Williams sues garage owner Peter Thorpe for £1m after Ralf Schumacher F1 car VANISHED from Telford showroom

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.

A Williams FW23 Formula 1 car, one of only nine ever built, at the centre of a High Court claim after the example loaned to Peter Thorpe's Telford firm vanished without trace.

Williams Racing is taking Peter Thorpe, former owner of dissolved Shropshire firm Autotech Performance Ltd, to the High Court after a £750,000 heritage racing car loaned to his garage in 2015 disappeared without trace. The FW23 — one of only nine ever built — was driven by Ralf Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya during Williams' 2001 World Championship campaign. Williams demanded the car back in 2021 but received no response before Autotech went into liquidation.

Lawyers for Williams allege Thorpe had the car removed and wrongly told liquidators he personally owned it.

Thorpe, 58, now reportedly based overseas, denies this, claiming he never said he owned the car 'because he knew this to be untrue'.

He says the car's current whereabouts are unknown to him, and attributes his poor memory of events to a stroke.

Daily MailF1 team sues garage owner after Grand Prix car vanished while on loan The IndependentF1 team Williams in £1m High Court battle after historic Grand Prix car vanishes timesofindia.indiatimes.comWhere did Williams’ $1M worth F1 car go? Team sues garage owner for $1M+ after Ralf Schumacher historic car’s mystery disappearance Daily Mail on MSNF1 team Williams sues garage owner for £1m over Grand Prix car which vanished being loaned to him MetroVintage Williams F1 car 'vanishes after being loaned to garage owner in Telford'

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