Ferrari F1-89 British GP 1989 in 1:18 scale
- As raced by Nigel Mansell and Gerhard Berger during the XLII Shell British Grand Prix at Silverstone Circuit on the 16th of July 1989
- Each model hand-built and assembled by a small team of craftsmen
- 1:18 scale model, over 24 cm/9 in long
- Made using the finest quality materials
- Over 800 hours to develop the model
- Precisely engineered parts: castings, photo-etchings and CNC machined metal components
- Built using original CAD designs and paint codes supplied by Scuderia Ferrari
Originally known as its designated project number 640, the Ferrari F1-89 was Ferrari’s entry into the 1989 FIA Formula One World Championship. Driven by future World Champion Nigel Mansell and Gerhard Berger, the F1-89 was the first Ferrari chiefly conceived by innovative British designer John Barnard. Complicated technology and communications difficulties with Barnard, who was working from England at the time, dragged out the car’s development. However, when it finally did emerge, it was seen by the other constructors, thanks to its incredible pace and extremely clean-looking form, as a shining example of superb engineering and aerodynamics. The F1-89 was powered by a naturally aspirated 65-degree V12 cylinder engine, with 600 bhp at 12,000 rpm, and sported a sharp nose, with a narrow monocoque and bulging side-pods designed to house the radiators with maximum aerodynamic efficiency. With innovative aerodynamics and pushrod suspension with torsion bars instead of the classic coil springs, the F1-89 was fitted with a revolutionary semi-automatic gearbox, activated by the driver on the steering wheel. The semi-automatic gearbox was Barnard’s solution to the problem of the long manual actuation mechanism, but it was Ferrari who had pioneered this technology a decade earlier, eventually postponing the project due to a lack of advanced electronics at the time. Though the gearbox proved to be unreliable during the season, hampering Ferrari’s efforts, it more than proved its worth, and such gearboxes would become the norm by the mid-1990s.