One to Buy: 1978 Wolf WR6 Cosworth
Whether in terms of his F1 exploits or succession of factory customised supercars, the exploits of Walter Wolf need little introduction.
Having made millions of dollars in oil exploration and trading, Wolf was able to indulge his passion for speed and ultimately established his own F1 team from the ashes of the Hesketh and Williams teams. After an unsuccessful 1976 season, during which the old Hesketh 308C was campaigned as the Wolf Williams FW04 and FW05, Walter Wolf restructured the operation for 1977, most notably parting ways with the Williams staff and bringing in designer Harvery Postelthwaite and manager Peter Warr.
Wolf also employed fellow Canadian Jody Scheckter as the team’s driver and 1977 proved a most memorable campaign; Scheckter took three wins, finished on the podium nine times and claimed fourth in the Drivers’ championship.
For 1977 Scheckter’s services were retained and Postelthwaite designed a couple of new cars for the ground effect era. The second of these (the WR6) was crashed on its second outing at the Italian Grand Prix and rebuilt around a new tub: WR6-2. Scheckter subsequently went on to finished third with WR6-2 at the United States Grand Prix and second in Canada.
For 1979 Wolf sold WR6-2 to David Kennedy who campaigned the car in that year’s Aurora F1 series. For the 1980 season it passed to Ray Mallock who ran it during the 1980 Aurora campaign, after which it was retired from competitive duty.
Today, chassis WR6-2 is on offer at the Griot’s Motors showroom in Tacoma, Washington. It is presented in superb condition, as raced by Jody Schecketr in late 1978, and comes complete with an FIA HTP valid until the end of 2024.
Reprinted below is Griot’s Motors’ description for this historic podium-finishing Wolf F1 car:
1 of 2 Wolf F1 cars built for the 1978 Season
Driven by Jody Scheckter to two podium finishes
Valid FIA HTP until end of 2024
Serviced and ready to go
Walter Wolf made a fortune in the oil business in the early 1970s and started appearing at Grand Prix races with Frank Williams in the course of the 1975 season. At the age of 35, W. Wolf was looking to purchase his own team, first by purchasing the Hesketh Racing team which was running low on funds. The team was based at the Williams facility in Reading, England and it used the equipment and the cars that had belonged to (Lord) Hesketh Racing.
For 1976 Wolf ran the Hesketh 308C which became known as the Williams FW05 with Jacky Ickx and Michel Leclere as drivers. At the end of the season Wolf decided that the team must be restructured and pushed Williams into the role of sponsor-hunter. Williams soon left to head up his own team.
For the 1978 season, Dr Harvey Postlethwaithe – hired from Tyrrell in 1977 – produced 2 cars, WR5 and WR6; both new cars for the ground-effects era with Jody Scheckter as main driver. The WR5 started the 1978 season with good results (best was a 2nd place in the German GP) while WR6 was used as the spare car until the Dutch GP at Zandvoort where Scheckter finished 12th with WR6. When Scheckter crashed WR6 at the next race, the Italian GP in Monza, it was rebuilt on a new monocoque (hence WR6-2) and Scheckter immediately achieved a 3rd place podium at the US GP (Watkins Glen) in October 1978. Following this WR6-2 was piloted to an incredible 2nd place finish at the Canadian GP. The full race history of WR6 is shown further below in the History section. (For completeness: the other car, WR5, was repaired after Bobby Rahal's crash in practice at the Canadian GP and became a show car).
At the end of the season, WR6 was retired from Formula 1 and sold to Irishman David Kennedy who ran the car in the 1979 Aurora series. It was then transferred to Ray Mallock for the 1980 Aurora series and was subsequently sold to a gentleman in Port Angeles, Washington, USA. Reg Howell, owner of an aftermarket automotive business called Wolf Automotive Products purchased the car in 1988 and brought it to Southern California, selling it to his partner Doug Turner in 1990. Mr Turner then sold the car to Michael T. Pineau in December of 1998. After using the car for several years in the US Historic GP Series, Pineau sold WR6 to it’s a gentleman in California who owned it for 15 years. It had been seen extensively on the historic F1 scene and even participated in the Monaco Historic GP. During his ownership it was maintained by Phil Reilly. Purchased by the current owner in 2020, the WR6 could’ve been seen at Laguna Seca last year during car week. Prepared and maintained by local race shop J&L Fabrication here in Washington state this historic F1 car is ready for its next caretaker.
