The Toleman Formula 1 car that Ayrton Senna drove in his first race is going up for auction later this month and is set to fetch a massive seven-figure sum.
The Brazilian legend’s F1 career began in 1984 with the Toleman, with the squad (who ultimately became the Enstone-based Alpine today) making its debut in the series three years earlier.
While a generally uncompetitive outfit in its short tenure on the F1 grid, its place in F1 history has become significant after it gave a young Ayrton Senna his debut in 1984.
Senna scored his first F1 points at the South African and Belgian Grands Prix that year with a brace of sixth-place finishes, before achieving a first podium in a wet Monaco Grand Prix.
He scored three podiums in total that year, with third-place finishes following at the British and Portuguese Grands Prix.
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Senna moved to Lotus for the 1985 season, while Toleman limped on with Teo Fabi and Piercarlo Ghinzani and scored no points before being rebranded as Benetton from 1986.
Senna’s Toleman debut car up for auction at minimum €2.8m valuation
RM Sotheby’s will auction of the Toleman TG183B that Senna raced in the first four rounds of his F1 career, and in which he scored his first points.
The car was driven by Senna’s former Formula 3 rival Martin Brundle during a Sky F1 documentary in 2022, as well as by Pierre Gasly at Silverstone in 2024 to mark 40 years since the Brazilian’s debut and the 30th anniversary of his death.
TG183B, chassis No.5, is competition eligible for the Monaco Historic Grand Prix and the class F1 series, and is powered by a period-correct Hart 415T engine.
It will go under the hammer in Monaco on 25 April and is estimated to go for between €2.8m-€3.8m.
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TG183B, chassis No.5, will also be auctioned off alongside several other F1 racers.
A 1991 Ferrari 642, built as a spare car for Alain Prost and Jean Alesi at the Brazilian and San Marino Grands Prix, is one of the lots available. It is set to fetch €3m-€4m.
Another Ferrari, the 1978 312 T3, driven by Carlos Reutemann four times and once by Gilles Villeneuve in 1979, is going under the hammer with an estimate of €4.5m-€5.5m.
A 1979 Fittipaldi F6/A, raced by Emerson Fittipaldi in seven rounds will go on sale and is set to bring in at least €500,000.
A 2003 Jordan EJ13 show car is also up for grabs, with the lot estimated to bring in between €100,000 and €150,000.
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