eBay Finds: Colnago C35 Ferrari pre-production prototype bike

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Colnago remains one of the most revered framebuilders, and the Italian company founded in 1952 by Ernesto Colnago has consistently turned out some of the most-sought-after frames in the history of cycling. This C35 carbon frame, released in 1989 in collaboration with the famous Italian Formula 1 team Ferrari is certainly no exception.

According to the seller, this is a pre-production prototype of the C35, and has apparently been relisted due to an "unserious bidder". At US$50,000 (£40,300), there's no doubt that any bidder needs to be serious.

The frame was developed in 1989 as a collaboration between Colnago and Ferrari – carbon fibre was extremely prevalent in motor sport back in the 1980s – and this complete bikes also features a 24-carat-gold-plated Campagnolo C-Record groupset, Campagnolo Sigma Pavé wheels and a custom gold-plated 3TTT stem and handlebar. Production versions of the bike also featured carbon five-spoked wheels, which were again a development between Ferrari and Campagnolo.

The C35 frame is a relatively early example of a carbon monocoque. Earlier carbon frames – such as the 1990 Greg Lemond TVT 92 carbon-fibre Z team frame we featured recently as another of our 'eBay Finds' – used the more traditional framebuilding technique of adjoining carbon tubes with lugs, but today's carbon frames use techniques similar to that of this C35, with moulds and bladders creating the frames' shapes.

The seller explains that the complete bike was also displayed – and no doubt drooled over – at the Vitra Design Center in Weil am Rhein, Germany. Indeed, the seller is based in Germany, and is ready to ship the bike internationally.

Colnago has supplied frames to some of the biggest names and teams in the sport, from Molteni and Eddy Merckx in the late 1960s and early 1970s to the Mapei teams of the 1990s and 2000s and the likes of Abraham Olano and Paolo Bettini. Today, Colnago supplies frames to the UAE Team Emirates WorldTour squad, which boasts riders that include Tadej Pogacar, Fabio Aru and Fernando Gaviria.

We're constantly on the lookout for unique and rare cycling relics on eBay. If you have any suggestions or leads, please send them to cyclingnews@cyclingnews.com with 'eBay Finds' in the subject line