Grand Prix-winning Williams F1 car goes on sale

| 9 Mar 2018
Grand Prix-winning Williams F1 car goes on sale

Ever wanted to own a genuine Grand Prix-winning Formula One car?

Well here's your chance: the Williams FW07 driven to victory by Alan Jones in the 1979 Dutch Grand Prix has been put up for auction by racecarsdirect.com.

The auction is already live and will run until 5pm on 31 March. But don't get too excited (unless you're rich) – the current leading bid stands at £600,000.

Grand Prix-winning Williams F1 car goes on sale

The FW07 was one of the most successful F1 cars, with 15 wins

If you do want to get involved, you'll be bidding on a piece of F1 history, because the FW07 was the car that changed Williams' F1 fortunes.

Designed by Patrick Head, Frank Dernie, and Neil Oatley and powered by a Ford Cosworth DFV V8 engine, it was one of the first Formula One cars to properly master ground effects.

Though reliability issues ruled it out of a serious challenge in '79, the second iteration gave the team its first constructors' title the following year, with Jones also taking the drivers' championship.

The third iteration, the FW07C, also performed excellently, with Williams again winning the Constructors', and in all the FW07 enjoyed 15 wins, scored 300 points and achieved one drivers' and two constructors' titles. 

Grand Prix-winning Williams F1 car goes on sale

FW07 took first place at the 1979 Dutch Grand Prix, with Australian Alan Jones driving (image: LAT Photos)

The car up for auction, chassis FW07/01, was comprehensively raced in the 1979 F1 season, making its debut in the Spanish Grand Prix and remaining in use right through to the closing US race.

In all, it started eight Grands Prix that season, finishing 5th at the Austrian GP with Clay Regazzoni driving, before, in its next outing, future world champion Jones drove it to victory at Zandvoort in the Netherlands.

Regazzoni was back in the driver's seat for the final three races of the year, taking it to 3rd place at both Monza and Montréal. 

It was also raced twice in the 1980 F1 season, and enjoyed plenty of success in that year's Aurora AFX British F1 Championship, with four poles and three wins.

A stint in the Williams Grand Prix Collection followed, before a full restoration in 2013/2014 at the hands of former Williams driver John Cadd of JC Historics. Both engine and gearbox have been completely rebuilt and the car now wears the livery which it ran when Jones and FW07/01 won their first race together.

Feeling flush, or just interested to see what it goes for? You can check up on the racecarsdirect.com auction here.