ROBERT SHARPE TAKES DELIVERY OF THE 458 SPECIALE ENGINE HE PURCHASED AT THE CAVALCADE AUCTION
Maranello, 4 September 2015.– “Of all the many items interesting to collectors and enthusiasts being auctioned that evening, this engine seemed the most magnificent to me. Genuinely unique. I’m delighted and moved to be taking delivery of it today.”
The English industrialist and longstanding Ferrarista Robert Sharpe was one of the leading lights of the Cavalcade held in Rome last June. The event concluded with a gala dinner and charity auction of Prancing Horse memorabilia in the spectacular surrounds of Trajan’s Market. Mr Sharpe successfully bid for one of the most important lots, the last 458 Speciale engine to be built. Now he has finally been presented with his purchase at a ceremony in the Engine Assembly Department attended by CEO Amedeo Felisa and Sales and Marketing Director Enrico Galliera.
Mr Sharpe’s love of Ferrari dates back to his youth: “I was 23 the first time I saw the keys of a Ferrari at home. My father had just bought a 328 GTS and had brought it home. I took the keys and got behind the wheel: it was a feeling I have never forgotten”. A feeling the English industrialist clearly wants to pass on to the next generation as he was accompanied to Maranello by his 20 year old son Casey who also joined his father in the Cavalcade.
So what will become of the engine now? “I’m putting it in my office,” Mr Sharpe said. “Because despite all the awards it has won, it’s much more than an engine: it’s a work of art”.
The other lots that went under hammer during the auction at the end of the 2015 Cavalcade were the nosecone of Michael Schumacher’s 2004 World Championship-winning single-seater, a 2014 driving suit belonging to Kimi Räikkönen and a pair of the latter’s gloves from 2004. The proceeds from the sale – over 200,000 euro – were donated to the Rome City Council for the restoration of part of the Trajan’s Market complex.
Text and photograph by: Ferrari
