Williams launch legal action over missing historic F1 car

The Williams F1 team have launched legal action in the UK High Court against a garage owner after a historic grand prix car went missing.

An example of the 2001 FW23 machine, driven by Juan Pablo Montoya and Ralf Schumacher, was loaned out by the team to Autotech Performance Ltd in 2015 as a showpiece at the company's garage. 

The car, one of nine FW23 chassis, was the first Williams in its iconic early 2000s partnership with BMW, and marked Montoya's first F1 race car after moving from CART in the United States. 

In 2021, Williams requested the car to be returned to its historic heritage collection, but received no response, and Autotech has since entered liquidation and, as per Companies House, the company was struck off the register on November 22nd, 2023.

Williams has now lodged action against the sole remaining director and shareholder, Peter Thorpe, either seeking the return of the car or a payment exceeding £1m GBP. 

It is claimed by Williams that Thorpe removed the car from the garage after telling liquidators that the car was personally owned by him, and not merely on loan from Williams as per the agreement of 2015.

Thorpe has claimed that he does not know where the car currently is after suffering a stroke in October 2018, which left him with memory problems. 

It is claimed that Thorpe told a liquidation valuer that the car was his property, something Thorpe denies, with Williams further claiming that the defendant removed the car from the garage and subsequently "took possession and control of it" and "continues to do so."

Williams is seeking an order for the return of the car, plus hire charges, or alternatively more than £1m GBP if the car is not returned.

Lawyers for Thorpe have argued that the car was last known to be at the premises of August 8th, 2021, when he returned for the valuation of assets by the liquidators, but that he did not return thereafter and that he is unsure if the car remained on-site until December 2021, as "this lies outside his knowledge."

The case has been filed at London's High Court, but the case has not yet gone before a judge for a full trial.