The history of the Ferrari F140 engine is fascinating. Its first iteration was called the Tipo F140B, and it appeared in the Enzo in 2002, but it hasn't really disappeared in the ensuing 20 years. And why should it? At launch, it was the most powerful naturally aspirated engine ever fitted to a road car, with the 65-degree four-valve-per-cylinder engine developing 651 horsepower. When it became the Tipo F140C for the 599, it became the most powerful series-production Ferrari engine ever, and that trend continued with the F12berlinetta and its subsequent 812 successor. The Tipo F140GA swelled to 6.5 liters, producing an astonishing 819 naturally aspirated horsepower and reaching a 9,500-rpm redline in the 812 Competizione.

The F140 is undoubtedly one of the best-designed supercar engines ever, and now you can own one. RM Sotheby's will have an apparently unused F140B from an Enzo up for auction next month, and it's a practical piece of automotive iconography.

The listing provided by the auction house gives us no details save for the engine number, which is #102042. However, the photographs included here indicate that the engine was shipped to its current owner direct from Ferrari, which suggests that it may never have even been fired up inside a car.

Ferrari isn't known for sending its engines to just anybody, and the crate's waybill all but confirms that this motor was not sent to a private individual; this engine was originally sent to Formula Automobile Copenhagen, a certified Ferrari dealer in Denmark, in June 2014. Most likely, this engine was sent from Italy as part of an Enzo restoration. Presumably, the restoration never went ahead due to excessive damage to the car itself, or perhaps the owner simply couldn't afford the repair.

The engine will be on sale at RM Sotheby's Miami auction on 10 December 2022, and it's being offered with no reserve, although we doubt that it'll be a bargain buy by any means. A supercar engine of any sort coming up for sale is rare, but a Ferrari one is particularly special, and the fact that this is an F140B makes it even more so. Sure, you get an F140IA engine in the new Ferrari Purosangue, but this early example is the motor that started the era of the modern V12 Fezza.

This is the engine that powered the Enzo. It's the engine that formed the basis of cars that avoided turbocharging and electrification for a full two decades. It's simply legendary, and even if this particular example is never fired up, it's worthy of a place in a museum.