1983 Arrows A6 Is a Piece of F1 History, Can Still Send Chills Down Your Spine

Over the years, teams have used all kinds of engine layouts in their F1 cars. Everyone is running 1.6-liter turbocharged V6 engines today, but that hasn't always been the case.

Between 2006 to 2013, the cars were fitted with 2.4-liter V8 units. Before that, F1 went through the naturally-aspirated V10 and V12 eras. And who can forget the '80s, when performance figures went all the way up to 1,500-hp thanks to the turbo setups?

In the early '80s, not all teams had made the switch to turbo engines, though. In 1983, Arrows Racing Team launched their A6 model, which was powered by a naturally-aspirated Ford-Cosworth DFV 3.0-liter V8. The now-defunct F1 racing team employed a total of four drivers that year: Marc Surer from Switzerland, Chico Serra, Alan Jones, and Thierry Boutsen.

The Swiss driver took part in all the races that year and managed to get a total of four points by the end of the year. That earned him P15 overall, which is still an impressive feat given the nature of his opponents. While the Ford V8 was good for about 500 hp, some of the turbo cars of that age delivered more than 800 hp.

Nelson Piquet won the championship that year, with Alain Prost coming in second. Keke Rosberg, Niki Lauda, and Nigel Mansell were also racing at the time, which should give you an idea of how difficult it must have been for the Arrows driver to keep up with everyone.

The car that Marc Surer drove that year is now being advertised by a company called Carugati Automobiles SA in Switzerland, and as you can see from the photos it has been restored to its original condition. There's a video of Marc Surer crashing in this car at the Monaco GP in 1983, and we've also found some more recent footage of its sister car going at it in Spa-Francorchamps.

This car has an FIA Historic Technical Passport that's valid until 2029, which means you can still take it out to the track given you are skilled enough to drive it. We imagine that this must be a handful, as race cars weren't as sophisticated back then as they are today.

The asking price has not been made public by the seller, but we imagine that it includes at least six, if not seven figures. This might not be the most successful F1 car of all time, but then again it's not going to be as expensive as a Ferrari 126C, for instance.