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Market Finds: Which Extreme Formula 1 Car Would You Want To Take Home?

Which Extreme Formula 1 Car Would You Want To Take Home?

By Petrolicious Productions
June 30, 2015
10 comments

I’ve been watching Formula 1 my entire life, and the thrilling machines manufacturers create are often the stars of the show. As any aficionado knows, many of the really interesting vehicles were canned before they could show their full potential, and so for Market Finds this week, I have a simple question.

Would you rather a slower but more interesting six-wheeled March Formula 1 car, or the much faster—and more modern—V8-powered 2008 Williams FW30a?

The Car: 1977 March Formula 1
Price: Inquire
Location: UK
Seller’s Info: Click here

Offered without a price, the March 2-4-0 is a working, running example of a period in F1 when just about everyone was experimenting with adding another set of wheels and tires. Tyrell’s four front wheel arrangement is the most well-known (and successful), but the 2-4-0 was another approach…that never raced in anger.

That’s right: you’re able to take this car to a local track day, and marvel at, well, everyone marvelling at you. With six front axle-sized wheels, the idea was that it would have lots of traction and low drag. Powered by the ubiquitous Cosworth DFV, it was run in testing and various hill climb events after its short F1 “career” was over. Some neat trivia is that designer Robin Herd named the car after railway terminology for rolling stock: two wheels leading, four driven wheels, and zero trailing wheels. 

The Car: 2008 Williams FW30A
Price: Inquire
Location: UK
Seller’s Info:Click here

Straight from Williams comes this ex-Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota FW30A. Williams was, at the time, a front-runner but without the speed to regularly worry its rivals. This chassis competed in six grands prix, and was driven by Rosberg to his first podium finish.

The seller says it’s in meticulous but “non-running” condition, but I think that with the spare change from its £125,000 asking price should be spent on a few mechanics, a few engines, and some driver training… 

Tags Formula 1/ This or That
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Neil Saaty
Neil Saaty
8 years ago

Lotus 88. It’s described as a chassis within a chassis. The driver sat in the inner chassis, which was sprung independent of the outer chassis, consisting of the bodywork and wings. The outer chassis created a ground effects seal to the road. This was Colin Chapman’s solution to continue to exploit ground effects after the FIA banned moving side skirts. The side skirts slid vertically relative to the side pods, enabling the car to maintain a constant seal to the road while the chassis ride height varied. They were banned because occasionally a side skirt would stick in the “up” position (relative to the side pod), and the car suddenly lost the massive downforce afforded by the skirts, flinging the car off the track in a corner.
The rest of the teams employed fixed-position side skirts and very high spring rates, nearly eliminating suspension travel. Although this maintained a constant seal, it mercilessly pounded the driver. The Lotus driver was far more comfortable than the other drivers.
I saw the car debut in first day practice and qualifying at the ’81 US Grand Prix in Long Beach, California, with Elio de Angelis at the wheel. It looked very cool, as Lotus cars always do. But the other teams protested that the car did not comply with the regulations, and the next day the car was banned from the race.
You can read more about it here: http://www.f1technical.net/f1db/cars/473/lotus-88

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Christopher Gay
Christopher Gay
8 years ago
Reply to  Neil Saaty

Yeah, that is cool interesting stuff. I remember those times.
So cool you got to see the car at the debut.

I believe I saw that car at Laguna Seca soon after that and took a photo of the instrument panel. That was a long time ago. Good times!

Thanks for sharing.

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dave povenski
dave povenski
8 years ago

I’d take Dan Gurney’s Eagle-Weslake. 2nd choice: Lotus 49.

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Francois Bozonnet
Francois Bozonnet
8 years ago

Ferrari 156 f1 1985.

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Keith Armstrong
Keith Armstrong
8 years ago

Ferrari 156
Tyrrell P34
And hey, it’s 4th of July… American Eagle T1G 🙂

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Lukas Duyck
Lukas Duyck
8 years ago

maserati 250f, mclaren mp4/4 and the lotus 72d are my fovirites

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Pietro Lo Fria
Pietro Lo Fria
8 years ago

The Brabham BT46B – the “fan car”

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Christopher Gay
Christopher Gay
8 years ago

The March, for the reasons GS stated. We could make that car sing.

And the Eagle, for reasons GS stated. 😉

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Guitar Slinger
Guitar Slinger
8 years ago

Of these two ? Hmmmn . Thats a tough one . On one hand the Williams would be by far the better investment . On the other though the March is as mad as a March Hare , genuinely radical and the more innovative of the two in its lifetime by far . Hmmmn …Well … if it was an ex Kubica Williams I’d take that hands down . But errr … seeing as how I was a fan of the old man .. and do despite F1 having become a travesty like Nico … I guess I’d go for the Williams knowing full well the March would be gnawing at me for months afterwards . Ummm … but hold on a minute . Common sense and reality just hit me . It’d take a full time team of techs and mechanics as well a an entire bank of very high priced computers just to start the Williams whereas the March could be easily maintained solo if one was competent enough .

So nix the Williams … I’ll take the mad as a March Hare March .

Any car of any era though ? Price no object ? A Gurney Westlake Eagle T1G . By far the most beautiful F1 cars ever made , Heck .. I’d be happy just to find a decent 1/18th diecast of one .

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Nicolas Moss
Nicolas Moss
8 years ago

1936 Auto Union Type C

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