Markus Winkelhock’s Spyker F1 car could be yours

Stories

Due to a lack of sponsorship money, the Spyker team sidelined regular driver Christijan Albers for the race. His replacement was regular test driver and future F1 legend Markus Winkelhock, son of fallen F1 driver Manfred. Despite the home advantage, Winkelhock found it difficult to go into the weekend. His fastest qualifying lap was 1.4 seconds slower than teammate Adrian Sutil. This put him even 4.5 seconds off Kimi Räikkönen’s pole time.

However, Winkelhock got his revenge before the race started. Already in the warm-up, the team decided to bring him on wet tires, hoping that the unpredictable weather in the Eifel would work in their favor. The gamble paid off perfectly: while all the fastest cars slid off the track in the heavy rain on the slicks, Markus raced ahead. When the red flag dropped he was comfortably leading. Unfortunately, during the restart on the dry track, he was quickly swallowed up by the remaining faster teams. After 13 laps the rally was over due to a hydraulic problem.

Winkelhock’s deal with Spyker was for one race only, as the team needed the German to fill in for Super Aguri rider Sakon Yamamoto. The Japanese finished the rest of the season. Markus would not start the Grand Prix again.

Contests entered: 1️⃣
Guided race: 1️⃣

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A one-off Spyker racer @m_winkelhock he ended up leading at the Nurburgring in 2007 after rain chaos and a pit stop ☔️#EifelGP 🇩🇪 #NoOneCanBreakWinkelrock pic.twitter.com/gMbh0HkE7o

– Formula 1 (@F1) July 24, 2020

F8-VII/4

Sixteen years later, the car in which Markus Winkelhock made history will be taken away. Chassis F8-VII/04 has been part of the Goodwood Members’ Meeting auction organized by Bonhams. However, the car is not immediately recognizable due to the bodywork heavily modified by Force India.

At the end of 2007, the ailing Spyker was bought by the Indian brewer, aerospace magnate and fraudster Vijay Mallya. The team was named Force India. However, due to the late takeover and the upcoming new rules for 2009, there was no time or need to create a completely new car. The Spyker F8-VII was then given a second life as the Force India VJM-01. Since the Spyker was in turn based on the Midland M16 of 2006, the car was already two years old at the time.

VJM01/4

After the switch, chassis F8-VII/4 was rebadged as VJM-01/4. At the time the car was mainly used for experimental work, with Giancarlo Fisichella and Vitantonio Liuzzi behind the wheel. However, the old beast was still used for Fisichella in Monaco and Canada. The Italian qualified at the back and failed to finish both times due to gearbox and circuit problems.

Outside the house

Unlike many old and redundant F1 cars, chassis 4 was kept alive by Force India. The car was given a permanent place in the old factory at Silverstone. Even Lawrence Stroll’s subsequent takeover managed to survive the #4. However, after two years under Aston Martin, the car is being phased out.

Unfortunately, Spyker/Force India doesn’t work: after all, the team used Ferrari engines in both seasons. After switching to Mercedes in 2009, Maranello brought the blocks back. So you will have to find a suitable replacement for the 760 liter hp 2.4 Type 056 V8.

Business

Since the car is in ‘show car’ configuration, it is unclear what and how much exactly needs to be fixed or changed to make something work.

However, the fact that it’s a real racing chassis means you immediately have a good base. The price tag of the legendary machine is also reasonable: for only 80,000 to 100,000 pounds (€90,971 – 113,714) you can put it in your man cave. If you don’t feel like tinkering too much, you can always turn it into a cool simulator.