May 1st will always be remembered by many Brazilians for the death of Ayrton Senna, three-time Formula 1 world champion. One of the biggest names in motorsport of all time, the driver left us exactly 30 years ago, after suffering an accident at the San Marino GP in 1994. Remembering a little of the remarkable history of this sports icon, we present below the collection of street cars of the Brazilian.
Senna was a lover of cars on and off the track. On the streets of Brazil and Europe, Ayrton could be seen in models related to the sponsors of the teams he raced for.
1 – Porsche 911 Carrera 3.2 Cabriolet
One of Senna’s lesser-known cars is a Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet. The car was used by the Brazilian in Portugal, where he lived for a few years. Some reports point out that the driver bought the model in mid-1987, before leaving Lotus for McLaren.
With license plate OH-18-03, the vehicle originally painted in silver has undergone several modifications in its existence. The latest records show the car well maintained, but sporting a yellow paint, perhaps in reference to the Brazilian’s helmet, enlarged track gauges and a visual kit to refer to the 911 Turbo, a very popular conversion among Porsche fans. Equipped with a 3.2-liter six-cylinder boxer engine, the German sports car yielded about 230 hp of power.
2 – Ford Escort XR3
In the early 1980s, Senna competed in and won the British Formula Ford, and this brought the Brazilian closer to the American brand, which invited him to participate in the launch of the Escort XR3 in 1984tag. Official Ford photos show Senna with a silver model in his office, and the records show that the driver still had two more cars to his name. Equipped with a 1.6 CHT engine, the engine was the same used in the Corcel, but had some new features, which made the engine gain another 10 hp of power, totaling 83 hp.
3 – Audi S4
Ayrton Senna is directly responsible for the presence of Audi in Brazil. The driver played a key role in the process of importing the first cars from the manufacturer of the four rings to the country.
Ayrton’s garage had a copy of the S4 Avant equipped with a 4.2-liter V8 engine with 280 hp and 40.8 kgfm of torque. Currently, Senna’s model is in the family’s possession and occasionally appears at events of the German brand.
4 – Mercedes-Benz 190E
The car responsible for raising Ayrton Senna to Formula 1 was also in the Brazilian’s garage. In 1984, to inaugurate the Nürburgring “GP” circuit, Mercedes-Benz invited Formula 1 drivers to a race with the 190 E sedan launched two years earlier.
Senna started in third place and, after 12 laps, won the race, with Niki Lauda in second place. As a prize, a copy of the sedan was delivered to the Brazilian.
The model was equipped with a 2.3 16-valve engine and was prepared by the British company Cosworth. Despite being a family sedan, it was capable of reaching 100 km/h in 7.8 seconds and yielded 185 hp of power and 24 kgfm of torque.
5 – Honda NSX
Ayrton Senna was very important in the final development of the “Japanese Ferrari“. After winning three world championships with McLaren and using engines Honda, the relationship between the Brazilian and the Japanese was very positive. So much so that the manufacturer invited the driver to make fine adjustments to the then prototype of the NSX, which had ambitions to beat the Ferrari 328 and 348.
In Portugal, Senna had a red NSX, while in Brazil, the driver had a black unit, which even had a personalized license plate. The vehicle used in Portugal was put up for sale recently.
The sports car’s engine was a naturally aspirated 3.0-liter V6 with 283 hp of power and 29 kgfm of torque, with manual transmission.
