Nigel Mansell's 1992 F1 title-winning Williams up for auction at Goodwood Festival of Speed

The Williams-Renault FW14B Formula 1 car in which Nigel Mansell won a record-setting five Grands Prix (all from pole position) at the start of his F1 title-winning season in 1992 is being sold at auction during this weekend’s Goodwood Festival of Speed. We would love to give you a guide on how much this piece of racing history might cost, but according to the auctioner it’s strictly “estimate on request”.
Designed by celebrated engineer Adrian Newey, the FW14B is considered one of the most sophisticated, dominant and important F1 racers of all time. It featured state-of-the-art (for the time) technology, including a six-speed semi-automatic transmission, ride-levelling active suspension and cutting-edge aerodynamics. It was powered by Renault’s RS3 3.5-litre V10 engine.

It also had one of the era’s most distinctive liveries, the yellow, white and blue of major sponsors Camel, Canon and Labatts.

The car being offered by Bonhams at the Festival of Speed on Friday is FW14B chassis number 08. The car contested 13 of that year’s 16 Grand Prix races, driven by Mansell in the first seven and wearing his famed “Red Five” race number from that season.



The car's high-revving 3.5-litre Renault V10 engine still runs


Mansell won five of those seven races – in South Africa (where he set the fastest lap), Mexico, Brazil, Spain and San Marino – all from pole position, in the process setting a new Formula 1 record for consecutive wins.

He was narrowly beaten into second place at Monaco by Ayrton Senna before chassis 08 was entrusted to Mansell’s team-mate Riccardo Patrese, subsequently bearing the Italian’s race number of 6 in a further six Grands Prix.

Thanks to the dominance of the FW14B and the skills particularly of Mansell, Williams-Renault easily clinched the top two positions in the 1992 Formula 1 Constructors’ World Championship.


FW14B chassis 08 has been meticulously maintained by Williams and its subsequent owner

Mansell notched up another four race wins that year in the sister car, becoming the first driver in Formula 1 to win nine World Championship-qualifying Grand Prix races in a single season.

Having been meticulously well-preserved, initially by Williams Grand Prix Engineering and subsequently by a private collector, FW14B chassis 08 remains in running order; both its V10 engine and hydraulic active suspension system have been tested recently.

Mark Osborne, global director of motorsport at Bonhams, said: “The FW14B was the high-water mark in Grand Prix design for ’92 and remains today one of the most sophisticated cars to compete in F1. We at Bonhams are honoured to have been entrusted with such a motor racing legend.”



Williams dominated in 1992 with the FW14B - this is the view the other teams had of it


Other significant racing cars being offered at the Bonhams sale at Goodwood include ‘Old Mother Gun’, the 1927 Bentley Jackson Special – a timely offering in Bentley’s centenary year. The first 4 ½-litre Bentley was a Le Mans and Grand Prix winner before dominating at Brooklands in the 1930s, setting speed records of 120mph and 130mph before later recording an official top speed of 148mph. Also estimate on request.

There is also a 1935 Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 ‘Long Chassis’ Tourer, one of the last examples of the straight-eight-cylinder Alfas – a genuine 100mph car which achieved consecutive wins at the Le Mans 24 Hours, the Mille Miglia, Spa 24 Hours and the Targa Florio. It is estimated to sell for between £4,000,000 and £5,000,000.

These are joined by an ultra-rare 1907 Métallurgique-Maybach, a Zeppelin airship-engined Edwardian three-seater, which is estimated at £800,000-£1,000,000. Powered by a 21-litre engine, it is a veteran of hillclimbs, sprints and circuit racing and still holds a current FIA Class A standing-start 500-metre world record. This Métallurgique’s other claim to fame is that it featured in the 1968 film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

Other sought-after cars include a 2013 McLaren P1 XP Experimental Prototype (estimate £1,300,000-£1,500,000), a 1966 Ford GT40 (£850,000-£1,250,000), a 1928 Bentley 6 ½-Litre Saloon with coachwork by Gurney Nutting (£800,000-£1,200,000) and a 1998 Jaguar XJ220 (£350,000-£400,000).

All the lots will be available to view at Goodwood on Thursday, with the sale on Friday - the cars take star billing at 2pm, after the automobilia sale which starts at 11am.