Fancy owning a purebred Formula 1 car, driven to victory at the 1983 Monaco Grand Prix event? Of course you do, but unfortunately this vehicle isn’t for sale.
Truth be told, getting your hands on a fully-functional Formula 1 single-seater has always been difficult, mainly because most of the teams don’t usually sell their ageing “assets”. Don’t get us wrong, this practice isn’t set in stone, as there are always deviations from the “rule”, but some of the crews that do sell the vehicles, don’t include all the bits and pieces that makes them functional.
This 1983 Williams-Cosworth FW08C, on the other hand, is still alive and kicking, and it will star in the Live Auction Arena at Autosport International. Driven by Keke Rosberg and Jacques Laffite, the car finished fourth in the 1983 Constructors’ Championship, granted Rosberg a pole position at the opening race of the 1983 season and a Monaco win the same year.
The FW08 is a milestone of Williams’ engineering, but the C chassis – like the one pictured here – was constructed under a set of new regulations, which forbidden all ground effects enhancements. As a result, the FW08C couldn’t keep up with the turbo-powered Renaults, Brabhams and Ferraris, even though the car pulled some remarkable performances. In fact, nobody expected the car to accomplish the aforementioned results, making it the last Cosworth DFY engine car to qualify first on the grid and score a win.
But the FW08C also carries the distinction of being the first Formula 1 car ever driven by Ayrton Senna. As the story goes, the Brazilian badgered Frank Williams to let him test the car – after being sat beside him on a flight – and when the team boss finally caved, he agreed for a run at Donington Park. Needless to say, after a 40 lap “workout”, Senna managed to go faster than anyone else, including Williams’ 1983 racing drivers.
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