Photo/Illutration Honda Racing Corp. President Koji Watanabe explains the automaker’s project to sell parts from past Formula One race cars during a news conference in Tokyo on April 2. (Akihiro Nishiyama)

Honda Motor Co. said it will auction engine parts of a Formula One car driven by the legendary Ayrton Senna for the 1990 season.

The auction will be held in the United States in August. Other small parts will be sold online at a starting price of several thousand yen, the company said.

Honda’s golden era in F1 occurred in the 1980s and 1990s.

McLaren Honda driver Senna won his first World Championship in 1988, elevating the company’s name on the F1 circuit. He later won two more World Championships, including one in 1990.

Senna, a Brazilian considered one of the greatest F1 drivers in history, was killed in a crash in a race in 1994.

Although Honda preserves its racing cars and parts from the past, it cannot display many of the items.

By selling the parts, the automaker aims to increase its brand value and develop new businesses for fans.

The company said it is also considering selling engines and entire cars.

“We think those who find value in the stories behind engines, bodies or parts will buy them,” Koji Watanabe, president of Honda Racing, said at a news conference in Tokyo on April 2.

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