Mat Armstrong buys a heavily crashed Ferrari 296 and turns to eBay for a rare part that saves thousands
Published on Dec 02, 2025 at 1:54 AM (UTC+4)
by Henry Kelsall
Last updated on Dec 01, 2025 at 5:01 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Mason Jones
Mat Armstrong is no stranger to buying a damaged car and repairing it, but this heavily crashed Ferrari 296 supercar required a rare part from eBay in order to save money.
The YouTuber recently gave himself a huge challenge to repair the car after it was damaged in a massive accident. So much so that not even Ferrari could repair it.
Having revived a massively damaged Lamborghini Revuelto, Armstrong was, however, very confident that this car could be restored.
But turning to eBay for such a rare part probably wasn’t what the YouTuber expected to do.
DISCOVER OUR SUPERCAR AUCTION SITE – View live auctions on SBX Cars
How badly damaged was the Ferrari 296?
Armstrong showed some footage early in the video that explained why this Ferrari was so damaged.
Armstrong is no stranger to repairing crash-damaged supercars, including the Lamborghini SVJ.
The footage showed the previous owner losing control of the supercar and crashing heavily.
The car jumped over a sidewalk and into a wall and tree, and Armstrong was stunned at how damaged it was.
Ferrari did attempt to help Armstrong and get the 296 to fire up.
But nothing they did could get this supercar to turn over.
Armstrong was on his own for this rebuild, and there was a huge amount of structural damage to the car.
Removing the engine and the hybrid system was one problem Armstrong faced.
But a big piece that needed replacing was the dashboard and airbags.
eBay was the saviour for Armstrong and his team
When the passenger side airbag deployed, it did a lot of damage to the dashboard in the accident.
That meant Armstrong needed to remove it and then find a new one for the car.
Finding a new one, for such a rare part, was not going to be easy.
Yet incredibly, Armstrong managed to do it.
Someone in Lithuania was selling a Ferrari 296 dashboard, used, but in very good condition.
The team chanced upon the part on eBay and managed to get their hands on it.
It even came with the airbag inside, undeployed, and ready to go.
Armstrong paid £2,000 for the part, but from Ferrari it costs £5,100 plus another £700 for the passenger airbag.
Converted, the dashboard cost $2,648 with the airbag versus a possible $7,680 from Ferrari.
However, a lot more work needs to be done before this Ferrari fires up again.
DISCOVER SBX CARS: The global premium car auction platform powered by Supercar Blondie
Henry is a content writer with nearly ten years experience, having written for various publications since 2017. Qualifying with a Sports Journalism degree from Staffordshire University, Henry loves all things automotive but has a particular soft spot for classic Japanese cars and anything Lancia. He also has a curious passion for steam locomotives.
