On Saturday I visited Williams Grand Prix at Grove in Oxfordshire.
This was not to visit the actual factory but to have a tour of their Heritage Collection.
If you are into F1 or even just into motorsport in general, I can highly recommend this tour. The collection consists of roughly 40 Grand Prix Cars, spanning nearly 40 years - Williams was founded in 1977, with their first season being 1978.
As you enter the building your eye is drawn to one of the more recent cars, sat on a central plinth, it can take you a moment to realize that, suspended above this, is another F1 car of the Villeneuve/Hill era (I think). An impressive sight, I think you will agree. In fact before you enter the building there is a topiary representation of a pit stop.
We arrive at lunchtime and were treated to a hot buffet and tea and coffee.
Following our lunch, we were led through their Hall of Champions, with photos of the seven Williams drivers that won the drivers championship, as well as the two founders, Sir Frank Williams and Sir Patrick Head. From here we move into a small movie theatre, for a very short introductory film about Williams. Then comes the James Bond moment, as one of the walls moves, to reveal the entrance to the Heritage Collection.
Our guide assures us there will be time for photos later, so we can turn our full attention to the tour, which is punctuated with anecdotes connected to the cars in the collection. This includes the "Moving Wall" of the 1984 Dallas Grand Prix, surely one of the greatest driver excuses of all time. If you don't know the story, take the tour, or google it.
Once the tour was complete, there was indeed, the promised time to wander around the collection and take as many photos as we wanted. There was also more tea and coffee available as well as the chance to visit the shop.
The building that houses the collection is a legacy of the BMW Le Mans project and I'm told at some point the collection will feature the BMW LMR.
One unexpected treat was the Metro 6R4, along with a Renault Laguna touring car.
In summary the tour was very interesting and went at just the right pace, with enough information about each car, without it being too geeky - if you get the chance to visit, don't turn it down.
Finally, hidden away in another building, I spied the Jaguar C-X75, seen in the last James Bond movie.
The full album of photos is on my Flickr page.
CZ
PS - If there is an anorak out there that can correct any of my "facts" please do!