Photo: Cars International
Someone just paid a record sum to get in possession of a 27-year old Formula 1 car this past weekend. At the Goodwood Festival of Speed on Sunday, auction house Bonhams sold Nigel Mansell’s Williams-Renault FW14B Formula 1 car for £2,703,000 ($3.37 million).
As per Bonhams, this is the highest price ever paid for a Williams Grand Prix car, but truth be told there were not so many of them on the auction block down the ages.
"The Festival of Speed celebrates the very best of motor racing history,” said in a statement Mark Osborne, Bonham's director of motorsport.
“Against this background - one week before the British Grand Prix - we are delighted to see Nigel Mansell's Red Five set yet another world record."
This particular F1 car was driven by Nigel Mansell and his teammate, Riccardo Patrese, in the 1992 Formula 1 season. It was a great time for what was Williams-Renault, as the team managed to win the constructors’ title and one of their drivers, Nigel Mansell, was crowned champion.
This particular car, still in working order, has been driven by Mansell himself six times. The Brit qualified for a pole start and won five of those races.
The FW14B is powered by a Renault RS3 3.5-liter V10 engine that developed up to 760 bhp and is controlled by a 6-speed semi-automatic transmission. This racer is still considered one of the best in the history of Formula 1.
Bonhams did not say who purchased the car. Until this past weekend, it had been in the hands of Williams Grand Prix Engineering, where it was “meticulously well-preserved” and then passed over to a private collector.
The F1 racer was the most expensive car sold this weekend at Goodwood. The runner up, a 2001 Lister Storm GT1 prototype, sold for only £465,750 ($580,000).
At the opposite end, the cheapest car sold by Bonhams was a 1964 Austin-Healey 3000 rally car which left the block for £230,000 ($286,000).
"The Festival of Speed celebrates the very best of motor racing history,” said in a statement Mark Osborne, Bonham's director of motorsport.
“Against this background - one week before the British Grand Prix - we are delighted to see Nigel Mansell's Red Five set yet another world record."
This particular F1 car was driven by Nigel Mansell and his teammate, Riccardo Patrese, in the 1992 Formula 1 season. It was a great time for what was Williams-Renault, as the team managed to win the constructors’ title and one of their drivers, Nigel Mansell, was crowned champion.
This particular car, still in working order, has been driven by Mansell himself six times. The Brit qualified for a pole start and won five of those races.
The FW14B is powered by a Renault RS3 3.5-liter V10 engine that developed up to 760 bhp and is controlled by a 6-speed semi-automatic transmission. This racer is still considered one of the best in the history of Formula 1.
Bonhams did not say who purchased the car. Until this past weekend, it had been in the hands of Williams Grand Prix Engineering, where it was “meticulously well-preserved” and then passed over to a private collector.
The F1 racer was the most expensive car sold this weekend at Goodwood. The runner up, a 2001 Lister Storm GT1 prototype, sold for only £465,750 ($580,000).
At the opposite end, the cheapest car sold by Bonhams was a 1964 Austin-Healey 3000 rally car which left the block for £230,000 ($286,000).
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