Williams has launched a High Court claim worth more than £1m over a missing Williams Fw23, a rare heritage car that was loaned out nearly a decade ago and has not been returned. The dispute centres on one of only nine FW23 cars, a vehicle that played a small but notable role in Williams's 2001 World Championship campaign with Ralph Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya.
The car was loaned in 2015 to Shropshire-based Autotech Performance Ltd for display at the firm's Telford garage. Williams says the agreement was for a loan, not a transfer of ownership, and that the car remained part of its heritage collection. According to Richard Clegg, the car is part of the claimant’s unique collection of heritage cars and its use or sale is strictly controlled to help preserve it.
How the dispute unfolded
The timeline in the case is straightforward, even if the outcome is not. Williams requested the car's return in 2021 and received no response. In October 2021, the team wrote again, seeking to inspect the car and terminating the loan, but still got no reply. After Autotech entered voluntary liquidation and was dissolved, Williams says the car was removed from the premises.
Peter Thorpe, a former Autotech director and shareholder who is defending the claim, says he does not know where the car is. He also disputes Williams's account and says that when he last visited in the summer of 2021, before the company was dissolved, the car was still on site. In response to Williams's position, Thorpe has said the team made an accusation “because he knew this to be untrue.”
Why the FW23 matters
The value of the case is about more than the money at stake. The FW23 is described as one of Williams's heritage cars, maintained to preserve the team's history. At around £750,000, it is a significant asset on its own, but its rarity is part of what makes the dispute so notable. With only nine FW23 cars believed to exist, the question of where this one ended up is central to the case.
Richard Clegg said that in 2015 Williams agreed to loan the car to Autotech under a document titled the Historic Car Loan Agreement, with the terms known and agreed to by Autotech. That detail will likely matter as the High Court examines whether the car was simply borrowed for display or whether something else happened later.
For now, the key question remains unanswered: where is the FW23? Williams is seeking its return, while the defendant says he does not know where it is. The High Court case will decide whether the missing car can be recovered, and whether the long-running dispute over this rare piece of Williams history can finally be resolved.
