1992 Benetton B192-02 Formula One Car

Benetton and Briatore are two of the highest profile names to date amongst the Formula One elite. In Briatore's case his extraordinary reputation was not always earned for quite the right reasons. Briatore already had a professional relationship with Luciano Benetton, who, by 1979 had started to build his fashion empire with five stores in the US. The project went well so he then appointed Briatore to head up their operations in US. By 1989 there were some 800 Benetton franchises and Briatore was taking a cut of each one so he rapidly became a very wealthy man. Today Benetton outlets can be found in 120 countries.

In 1985 Luciano Benetton decided to go motor racing and by 1990 he had also appointed Briatore managing director of Benetton Formula One Ltd.. Briatore, always a man of unpredictable action, hired and then fired John Barnard. Then much the same fate befell TomWalkinshaw but not before Walkinshaw and the the team had persuaded an up and coming young racing driver called Michael Schumacher to leave Jordan and join Benetton. Schumacher joined the team in 1991 and Briatore then built the team around Schumacher and by the time he left to join Ferrari in 1995 he had won The Drivers' World Championship titles in the 1994 and 1995 seasons for the team as well as helping Benetton to win its first Constructors Championship in 1995. In all he accounted for 19 of the team's 27 victories before moving to Ferrari.

In 1992 Benetton ran both the B191-B and the B192. Schumacher's team mate was the British driver Martin Brundle and they both drove chassis 02. After a successful season where he pushed Schumacher hard all year and helping to take Benetton to 3rd in the Manufacturers Championship Brundle was suddenly dropped from the team to be replaced by Riccardo Patrese.

This is a totally genuine "ready to race' car fitted with the Ford HB V8 3.497cc engine. The engine weighs a mere 140 kgs ( by 1994 that was reduced to 130 kgs) . By modern F1 standards it revved to a modest 11,500-13,800 rpm. The power output ranged from 615-730 bhp.

This car is chassis number 2, raced in period by both Martin Brundle and Michael Schumacher in '92. The car has just been fully rebuilt and race prepared by renowned F1 specialists, Earl Goddard, with a fresh DFV re-build by Dick Langford with only installation running time recorded.

This was a competitive car in period for both drivers, but it was to put Michael Schumacher on the map in Formula 1 and pave his way to many successes with designers Ross Brawn and Rory Byrne. Their philosophy of evolution, not revolution, meant that many of the features found on this car were the foundation for Scumacher's title winning '94 and '95 Benetton cars. Their results in '92 with this car made an impressive start, finishing 3rd in both the Constructors and Drivers Championship.

Now ready to race, or add to a serious collection, this car represents a rare and exciting opportunity to own an important part of Formula One history.