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Williams F1 takes former garage owner Peter Thorpe to High Court after £750,000 Grand Prix car vanishes

From the Newshound archive · first published 7 October 2026.

Peter Thorpe, the former Autotech director who denies knowing the whereabouts of a historic Williams F1 car worth £750,000, citing memory loss following a stroke.
Peter Thorpe, the former Autotech director who denies knowing the whereabouts of a historic Williams F1 car worth £750,000, citing memory loss following a stroke.
Williams F1 takes former garage owner Peter Thorpe to High Court after £750,000 Grand Prix car vanishes

Williams F1 is taking Peter Thorpe, 58, to the High Court, seeking £1 million after the historic FW23 race car it loaned to his Telford firm in 2015 vanished and has not been recovered. Williams's lawyers allege Thorpe arranged for the car to be removed and falsely declared personal ownership of it to liquidators when his company, Autotech Performance Ltd, went into liquidation. Thorpe denies any knowledge of the car's whereabouts, citing a stroke that has left him with serious memory problems and saying the vehicle was present at the premises the last time he visited, in summer 2021.

The FW23 is one of only nine ever built and was driven by Ralf Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya throughout Williams's 2001 World Championship campaign.

Williams barrister Richard Clegg told the court the car is part of a unique heritage collection that the team manages carefully to guarantee its preservation.

MoreDaily MailF1 team sues garage owner after Grand Prix car vanished while on loanThe IndependentF1 team Williams in £1m High Court battle after historic Grand Prix car vanishesDaily Mail on MSNF1 team Williams sues garage owner for £1m over Grand Prix car which vanished being loaned to himMetroVintage Williams F1 car 'vanishes after being loaned to garage owner in Telford'
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