Taking place online from 4–11 October, RM Sotheby’s is to offer items from 1992 Formula One World Champion Nigel Mansell’s Legacy Collection. Housed for many years in his museum on the island of Jersey, the collection is being offered directly from Nigel Mansell’s long-term ownership. One of ten British Formula One World Champions, Nigel Mansell is one of the most decorated drivers in history and the items on sale span his entire racing career from karting, through the lower formulas, Formula One, IndyCar, British Touring Cars, and GP Masters.

RM Sotheby’s is no stranger to selling things automotive and the auction house is currently responsible for seven of the top ten most valuable motor cars ever sold at auction. There are 330 lots on offer here though, all without a reserve price, and the collection includes some of the most important items of Mansell’s career, including significant trophies, race-worn helmets, race suits, boots, gloves, steering wheels and even motorcycles.

Looking at some of the standout items, key items from Mansell’s 1992 championship-winning season surely hold the most significance, with a race-worn suit, helmet, his British GP winner’s trophy, his podium winner’s cap, and his Sports Personality of the Year Award from the same year all up for sale. Obviously, Formula One isn’t the only race championship that he competed in and Mansell’s three-race dip into the 1998 British Touring Car Championship is recognised with the sale of a race-worn Sparco Ford BTCC Race Suit.

A more detailed list of items:

• 32 helmets, most of which are race worn

• 50 race suits, most of which are race and testing worn

• More than 200 separate trophies and awards, including the most important won and presented to him during his long career

• Two motorcycles, including his beloved paddock bike and a one-off custom ‘Il Leone’ BMW R18

• 78 caps, including all the podium and pole position caps won during his Formula One career

• Three genuine Formula One steering wheels from Ferrari, Williams, and McLaren

• Paintings and photographs

• Number plate ‘5 NM’

• An array of paddock and sponsor clothing

• Models, ornaments, and sundry memorabilia

Reflecting on the upcoming auction, Nigel Mansell said: “The collection is hugely personal to me. It represents the entirety of my career and is the vast majority of the items of clothing I have worn during my racing career; the helmets, suits and all the trophies I have won during more than 30 years of topflight motorsport. It is, in short, the material manifestation of the most significant moments of my career and it represents everything that I worked for from my teenage years through to the end of my racing career.”

Nigel Mansell’s Legacy Collection will be offered online from 4–11 October.

Words: Mike Booth
Pictures: RM Sotheby's