Genuine Formula One cars with racing history do not come up for auction often, but in a few weeks, collectors will have the opportunity to bid on a 1990 Williams-Renault FW13B Formula 1 race car at the Bonhams sale held in conjunction with the Goodwood Festival of Speed. The car is being offered from the Williams Grand Prix Reserve Collection, and has been driven by F1 drivers Thierry Boutsen and Riccardo Patrese, achieving a third-place finish at the U.S. Grand Prix in 1990.

The car in question is a one of the FW13-series cars created to use the new 67-degree 3.5-liter V10 Renault RS1 racing engines, developed under the watchful eye of Williams Technical Director Patrick Head. The monocoque chassis itself is made from a molded carbon/Kevlar composite, with the design of the body itself having been overseen by Enrique Scalabroni, Williams Grand Prix Engineering Ltd.'s chief designer at the time. The pushrod-operated front suspension spring/damper units and the chassis were originally designed to work with the team's computer-controlled reactive suspension in 1990. Being a new design, the FW13 took some time to get completely sorted out, with Bonhams noting that a test session by Patrese at Estoril in 1989 improved the car's handling.

The car is being offered from the team's reserve collection. Bonhams

This particular car would end up being raced in four F1 races during the 1990 season: twice by Patrese and twice by Boutsen, with the car's best finish being a respectable third place at the 1990 U.S. Grand Prix in Phoenix where Ayrton Senna held off Jean Alesi to take the first-place finish after an entertaining battle that took place over a large part of the race. That particular U.S. GP also saw action by F1 greats Nelson Piquet and Nigel Mansell, with Piquet finishing fourth for Benetton-Ford after Boutsen.

With Boutsen trailing Senna at Interlagos later in the season, this car suffered a damaged nose on the 30th lap of the race as Boutsen was entering the pits -- the FW13B still managed a fifth place at the end of the day despite the mishap. FW13B would go on to serve as a spare car for Boutsen in the rest of the races of the season in Germany, Britain, Canada and France, also serving as Patrese's spare car.

Bonhams

Bonhams indicates that the car is complete with the exception of the electrical boxes, but does not run. The auction house estimates the FW13B to bring between £90,000 and £120,000 on auction day, which translates to a range of $140,000 to $180,000.

It greatly helps that this car comes from a fondly remembered period in F1 history, one that is just now inviting nostalgia viewed mostly through rose-tinted shades. And it greatly helps that this is a design with attractive yellow/white Canon livery that has aged well aesthetically. Formula One enjoyed great popularity during the late 1980s and early 1990s, with the rivalry between Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna keeping viewers around the globe glued to their TV sets. The cars, meanwhile, benefited from new technologies that were developed during the 1980s, using them to their advantage.

When it comes to retired F1 cars coming to auction, this is about as a good as it gets short of a GP-winning car driven by one of the immortals -- they command seven figures. Teams do not auction off their cars all that often, and the ones that are in private hands do not often come out for concours events, with the exception of the Goodwood Festival of Speed and a couple of other gatherings where crew support is available. While the car's racing history is not outrageously exciting, this car is emerging from a team collection and hails from a time period that has yet to be fully appreciated.

Visit the auction website to view the full list of lots from the upcoming sale.

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