This is not just any old F1 car but the 1991 Benetton B191 once raced by Nelson Piquet and Michael Schumacher.
Price is upon request–meaning we can’t afford it–but, if we could, what should we do with it? Hang it on a wall? A Mod autocross? Open class at the $2000 Challenge? Throw a temp tag on it and cruise around town? …
Boring answer: Vintage racing. I don't think it would be particularly fun at autox speeds, I can only imagine that the novelty of driving on the street would wear off quite quickly, and I'm not a good enough driver to be able to do anything truly competitive with it.
Fantasy answer: Drivetrain donor for a crazy production car/truck based build.
Probably go flying backwards off road/track because I'm too chicken to get up to speeds where the aero is effective.
Realistically, if you were given an F1 car, you should only use it for autocross. This will keep wear to a minimum since the first required short-interval engine rebuild would cost an easy 5, maybe 6 digits and nothing else on the car is affordable either. The relatively low speeds and ample runoff room will also give you a sporting chance of not completely wrecking the car on the first minor driving mistake.
Throwing a temp tag on it and cruising around town may be worth doing once if legally possible 
On an unlimited budget you could do track days and compete in historic F1, but then you wouldn't have trouble affording the car in the first place...
I'd go to Taco Bell and make them regret having ignored the time I showed up in a Ferrari
In reply to GameboyRMH :
What he said. Plus, a succession of various open wheel cars to build up enough skills so I could actually drive it. My general understanding is F1 cars - even from this era - are incomprehensibly hard to drive.
More realistically, if I could afford to buy and own this car, I could also afford to hire a driver already skilled enough to drive it in vintage races.
In reply to Ian F (Forum Supporter) :
What's the point in buying the car and then paying someone else to drive it?
I'd get it on track, because that it was it is built to do. Anything else would be rendering it pointless.
JG Pasterjak said:I'd go to Taco Bell and make them regret having ignored the time I showed up in a Ferrari
The one out by you or the one closer to me? (Or both?)
I think vintage racing is the only real option. It's too wide and long to have much fun with at an auto-x and nobody is going to let you into a track day with it. You won't make it past the first speed bump on the street (but if I could get to Taco Bell without hitting a speed bump then I'd do the JG thing).
Honestly, as cool as it is, there are a lot of other cars for a lot less money that I would have a lot more fun with. Which turns out to be really convenient for me because I certainly can't afford that thing.
I would do exactly one thing with it.
I'd keep it in the garage along with several lawn chairs and a hotplate (yeah, OK, and a corkscrew).
I would invite my car nut buddies over, turn on the hotplate and slowly drip drops of Castrol R on it and inhale the heavenly smell while revving the car up and down and mentally channeling Moss, or Fangio, or Stewart (all of whom I have shared a track with in vintage events).
If the car ever refused to start, I could make do with a couple of LPs I own of 1950s race cars on track and on dyno (the H16 BRM makes you want to run for cover! Sounds like a demented chainsaw)
Fantasy answer.
If billionaire Tony Stark can jump into his vintage formula car at the Monaco Historics and go racing, so can we!
Actual answer.
This car is a work of art and historically significant. Plus I do not possess the skills to drive this car so instead I'd get rid of all my dining room furniture and park it right inside my house where I could see it every day and lovingly wipe it down with all cotton rags coated with Griots Quick Detailer.
Keith Tanner said:In reply to Ian F (Forum Supporter) :
What's the point in buying the car and then paying someone else to drive it?
I'd get it on track, because that it was it is built to do. Anything else would be rendering it pointless.
This. An AutoX is too small to give that some breathing room.
Keith Tanner said:In reply to Ian F (Forum Supporter) :
What's the point in buying the car and then paying someone else to drive it?
I'd get it on track, because that it was it is built to do. Anything else would be rendering it pointless.
I'm not saying I wouldn't want to drive an F1 car. I also have no delusions I have the talent to do so. Maybe after years of training and practice, maybe. But at 52 I'm not sure that is a realistic plan. I don't have that many years left, nor am I sure I want to dedicate a large percentage of those years towards maybe developing the skills required to drive an F1 car. Especially in wheel-to-wheel competition.
From what I've seen, a large percentage of SVRA Group 9 cars (where this car would race) are not driven in competition by their owners.
I'm always a little shocked that we don't see more historically significant cars with reliable modern power being used on track. Put a turbo K-Series in your F1 car and let the priceless original engine sit in a museum. Throw a modern turbo flat 6 into a 962 and have an engine that starts with the turn of a key and doesn't need four dudes, 20 minutes and an obsolete laptop. LS-powered anything. Seems like there has to be a way to do this while preserving the ability to somewhat easily return to original condition. It also seems like the money you'd spend making a reversible conversion would be les than wear and tear on the priceless artifact of an original engine that requires an entire village of mad scientists to operate.
In reply to JG Pasterjak :
Part of the problem is most modern open wheel cars use the engine as a structural part of the chassis and the chassis and bodywork are shaped around that engine. I somehow doubt swapping the engine and transmission out for something entirely different is as simple as it sounds.
I was at a museum recently and they had an old Cosworth V8 from an Indy car on display. It's an amazingly small engine.
The reality is that I'd probably never drive it. It would cost too much and the stakes would be too high. I'd sell it and buy myself something like a Cayman GT4, 911 GT3, or maybe a little more track focused like a Rush or Ginnetta. I'd take the rest of the cash and use it to retire and fund my track habit.
JG Pasterjak said:I'm always a little shocked that we don't see more historically significant cars with reliable modern power being used on track. Put a turbo K-Series in your F1 car and let the priceless original engine sit in a museum. Throw a modern turbo flat 6 into a 962 and have an engine that starts with the turn of a key and doesn't need four dudes, 20 minutes and an obsolete laptop. LS-powered anything. Seems like there has to be a way to do this while preserving the ability to somewhat easily return to original condition. It also seems like the money you'd spend making a reversible conversion would be les than wear and tear on the priceless artifact of an original engine that requires an entire village of mad scientists to operate.
I believe that's exactly what's done with old Bugattis. Buy a replica engine, crate the original. Pur Sang sells the engine, and I met one of their cars at Willow Springs. It was eye-opening how much this 90 year old car sounded like it tuned to within an inch of its life. As it was, of course. You would lose that if you just parked it and polished it, then it's not that much different than any other old car.
Wow, my favorite era of F1. When I did RC racing in jr. high/ hs I usually painted the bodies up like the rainbow splotch B186.
I think Late Brake Show had a video of a guy in UK with 1.5 of these, one of which was complete and running.
Im reminded of when Hammond did a stint with an F1 car and it took him like 54 tries to get rolling in 1st. That would be me.
Id just go for the living room option, maybe blip the throttle to deafen the neighbors when their kids have an obnoxious pool party that goes too late.
Donuts at inappropriate locales......
The problem with the "engine swap" idea in an F1 car is that starting somewhere in the 70s they went to using the engine as a stressed member. There's no frame supporting the engine, it bolts to the monocoque, the transmission bolts to the engine, and the rear suspension and wing bolt to the transmission. That's not easy to do with a K motor or LS.
As for what to do with it, I agree that historic racing is the obvious answer. There are usually a dozen or two historic F1 cars at Monterey every August.
Real-world answer: financial ruin.
I know I'd have to stop a bunch, but high speed run on the Blue Ridge Parkway.
open track days with some heavy BDE energy and donuts for the sake of it.
This guy has figured out what to do with his (pair).
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