If you want to buy an F1 car, then you need to head to Monaco this year, because it seems 2018 is a year where a whole load of interesting stuff is going under the hammer, such as Ayrton Senna’s Toleman TG184). Now, RM Sotheby’s has announced a fresh trio of F1-related machinery which is also being sold off.
First up is this ex-Michael Schumacher Benetton B192. This particular car is the one he used to finish second in the 1992 Spanish Grand Prix (at the time his career best result) before it was relegated to reserve duty for the rest of the season.
What’s the coolest F1 car of all time? If your answer isn’t a Jordan, then, well, that’s your opinion and you’re entitled to it. But a Jordan should at least be up there, right?
Schumacher later went on to take his first F1 victory in Spa that year – no mean feat in a season where the Williams FW14B was competing! Like all Benettons, it also has a rocking livery.
If it’s cool liveries you want, then you can so worse than the Jordan team. Throughout its 15 seasons in the sport, Eddie Jordan’s fun-loving team constantly punched above its weight, endearing itself to F1 fans, no doubt helped by the continuously awesome colour schemes.
The team’s most successful season came in 1999 with the Mugen-Honda-powered Jordan 199. Heinz-Harald Frentzen won two races and surprisingly managed to challenge Mika Hakkinen and Eddie Irvine for the championship, eventually finishing third. The car that’s up for sale is the one Frentzen drove to second and third in the first two races of the year in Australia and Brazil.
Just being the most successful Jordan ever is cool enough, but the real selling point is the iconic bright yellow Benson and Hedges (or ‘Buzzin Hornets’ at some races) livery. Complete with the hornet on the sides of the nose, it also proves that modern F1 cars need to be adorned with kickass nose art.
The final car up for sale isn’t actually an F1 car, but that doesn’t stop it being any less awesome. In fact, it might be the coolest of them all.
When Gilles Villeneuve was at Ferrari he was given the use of this very Ferrari 308 GTS as his own personal transport. Now, Gilles drove just as crazy on the road as he did on the track, and it was in this car that he undertook one of his most legendary journeys.
Gilles lived in Monaco, 432km away from Ferrari’s base in Maranello. For most people, that’s a drive that would take up most of the day, but Gilles didn’t do anything slowly. He once completed the journey in just under two-and-a-half hours – that’s an average speed of more than 175kmh!
It’s sure to fetch a few quid, especially as it’s in completely original condition and has one of the greatest drivers of all time in its owner history.
So, which would you take? Schumacher’s Benetton, Jordan’s most successful car, or Villeneuve’s daily thrash-about? We’ll take the lot.
