Formula One – 2018 Market & Price Guide

After some 50 years of automobile racing, the Grand Prix Formula, or Formula One, was created by the FIA (Federation Internationale de L’Automobile) in 1950, with its first race the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. This was to be the first World Drivers Championship, in the world’s most technically advanced single-seater racing cars. In 1958 the World Constructors Championship was added so that all would at last know who the best driver in the world was as well as which manufacturer had constructed the best car. This guide will cover the period of 1966-1983 for cars built to a 500 kilograms to 585 kilograms weight minimum, and powered by 3.0-liter normally aspirated engines.

Formula One started from very humble beginnings.,with teams comprised of groups of talented people working out of small garages, trying to find the money to go racing. During this time the miracle of the racing sponsor was created, and teams grew in size. Great inventions were designed, such as the Cosworth DFV engine, the slick racing tire, aerodynamic aids ranging from simple wings to full ground-effects. This was when the English racing car industry’s constructors relied heavily on Cosworth engines and Hewland gearboxes. World Champion drivers included Andretti, Brabham, Fittipaldi, Hill, Hulme, Hunt, Jones, Lauda, Piquet, Rindt, Rosberg, Scheckter and Stewart.

Historic Formula One races are run by Masters Historic Racing for cars that ran from 1966-1983 with 3.0-liter normally aspirated non-turbo engines and no sliding skirts. Masters organizes champion-ships in both Europe and North America.

1966 Eagle-Weslake V12

All American Racers began as a partnership between Dan Gurney and Carroll Shelby, with sponsorship from Goodyear tires. AAR was to construct a racing car that would use Goodyear tires, which could beat those cars using Firestone tires to win the Indianapolis 500 and Formula One races. AAR’s English arm, Anglo American Racers, hired Len Terry, who had designed the Indy-winning Lotus 38, and he created perhaps the most beautiful Formula One car ever built with an aluminum monocoque, exquisite craftsmanship and a beak-like nose envisioned by Gurney’s father, John. These cars were called Eagles, after America’s national symbol, and were powered by a 3.0-liter V12 designed by the ex-BRM engineer Aubrey Woods that Gurney then had built and developed by England’s Weslake Engineering. Eagles won both the Race of Champions and the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa; as Gurney became one of but three drivers to win a Grand Prix driving a car of his own construction. Only four cars were built.

1974 Hesketh 308B

Lord Alexander Hesketh was barely in his 20s when his team entered Formula One. The team with the teddy bear mascot, a manager by the name of “Bubbles” Horsley and a driver, James Hunt, who was known as “Hunt the Shunt”. It had no commercial sponsor, only the private funding of a young Lord Hesketh known for his ability to throw a great party. What emerged from the group was a great designer in Dr. Harvery Postlethwaite, the very competitive Hesketh 308B and a future World Champion in Hunt.

Although the team raced in 1973 with a modified March 731, in 1974 it debuted the Postlethwaite-designed 308B, which mated a Cosworth DFV with a Hewland FGA gearbox. It had the radiatior in the nose and a high airbox, but still created good downforce and handled brilliantly. The car, all in white with some red and blue striping, made its debut in April 1974 where it won the Silverstone International Trophy. This was followed by the Hesketh team earning World Championship points in a 1974 season thatshowcased Hunt’s brilliance. In 1975, the team won the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort over Lauda’s Ferrari. The team was a force to be reckoned with, but the last of the privateers, Lord Hesketh, sold his team in 1976 to Frank Williams who had backing from Walter Wolf. Hunt went to drive for McLaren and won the 1976 World Championship. The great days of Formula One were witnessed at Hesketh Racing and revealed what a brilliant few could do.

Criteria Used For Assessing Valuations for this Guide:

• Degree of Originality
• Overall Condition, Restoration
• Technology, Design, Coachbuilder
• Production Numbers/Rarity
• Competition History
• Ownership History, Documentation
• Modern Event Eligibility

Regional Variances

The prices stated in this guide are based on U.S. values. The values of historic racing cars can vary as much as 25%-35% in other countries, depending on local market appeal, currency rates, import duties, and VAT. Most of the time, we are able to document known sales or closed escrows, as they say in real estate. When this is not possible, a logical estimate of the car’s value is given, based on its sales history and relationship to cars of its type.

The prices stated in this guide are based on U.S. values. The values of historic racing cars can vary as much as 25%-35% in other countries, depending on local market appeal, currency rates, import duties, and VAT.