A special display of historic Williams F1 cars and the first ever Williams race transporter will be one of the highlights of the Petrolicious Drivers’ Meeting on May 12 at the UK’s Bicester Heritage, Oxfordshire. Williams Heritage will bring a selection of historic cars, including one of the iconic 1986 championship-winning FW11s. They’ll be joined by a 1975 FW04 from historic race car specialists Hall & Hall, and the very transporter that was used by Williams to transport the FW04 in period—a Ford-based vehicle restored privately to 1973 British Grand Prix specification by enthusiast Douglas Samuel (below, with Frank Williams).
The display will commemorate the first ever Formula 1 race entered by Frank Williams. He had formed Frank Williams Racing Cars in 1966 after a short period as a driver and mechanic, funded by working as a travelling grocery salesman. After running in F2 and F3 with Piers Courage as driver, in 1969 Williams bought a Brabham F1 chassis. With Courage as driver, the car finished second in two races during the 1969 season. Tragically, Piers Courage died at the 1970 Dutch Grand Prix. Frank Williams went on to build his own car for the 1972 season and the team progressed, initially on the brink of financial failure, but with ever-increasing success. It was ten years after the first F1 race that Williams won its first race, in 1979, when Clay Regazzoni won in the FW07 at the British Grand Prix.
Now, the historic division of Williams F1, Williams Heritage, operates as a restoration, sales and race support outfit, overseen by Frank’s son Jonathan.
Tickets for the Petrolicious Drivers’ Meeting are available here.
Images courtesy of Williams Heritage and Douglas Samuel
