo-documented, down-to-the-bare-tub $770,000.00 plus Platinum level restoration by Chris Dugan of Dugan Enterprises, Oceanside Ca. On 05-06 June 1998 F50 ran in the Maranello Ferrari Challenge at Spa Francorchamps, finishing 6th on 05 June and 7th on 06 June against race-prepared F40s and a race-prepared 512 TR. The Series then moved back to Silverstone in England on 14 June with F50 finishing 6th and then again at Silverstone on 23 August where Ian Hetherington qualified on the pole but DNFed. On 06 Sept., 1998, the Series ran at Croft, with Ian Hetherington finished in 2nd and on 12 Sept. at Castle Combe where Ian Hetherington and F50 finished 4th. The 1999 Maranello Challenge season opened at Donington on 11 April, where Ian Hetherington and F50 set the fastest lap in class and finished 2nd, before moving to Brands Hatch on 03 May where F50 finished 1st. On 31 May the series moved to Castle Combe where F50 finished 2nd. On 06 June the series moved to Thruxton where F50 set the fastest lap and finished 1st. On 20 June the Series moved to Snetterton where F50 finished 4th. The Series then crossed the North Sea to Zandvoort in Holland on 03-04 July where F50 finished 3rd on 03 July and 3rd again on 04 July. On 08 Aug. the Series ran at Donington Park where F50 finished 2nd. Later, on 22 Aug., the Series moved to Croft where our F50 was on the pole but DNS. The Series again crossed the North Sea to the Nurburgring in Germany on 04-05 Sept., where our feature F50 finished 2nd on 04 Sept. and took the pole, set fastest lap and finished 1st on 05 Sept. The Series ended the season on 25-26 Sept. at Silverstone where F50 finished 8th on 25 Sept. and DNFed on 26 Sept. The 1999 Series ended with Ian Hetherington and F50 finishing 2nd in the Series, losing to John Pogson’s race prepared F40 by a mere one point! The 2000 Maranello Challenge season opened on 01 April at Castle Combe where F50 finished 5th. The Series again crossed the North Sea to the Zolder circuit in Belgium on 30 April, with F50 finishing 1st in the first round and then setting the fastest lap and again finishing in 1st at the second round. The Series returned to England, running at Donington Park on 06 May, where our feature F50 qualified on the pole, finishing 1st, followed by another round at Donington on 04 June with our feature F50 again qualified on the pole and again finished 1st. On 24 June the Series moved to Silverstone where our feature F50 qualified on the pole and finished in 2nd. On 09 July the Series moved to Brands Hatch where our feature F50 qualified on the pole, finished 2nd. Next up was at Thruxton on 23 July where our feature F50 qualified 4th but DNF. On 06 Aug., the Series next ran at Snetterton where our F50 again qualified on the pole, finishing in 2nd. Croft followed on 20 Aug., where our feature F50 fell back to 10th! The Series next moved to Oulton Park on 26 Aug., where our F50 finished 1st in the first round and 2nd on the second round. The Series again crossing the North Sea to France on 16-17 Sept. for two rounds at Le Mans where our feature F50 qualified on the pole, finishing 1st on 16 Sept. and again qualifying on the pole, finishing 2nd on 17 Sept. Thanks to entering all fourteen rounds and thanks to winning six 1sts and four 2nds, Ian Hetherington and F50 won the 2000 Maranello Challenge Series. Ian Hetherington and F50 also ran in the Porsche vs Ferrari Challenge and the AMOC Intermarque Challenge in 1998 and 1999 where our feature F50 was usually the fastest Ferrari, although left behind by the Porsche 935s and a regular mix of Group “C” Prototype races cars which ran in these races. Having won the Maranello Challenge Series, Ian Hetherington put F50 up for sale and on 17 Oct., 2000 the now ex-Ian Hetherington F50was sold by Mike Sheehan, Ferraris-Online.com to Preston Henn, owner of the Swap Shop in Fort Lauderdale, FL. F50 was flown into the Miami airport on 09 Nov., awaiting both EPA and DOT import approval as a race car and hence exemption from both EPA and DOT regulations. One would think that having a car that actually raced in forty different and well documented races would qualify as a race car under both the EPA and DOT’s rather vague regulations but such was not to be. Click on Importing an F50: A Tragi-Comedy in Two Acts, Act one, the DOT for the multi-step brain damage spent dealing with the DOT. Then click on Importing an F50: A Tragi-Comedy in Two Acts, Act Two, the Department of NO at the EPA for the full year of brain damage dealing with the petty-but-powerful bureaucrats at the EPA (aka the Department of NO) who are apparently allowed to make up ever-escalating rules on the fly. In the end it F50 was finally released from the clutches of the DOT on 09 Feb., 2001 and from the EPA on Nov., of 2001. F50 was then delivered to its second owner, Preston Henn, repainted in Fly yellow (like most of Preston’s cars) and kept on static display at the Swap Shop from 2001 to Feb., 2019 when sold by Mike and Colleen Sheehan to the current owner. Restoring an F50 is a challenging endeavor as few F50s were made and Ferrari is only required to supply spare parts for ten years, so parts are very few, far between and extremely expensive. In 2019 Chris Dugan of Dugan Enterprises began what became a $770,427.48 plus down-to-the-bare-tub restoration to Platinum standards. As just one example of the cost of F50 restoration parts, there are four “A” arm bushing in each of the four suspension corners so sixteen bushing. After many months of parts sourcing Chris Dugan was able to find original F50 “A” arm suspension bushings for $949.20 each. Similar (but not interchangeable) “A” arm bushings for an F355, 550, 360 and other Ferraris of the same time period can be purchased for a mere $74.95 each. Today F50 is fully restored to the very highest road-going platinum standards, was shown at The Quail, A Motorsports Gather in Monterey on 18 August and has a Ferrari Classiche Red Book in process. Needless to say we have literally thousands of photos from the Maranello Ferrari Challenge, at Preston Henn’s, during the restoration, and at The Quail where F50 was shown in its original race livery. F50 is price very correctly in today’s market at $4,795,000 USD. E-mail us for copies of the restoration invoices and a sample of over one-thousand race and restoration photos. Scan up and click on VEHICLE HISTORY for the long but interesting race, importation and ownership history.