A rare Toleman under the hammer
Driven by Ayrton Senna in the dramatic 1984 Monaco GP, a rare Toleman chassis goes under the hammer
The car that helped Ayrton Senna make his mark in F1 will be auctioned in the Bonhams’ Monaco Sale on May 11, 34 years on from one of the most contentious races on the streets of the Principality.
The Toleman-hart TG184-2 was the car driven by Senna that day in only his fifth grand prix. In soaking wet conditions, he was fast closing on the Mclaren MP4/2 of Alain Prost when the red flag was shown on the 32nd lap as clerk of the course Jacky Ickx deemed conditions too dangerous for the race to continue.
The flag was shown just as Senna caught and passed Prost, but the results were taken back to lap 31 and Prost was declared winner over his future rival.
But Senna’s performance had marked him as a new F1 star and it led to him joining Lotus for 1985.
The Toleman TG184 was designed by Rory Byrne and Pat Symonds for the small UK team headed by the Toleman family. It ran with Brian Hart’s four-cylinder turbo engine, the 415T, and Senna’s second place at Monaco was the car’s best result.
Chassis 2 was sold for £1million in 2015, three years after failing to sell at auction with a £550,000 reserve, and Bonhams estimates a £750,000 to £1million price range this time around.
“We are delighted to present the very car that provided the opening chapter for Ayrton Senna’s remarkable and record-breaking story at the Monaco Grand Prix,” said Mark Osborne from Bonhams.