Wednesday 2nd April 2025

Honda to auction Senna V10 F1 engine parts

Honda Racing Corporation wants a profile boost, so it's launching a memorabilia business - see you at Monterey

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It’s only the beginning of April, and already we’re talking about Monterey Car Week. But the news today isn’t of some unobtainable hypercar or far-fetched restomod - instead, it’s the announcement from Honda Racing Corporation that it’s launching a memorabilia business. The first sale will be at Monterey Car Week in August. 

And what a sale it’s going to be: not least because HRC is auctioning off the RA100E in disassembled parts. For those not fully clued up on Honda codes (we wouldn’t blame you), that’s a V10 engine from 1990, as found in the McLaren-Honda F1 cars of Ayrton Senna and Gerhard Berger. The glory days of the dream team, basically, now going under the hammer conrod by conrod and camshaft by camshaft. Don’t pretend for a second that you wouldn’t love a Honda V10 piston paperweight on the desk. We would.

HRC is going all in on this venture as well. The unit is the ‘Honda V10 engine used by Ayrton Senna to win the 1990 F1 Championship’, so provenance doesn’t really get any better. It has been disassembled at Honda Racing Corporation’s factory in Sakura City, and every single bit that’s going up for sale - so quite a few, when you think of how many internals a V10 has - gets its own display case and certificate of authenticity. The potential to be favourite relative at Christmas here is off the scale. If you’re willing to pay the price of a whole Honda for a part of one, presumably. 

HRC won’t stop here, either. The engine parts are there to kick off the memorabilia side in high-profile fashion, but there are plans afoot for artefacts, collectables and merch from days gone by to be sold as well. Honda is sourcing IndyCars and ‘valuable race machines from motorcycles’ in addition. Think of all the great racing Hondas on two wheels and four from the past 70 years and it’s hard not to be quite excited. The aim is to ‘further enhance the racing brand value of Honda and HRC.’ Maybe the perception of the brand as one of the motorsport greats has wobbled a tad in recent years, and there’s nothing to boost profile like a big bucks auction. Especially with the Senna association. 

"We aim to make this a valuable business that allows fans who love F1, MotoGP and various other races to share in the history of Honda's challenges in racing since the 1950s." said HRC President Koji Watanabe. "Including our fans to own a part of Honda's racing history is not intended to be a one-time endeavour, but rather a continuous business that we will nurture and grow."

So expect much more memorabilia to arrive after Monterey. Wonder if they can get hold of a Super Touring Accord?

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• Honda Civic Type R | PH Origin Story
  
• Focus ST Track Pack vs. Civic Type R vs. Golf GTI

[Augustus Windsock]

Im guessing I might just about be able to afford a thimble-full of sand that was collected by the chassis and flicked into the cockpit on the last ‘race’ that secured Senna the Championship..

[Box Fresh]

Augustus Windsock said:

Im guessing I might just about be able to afford a thimble-full of sand that was collected by the chassis and flicked into the cockpit on the last ‘race’ that secured Senna the Championship..

We’re talking F1 grade sand??
Only if you’ve recently had a medium sized double rollover lotto win.

[Cryssys]

It all seems a bit tacky and money grubbing to me but I'm sure they'll prove very popular.

I wonder if Augustus will be able to buy an egg timer with Formula 1 sand in it?

[DaveTheRave87]

Are there any bits from Alonso's "GP2 Engine" going for sale?

[BOR]

Some gratifying engine pornography there.

Those conrods are comically short, but the stroke is about 50mm, which is actually more than I was expecting.

What did these little monkeys rev to?

[LotusOmega375D]

Not good news if you want to return the engine to its original chassis at some point in the future. Parts will be scattered all over the world!

[Picanto_superleggera]

Sounds like me finally getting round to putting all the bike parts in the garage on ebay, only they hope to fleece monied Californians, where I just want to be able to walk to the back of my garage and not climb/ trip over anything!

[asci.white]

BOR said:

What did these little monkeys rev to?

Around 19,000 RPM in qualifying trim..

[The Pistonsdead]

Box Fresh said:

Augustus Windsock said:

Im guessing I might just about be able to afford a thimble-full of sand that was collected by the chassis and flicked into the cockpit on the last ‘race’ that secured Senna the Championship..

We’re talking F1 grade sand??
Only if you’ve recently had a medium sized double rollover lotto win.

[Fastdruid]

LotusOmega375D said:

Not good news if you want to return the engine to its original chassis at some point in the future. Parts will be scattered all over the world!

I'm guessing they're being rather economical with their wording.

Its *a* V10 RA100E engine *as* used by Senna in the McLaren MP4/5B to win the 1990 F1 championship.

I suspect there is a high chance it was *one* of the engines at some point in the season used by Senna.

There were _no_ limits on the number of engines allowed in 1990. Apparently Ferrari once bought 17 engines to a single race weekend.

[gotoPzero]

asci.white said:

BOR said:

What did these little monkeys rev to?

Around 19,000 RPM in qualifying trim..

IIRC they ran them to about 20k in testing which basically was the maximum possible rate physics would allow a combustion cycle.

[Peterpetrole]

Fastdruid said:

LotusOmega375D said:

Not good news if you want to return the engine to its original chassis at some point in the future. Parts will be scattered all over the world!

I'm guessing they're being rather economical with their wording.

Its *a* V10 RA100E engine *as* used by Senna in the McLaren MP4/5B to win the 1990 F1 championship.

I suspect there is a high chance it was *one* of the engines at some point in the season used by Senna.

There were _no_ limits on the number of engines allowed in 1990. Apparently Ferrari once bought 17 engines to a single race weekend.

PH quoted Honda:

"Honda V10 engine used by Ayrton Senna to win the 1990 F1 Championship"

So it has to be one that was actually used, and legally speaking has to be one that scored points to be considered helping Senna win the championship.

But there will be many yes, always surprised this isn't done more regularly, an easy money spinner, there must be warehouses full of old F1 bits around the world.

[Fastdruid]

Peterpetrole said:

Fastdruid said:

LotusOmega375D said:

Not good news if you want to return the engine to its original chassis at some point in the future. Parts will be scattered all over the world!

I'm guessing they're being rather economical with their wording.

Its *a* V10 RA100E engine *as* used by Senna in the McLaren MP4/5B to win the 1990 F1 championship.

I suspect there is a high chance it was *one* of the engines at some point in the season used by Senna.

There were _no_ limits on the number of engines allowed in 1990. Apparently Ferrari once bought 17 engines to a single race weekend.

PH quoted Honda:

"Honda V10 engine used by Ayrton Senna to win the 1990 F1 Championship"

So it has to be one that was actually used, and legally speaking has to be one that scored points to be considered helping Senna win the championship.

But there will be many yes, always surprised this isn't done more regularly, an easy money spinner, there must be warehouses full of old F1 bits around the world.

That's not actually what the press release says.

"HRC plans to auction rare, selected parts from the historic Honda RA100E V10 F1 engine that powered the championship machine driven by Ayrton Senna and Gerhard Berger in the 1990 F1 season"

Its not actually an engine, its spare parts that have been replaced. In fairness however, the individual parts if you zoom in do say exactly where, when and who was driving when they were used.

So the Camshaft & Cam Cover for example looks to say
Used at 1990 F1 Australian Grand prix (04 Nov. Adelaide)
Driver : Gerhard Burger #28

(the rest of the parts I can't make out any details).

EDIT: Photos from the HRC press release rather than the PH ones as you can get full size/detailed ones.
https://hondanews.com/en-US/honda-racing/releases/...

Edited by Fastdruid on Thursday 3rd April 11:12

[Pachydermus]

gotoPzero said:

asci.white said:

BOR said:

What did these little monkeys rev to?

Around 19,000 RPM in qualifying trim..

IIRC they ran them to about 20k in testing which basically was the maximum possible rate physics would allow a combustion cycle.

not in the 80s they didn't.

Honda said:

At the time, about 10 or so F1 engines were prepared per driver for each grand prix (including qualifying and the race), and more than 200 engines were needed per year. Despite the enormous development and activity costs, Honda was thoroughly committed to engine reliability and drivability. 12,000 rpm was the normal limit for the RA109E, the first year of the V10, and it reached 14,000 rpm for the RA100E. Although there were times when the revs momentarily exceed 15,000 rpm due to over-revving such as downshifting, even this was an acceptable level. The RA100E boasted amazing reliability, that it would not break even when revved to these levels.

[350Matt]

1st F1 engine to rev to 20k was the Cosworth CA in to 2006 Williams

[sledge68]

The BMW V10 would rev to 21000rpm on the test bed, but reigned in to 19000 so it lasted.

gotoPzero said:

IIRC they ran them to about 20k in testing which basically was the maximum possible rate physics would allow a combustion cycle.

[350Matt]

I should also say I've run an engine to 24,000rpm before, so not sure where the Physics just gives up statement comes from

[Black S2K]

BOR said:

Some gratifying engine pornography there.

Those conrods are comically short, but the stroke is about 50mm, which is actually more than I was expecting.

What did these little monkeys rev to?

Stroke was from ~40 - ~59mm depending on version.

So guesstimating off a screen they still conform to the 1.2-1.4 times stroke 'rule of thumb'.

I suppose bore wear is less important on racing engines, but you don't want side loadings jamming the rings at 19K RPM!

It's not a bloody BMC E-Series, that's for sure!

[Stick Legs]

I think it's a bit sad.

The engine is only what it is in it's entirety. I'd be more interested in seeing the whole engine displayed at events like Goodwood or at F1 races than gathering dust on a bookshelf, only to be thrown our one day when the original purchaser's grand kids wonder why there's a cam shaft in a box in Grandad's loft.

I presume Honda hold a few of these engines still, and this is a single engine being parted out.

Still comes across as money grabbing and a bit tacky.

[nismohks]

I thought it would be better if they kept Senna's engine as a whole and put it on display in a Honda museum somewhere.