A collection of cars from 1992 Formula One champion Nigel Mansell is up for auction. They will be part of RM Sotheby’s 2022 Monaco sale, scheduled for May 14.
Featured were two of Mansell’s F1 cars, including the Ferrari 640 he drove during the 1989 season. The 640 debuted a semi-automatic transmission that would later become standard in F1, combined with the powertrain. V-12 engine. Mansell drove it to victory at the 1989 Brazilian Grand Prix, the 640’s first outing and Mansell’s first race with Ferrari.
The car being auctioned was chassis 109, which Mansell also drove in the 1989 Monaco Grand Prix. It was gifted to the British driver at the end of the season and has been in his collection ever since.
Nigel Mansell’s 1989 Ferrari 640 (photo via RM Sotheby’s)
The other F1 car for sale was the 1991 Williams FW14. Powered by a Renault V-10 engine and Adrian Newey’s aerodynamics, the FW14 brought Mansell and Williams close to the championship, but the driver and his teammates. lost to Ayrton Senna and McLaren. Mansell eventually won his championship the following season in FW14B, the tournament that added active suspension to the mix.
RM Sotheby’s is auctioning off the FW14-5 chassis, which Mansell drove to dominate the British Grand Prix in 1991. He took pole position and led every lap at home that year. Mansell then brought Senna back to the bunker after the Brazilian’s car ran out of fuel.
The auction also includes the 2005 Reynard 2KI Mansell drove in the Grand Prix Masters series, a one-off series featuring retired F1 drivers that lasted only one season. Rounding out the collection are a 1991 Birkin 7 Sprint (a derivative of the Lotus Seven) and a 1990 iC Modulo M89, a tricycle with inline seats powered by a BMW motorcycle engine 750 cc.
