Next month is your chance to own a piece of Formula 1 history that shouldn’t exist. Bonhams is auctioning off the last V-10 engine Ayrton Senna ever raced, powering the McLaren Honda MP4/5B, and it comes disassembled in a stunning display case.
The 3.5-liter V-10 RA100E-V805 engine powered Senna to pole position at Suzuka Circuit during the 1990 Japanese Grand Prix, the race where he and Alain Prost would collide at the first corner. Senna would race with this engine at the Australian Grand Prix a couple of weeks later in early November, but he failed to finish, completing 61 of 80 laps.
After the season, Honda should have disassembled the engine, analyzed it, and discarded it, as it typically does. However, 1990 was the last year for Honda’s V-10, and with development for the V-12 underway, the company had no reason to tear it down. The timing helped preserve the last V-10 in its original state.
Honda Racing Corporation (HRC) has since disassembled the engine, which will come with an original certificate proving the engine’s authenticity. The sale is part of HRC’s new memorabilia business that the company says is designed “to offer core motorsport fans globally the opportunity to own a piece of genuine motorsport history by selling valuable race machines, engines, and their parts.”
Senna’s last V-10 engine is the first item from this venture, and there are plans to expand this business in the future. HRC is selling the lot without reserve, with the auction scheduled for August 15 at The Quail during Monterey Car Week.
What other bits of Honda racing history would you like to own?
