Williams F1 car for auction

The auction house says the Williams FW07/04 is the most original and authentic FW07 in existence. Campaigned by Frank Williams and driven by Alan Jones, the car has been part of the Peter Brigg Family Collection at the York and Fremantle Motor Museums in Western Australia since 1981.

The Williams FWO7 race cars were the first 'ground effect' cars and are regarded as one of the most successful F1 designs of all time, with the car's underbody panels directing airflow to increase downforce.
The aerodynamic effect generated around two tonnes of downforce at about 300km/h.

This car's pedigree includes four Grand Prix wins from July 1979 to January 1980 before becoming the number one test car for Williams. A crash removed it from service - it was rebuilt as a show car before being sold to Peter Briggs and going on display at the York Motor Museum in WA.

The car came to Adelaide in November 1985 for the first F1 Grand Prix held in Australia, where Alan Jones told Peter Briggs about the history of the FW07/04. Jones said he remembered the tyre testing crash, saying it was the only time he thought he could die when driving a Williams as the front tyre came off, bounced off the bodywork and left a black scrape on his helmet as it went over the top of the car.

Sotheby's Australia has returned to the world of classic and collectible car auctions with its Collectors Motor Cars Department and the ex-Jones car will be one of the feature cars at next month's auction. Sothebys Australia's national head of collectors' motor cars James Nicholls says the car could fetch anything up to one million dollars.

"It's difficult to tell as this is such a specialist car - we certainly think it will be in the high hundreds of thousands, it could be $700,000 or higher than that. With the (Formula One) race in Melbourne bringing people into the country we're hoping people are aware of the car, it's a very prestigious car, a ground-breaking car driven by Alan Jones so it's pretty significant here and internationally," he says.

The April 18 catalogue also has a 1975 XB Falcon GT Hardtop, raced by John Goss, Allan Moffat and Sir Jack Brabham, in 1975 Bathurst blue and white livery. Also up for auction is a 1966 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow two-door sedan owned by actor Peter Sellers.

Log on to www.sothebysaustralia.com.au for more information.