The Ferrari 643
The 643 was one of the best-looking Formula 1 cars of its era—and its V-12 engine made it one of the best-sounding, too. Raced by folk hero Jean Alesi in his first year with the Scuderia, chassis 127 represents a charismatic piece of Ferrari competition history.
Introduced halfway through the 1991 season, the beautiful Ferrari 643 was designed by Steve Nichols and Jean-Claude Migeot for the driver pairing of Alain Prost and his exciting young team-mate, Jean Alesi. Its predecessor was the short-lived 642, and while the 643 carried over that car’s 3,499-cc V-12, the carbon fiber-composite monocoque was heavily revised. The engine produced 710 horsepower at a screaming 13,800 rpm and drove through a seven-speed semi-automatic gearbox—technology that Ferrari had pioneered two years earlier.
The 643 made its debut in the French Grand Prix in July 1991, and chassis number 127 was entrusted to Alesi. Born in France to Sicilian parents, Alesi had caused a sensation when he arrived in Formula 1 in 1989, and his giant-killing performances in the nimble Tyrrell soon brought him to the attention of the big teams. Alesi had already agreed terms with Frank Williams by the time that Ferrari came calling, but when negotiations with Frank started to drag on, he duly signed with the Scuderia for 1991. The tifosi came to adore his hard-charging style in the car and his emotional character out of it.
On his maiden outing with chassis 127, Alesi was third quickest in the opening qualifying session behind the Williams of Nigel Mansell and the McLaren of Ayrton Senna, but after the second session he dropped to sixth place on the grid. While team-mate Alain Prost fought Mansell for the lead before finishing 2nd, Alesi was locked in a tight battle with Senna for 3rd place and made a daring lunge down the inside at the hairpin on the final lap. Senna held firm, however, and Alesi had to settle for 4th.
He drove chassis 127 again in the next race: the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. The two 643s lined up next to each other on the third row, Prost ahead of Alesi. The two of them were then involved in a fight for 3rd place with the McLaren of Gerhard Berger before Alesi collided with the Larrousse-Lola of Aguri Suzuki while trying to lap it. The incident put him out of the race.
Chassis 127 then served as the team’s spare car in Germany, Hungary, and Belgium, before it was raced at the season-closing Australian Grand Prix by new recruit, Gianni Morbidelli. The young Italian was drafted in after Ferrari had fallen out with Prost and fired him after the previous race in Japan.
The race was held in dreadful conditions and was stopped while leader Senna was on his 17th lap. At that point, Morbidelli was in a superb 3rd position, but the results were backdated to the end of lap 14, which meant that he was classified 6th and took the final points-paying position.
Following the 1991 season, chassis 127 was fully refurbished at the Maranello factory and sold to a South African collector.
Photography by Peter Singhof ©2022 Courtesy of RM Sotheby's
