1988 Leyton House March F1 (March-Judd 881)

• Now regarded as ground breaking, the March-Judd 881 was Adrian Newey's first ever F1 design and changed the shape of F1 cars forever
• He took the main elements of the design over to Williams to form the basis of the all-conquering FW14
• This is not a replica but an amalgamation of factory March-Judd 881 parts that was built in period to celebrate a great designer, the spirit of the underdog and one of the prettiest Formula 1 cars ever designed
• Original parts include the tub, which is believed to be the GRP test moulding for the subsequent carbon tubs, the wheels, suspension, brake discs, the bodywork and the wings. The rear suspension is hung from an original gearbox casing and it has a correct steering wheel and original instrumentation
• It's presented in the correct livery from the 1988 Japanese Grand Prix when Ivan Capelli qualified 4th and lead the race

When technical director Adrian Newey arrived at the March Formula 1 team in the summer of 1987 it heralded a revolution that changed grand prix car design right through to the present day and his designs have had a significant bearing in the successes of the Williams, McLaren and Red Bull Formula One teams. The March-Judd 881 became Newey’s focus with aerodynamics paramount to the cars performance as normally aspirated cars battled with turbocharged cars. Up until that point, aerodynamicists had to work to package around the mechanical designs of the car – that was now about to change and set the tone to this day. The March-Judd 881 was small, aggressive and introduced features that had not been seen in earlier designs including the raised nose, effective diffusers and sculptured wing endplates.

At the British Grand Prix in July 1988, the efficiency of his design was evident as even Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost were astounded at the Leyton House cars speed through Copse Corner and with lap times that locked out the third row of the grid. From then on, the team scored points regularly and it's possible a Grand Prix win could have been achieved when Ivan Capelli briefly took the lead at Suzuka only to record a DNF. It also  the first time that a normally aspirated F1 car had led a race since 1983. At the end of the season, Leyton House March had secured sixth in the Constructors Championship, unimaginable at the start of the year, and Adrian Newey was rightly recognised as a major talent with many more years of success ahead of him.

Offered here is a March Leyton House F1 car presented as the  March-Judd 881 from the 1988 Japanese Grand Prix when Ivan Capelli qualified 4th and lead the race until an electrical fault robbed the team of their first Grand Prix win. It celebrates Adrian Newey’s first grand prix car designed without the restraints of a large design team and, of course, the iconic Turquoise Leyton House livery. If ever a car punched above its weight it was the March-Judd 881.

It's more than a show car as it has many original parts including the tub, which is believed to be the GRP test moulding for the subsequent carbon tubs, the wheels, suspension, brake discs, the bodywork and the wings. The rear suspension is hung from an original gearbox casing and it has a correct steering wheel and original instrumentation. This is not a replica but an amalgamation of factory March-Judd 881 parts that has been put together to celebrate a great designer, the spirit of the underdog and one of the prettiest Formula 1 cars ever designed.