# Shine On: Damon Hill's 1996 Williams Formula One car & Lamborghini Gallardo



## Paul-T

I can't honestly say I've ever seen a detail of an F1 car before, so to be asked to look after this collection of something I'm going to cherish!

Firstly, a litte bit of how this came about. A chap who knows me through the Lotus community sent me an email, asking if I'd be interested in travelling to his house to detail his mother's Phantom Black Audi TTS which has been kept outside since they got it last winter, during building work on their houses, and was looking a little sorry for itself. No problem I said.

It continued. While I was there, would I be able to have a quick tickle over of his father's Lamborghini Gallardo, rarely used, but could do with a light polish and a coat of wax. Sure said I, by no means a local job it would make the journey more worthwhile.

Then, would I also mind detailing his father's Williams. I replied - Clio? Megane? Something I haven't thought of? I wasn't expecting the reply I got. The 1996 Formula One World Championship winning car from Williams, driven by Damon Hill!

Naturally, I jumped at the chance, so fast forward a couple of months and here I was, standing at their well secluded gates. On my arrival, my contact, Paul (the owner's son) let me onto the property, showed me where to park, and made me a coffee. First job was the Lamborghini, before I got side tracked by what was to come later.










The car has just been returned from the dealer on a covered transporter, having been treated to it's second service despite only covering a grand total of 560 miles. Despite a request not to, it had been washed, but as a pleasant surprise they hadn't done a bad job. As the weather outside was grim, I gave the car a bed bath inside to ensure no dust or anything gritty was present, then used yellow polyclay to double check the paint was contaminent free.

In the lights in the garage, the paint looked pretty good, a closer inspection with a halogen light showed small areas of marring like below, I found it hard to get a clear picture of it.










So, using my Chicago rotary, with a Megs polishing pad and Swissvax Cleaner Fluid Pro, I worked my way around the car to remove the marring and restore gloss to the amazing Verde Ithaca paint (that's green to you and I!)










This didn't take too long, and once finished I got straight on with applying regular cleaner fluid to both paintwork and wheels with a microfibre pad, to ensure the very best surface possible for the wax. With that buffed off after approx 15 minutes wait, LSP was applied - Divine for the paint, Autobahn for the wheels.



















Leaving those to cure for around 30 minutes, I vacuumed the carpet mats and applied Scotchguard protector to them. I also applied a leather protector I have been given to test.

Wax buffed, shuts cleaned, glass polished, tyres dressed and exhausts shining, I grabbed a couple of shots inside the garage.




























Jumping out of sequence a little, the next morning was something of a contrast, with a rich blue sky allowing the welcome warmth of the sun to fill the courtyard. So, before putting the now immaculate Gallardo into the big garage, with it's F1 buddies, I took the opportunity to grab a few more shots. I particularly liked the way the ultra modern car sat against the beautiful listed building.























































So, moving back to the first day, it was time to relocate to one of the most amazing workshops and display area's I've ever seen, let alone with it being inside the house!

A bit of background on the cars. The main subject of this detail is indeed the very car Damon Hill drove to his Formula One World Championship title in 1996. It is chassis number FW18-01. Amazingly, the chap who own's this car still runs it, and this year has taken part in several races and drove it up the famous hill during the Goodwood Festival of Speed. Despite being unique in terms of it's history and heritage, and very valuable, I think it's great that it is still used for competition. A very reliable car in it's day, it was designed by Patrick Head and Adrian Newey, and according to the current owner, is just about the last year that the cars were 'relatively' straight forward to run.

By relatively, I mean it still takes a team of 7 people to carefully warm it through, using oil maintained at 60 degrees celcius, warm water, heating fans on the outer engine block and radiators etc. Once started, if the oil temperature is allowed to drop below 60, they must drain everything down and start again. And remember, this is the easier car to run! After this year, electronics became much more prevelant and teams of people with laptops and massive computing power are needed to run the car - the cost and logistics become simply daft.

In the garage itself is the matching FW18-02 chassis, Jacques Villeneuve's car, who finished 2nd in the Driver's Championship and helped secure the Constructors win for Williams that year. Whilst there is an engine in the car, it is the same engnie that completed the last race of the season, and hasn't been started since the end of 1996. As such, it's considered pretty much scrap - but the owner has managed to secure a box fresh brand new 3.0 litre V10 engine to replace it!

Finally, a Lucky Strike Honda from 2004, driven by Jenson Button. As it stands, this is a 'plastic car', which is to say that while it looks the part, it currently has no engine and is therefore a show piece. That may well change in the future though.

So back to the job in hand. In order to prevent making a mess around the car, plastic sheets were laid all around it, creating static and so holding onto dust. I wasn't even wearing shoes to prevent leaving wet foot prints all over the polished white marble floor.










I started by wiping the car down with a soft cloth and Swissvax Quick Finish. The point of the excercise was to make it look a little shinier whilst on display, and as I've been asked to look after the cars regularly in the future, it will help make it easier to clean after it has been on track.

The dark blue areas of the car were desperately scratched and marred, so my main focus would be to improve those, but all the time being very aware of stickers, graphics, and delicate parts. The eagle eyed amongst you may notice a wing mirror is missing - broken off during transportation and hideously expensive to rectify!

Using some new pads from Swissvax I've been given to try (a range of spot pods sold together, called a Padtower), I selected a medium firmness polishing pad, together with Menzerna 203, and working at slow speed, moved around the car.










An instant improvement was visible:









It got better after a couple of hits, paint removal was minimal but it was measuring very thin, so I approched it gently.










Nose cone before:









Nose cone after:


















Where there were areas of blue in amoungst graphics, I used a microfibre pad and Cleaner Fluid Pro to avoid the unthinkable. Polishing completed, I used regular Cleaner Fluid, then applied Divine wax.










While that was curing, I grabbed some pictures of the other cars.





































Wax cured, it buffed away effortlessly to leave a deep glossy lustre, and a very happy owner.


















































































Thanks for reading, I look forward to bringing you more as I work on the other cars, and as the owner's collection expands and evolves. He has owned and raced quite a few older F1 cars previously, and no doubt will continue to do so.


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## Cliff

OMG what a fantastic place and collection :thumb:

Well done for getting in on that one and nice work as ever :thumb::thumb:


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## Bigpikle

amazing Paul - glad it happened and was looing forward to the pics :thumb: Need to go back for a full read now


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## Jim W

Fan-dabby-dosey!!!

:thumb:


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## CupraRcleanR

Fabulous. Absolutely fabulous.

Thanks for sharing.


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## Detail My Ride

Wow, that is absolutely fantastic. Both the cars, and the house! Great work, both cars look absolutely ace. :thumb:


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## UBRWGN

:argie:

Lucky devil...... :thumb:


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## Envy Car Care

Wow, nice one Paul...moving in the right circles


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## Tabbs

:doubleshoWOW!!!:doublesho
WHAT A DAY!!
Great work by the way


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## Perfection Detailing

Nice one Paul both cars look great:thumb:


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## Frothey

gob











smacked!


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## Delboy_Trotter

Lucky . some seriously nice cars and automotive history


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## mouthyman

:doublesho AMAZING, looks fantastic


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## Tiauguinho

Wow, never thought I would see a F1 car being detailed here  Good job!


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## talisman

now thats fantastic.....can i ask what sort of business the lucky owner is in...nothing exact just intrested?


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## Paul-T

BIG electrical contract stuff. Like factories, hospitals, shopping centres, that sort of stuff.


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## CleanYourCar

Now THAT is an impressive detail. Superb work and well done on getting a job liek that.


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## ksm1985

speechless,


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## Summit Detailing

fantastic, thanks for sharing


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## Cliff

Thought this thread would have loads more vies and comments by now, fabulous stuff :thumb:


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## Deanoecosse

superb Paul, an incredible addition to the portfolio. I'd imagine the Williams would have made the Gallardo sound like a wheesy hairdryer if the owner had started it up:thumb:


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## duncyboy

Not sure what to say first???

Good job

Congratulations

or

You jammy goit!!!

Seriously it's fantastic to see something like that still being used and enjoyed. Congrats on getting such a cool, cool booking and doing a stellar job. Brown trousers time?


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## TCD

O...M...G, absolutely amazing.


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## MrLOL

i knew such people existed (that had bought the old F1 cars) but id never managed to read anything on the internet or in magazines about what they did with such cars or even if they were still in this country or ever saw the light of day

Absolutely fantastic to hear its still in england and being fabulously looked after. Excellent reading !


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## ribena

thud.....................................

















:argie:


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## S63

Finally, detailing is....go!...go!...go! You are the man:thumb:


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## ads2k

Incredible Paul :thumb:, will enjoy coming back when you post up further instalments.

Thanks for sharing such a rare car/collection.


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## the_prophet

jealous much!!!! 

wow. what house / collection and what job by you! 

thanks.


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## Planet Admin

They are both lovely cars and they deserved the finish you gave them.
Spot on mate:thumb:
:doublesho First time iv'e seen a formula one car on here:doublesho:thumb:


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## mel

WOW WOW and WOW!!!!!


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## rossdook

That's just about topped most of the stuff I've seen on here Paul - I am so jealous it's unreal! :wall:

Thanks for sharing that work with us - I'd gladly fly down from here just to hold your coffee when you're back there! Agree it's great to see someone enjoying a unique piece of motoring history such as this/these. Many thanks.

Regards

Ross :thumb:


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## ianFRST

OMG!!!

any more pics of that workshop? :lol:

thats the 1st time ive ever seen an F1 car at a persons home. are they fully driveable? ive seen 1 at a house, but had no engine / box


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## Sveneng

WOW! As has already been said, thanks for sharing. They all look truely stunning, it must have been a great day at work!


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## wookey

Absolutely fantastic!

Would love to see any more pictures of the garage/house etc.

If Carlsberg did garages.....lol


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## dsms

So awesome! Great work on both, bet the F1 was a pain to correct!


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## CliveP

Thanks for showing us your great work. 

Also thanks to the owner for letting you post the pictures, as even though his identity is rightly protected, he is very decent to let us see the pics of motoring history he owns. 

Regards,
Clive.


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## LMV

OMG what a job on all motors , results fantastic so so so jealous :thumb:


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## Simonhi

Oh my ... The forum that keeps on giving !!!


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## dw0510

Awesome well done that man!


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## Racer

Just AWESOME work :thumb:


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## baseballlover1

wow looks awesome paul! Congrats!!!!


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## adam87

wow. wow. wow.

JEALOUS or what!

Stunning work! Such amazing cars to see yet alone work on!


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## RaceGlazer

This is one showroom thread that is a real 'stand out' - a real coup for you and also great that the owner is prepared to let you show folks (carefully). 
Such a significant car too - even beats the 50's F1 Ferrari formerly owned by one of your Swissvax Detailer colleagues.


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## po-low

WOW.

Just wow.

You lucky, lucky man! 

Great job. :thumb:


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## Mat430uk

nice !


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## pooma

WOW, all I can think to say so I'll say it again WOW


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## yetizone

Wowawia..!!!

:doublesho

What a privilege to work on such a precious collection of vehicles. Really enjoyed reading through the whole write up, and also look forward to future installments


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## Neil_S

Mighty impressive Paul :thumb:


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## DC3011

I've always wondered how long it would be before an F1 car popped up here!

Top job! By the look of the orange peel on the nose, you'd have thought they'd use as little paint as possible to save weight :lol:


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## Ti22

Nice one paul. The pictures look better here than they did on the camera on sat!


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## PaulN

Wow..... what a place to live and work!

Looks like the drive was worth it.

Cheers

PaulN


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## Saqib200

Nice work Paul, you're a very lucky person.


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## jpmcc

Unreal... the best thread I have seen in a long time on any forum. Thanks for posting the pics


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## ianking

Oh my god!!!!

Speechless


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## Rowan83

Wow!!!! you lucky bar-steward!!!! lol :doublesho

Detailing an F1 car must be a real privilege!!

Love the Gallardo too, best colour!!


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## SuperchargedLlama

Jesus christ! I want that fella's job - he looks like he's got the whole deal right there! If that wasn't possible then I'd have your job Paul lol


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## rsdan1984

not every day you get to detail an F1 car!! good work!


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## mba

Not bad i suppose.....

































:doublesho:doublesho:doublesho:doublesho:doublesho:doublesho:doublesho:doublesho:doublesho:doublesho:doublesho:doublesho:doublesho:doublesho:doublesho:doublesho:doublesho:thumb:

Just loving the Sofa and chairs just outside the container/box/room/house to admire the thing


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## Phil H

stunning work and what an awesome place to work


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## KKM

Nice work if you can get it!!

Great work on the cars too!!

Thanks for sharing

:thumb:


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## Doc

Why cant i win the lottery..


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## -Kev-

superb Paul - i want that lambo :argie:


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## Stuhil

Just when I was getting round to posting my thread of when I recently detailed the NASA Shuttle...glad I didn't post it..this thread would have put it to shame...oh well, you can't win them all......well, I might take that last comment back as clearly you did!!!...and you're going back!!!

Fantastic...thanks for giving us a peek!


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## RP Stevie

fantastic work.
Loved the Lambo and the Williams is unreal. Loved the pics of the other 2 F1 cars waiting at the garage door.


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## MrLOL

ianFRST said:


> are they fully driveable? ive seen 1 at a house, but had no engine / box


it says in the OP

damon hills car is drivable, the other williams has an engine, but isnt drivable as the engine is siezed.

The jenson button car is a plastic replica and not got an engine in it.

But even then, the "drivable car" needs a team of 7 people to heat the oil to 60 degrees and keep it at that temp before it will even turn.


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## PaulB

im speechless


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## wallzyuk

Thats amazing...


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## Finerdetails

stunning cars, work and place to be


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## RandomlySet

amazing! 

not jealous at all


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## Blazebro

OMG, absolutely stunning. Top car porn :thumb:


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## Rich00p

You'd have thought Hill would have wanted first refusal on the car that won him his only championship though.

I live just round the corner from Williams, wonder how much they sold it for, I have a few friends that work there so could probabbly find out!


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## Offyourmarks

amazing cars to work on! thanks for sharing mate


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## minimadgriff

that is awesome! nice one getting that job!


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## -tom-

i have just made a mess this is just pure car porn, u r the a very lucky man, that house must have sum serious security


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## Paul-T

Thanks for all your comments, I feel very privilidged to have been asked to work on the cars, and that others can have a piece of that enjoyment too. I've certainly done lots more technical/tricky things in terms of actual detailing, but the material being worked upon is just a bit special here!



Rich00p said:


> I live just round the corner from Williams, wonder how much they sold it for, I have a few friends that work there so could probabbly find out!


In fairness, I don't think that's any of mine, yours, or anyone elses business. The owner bought the cars from another collector, but I'd like to think that even if it had been purchased direct from Williams your friends would excercised a bit of professional discretion and respect the owner's privacy.


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## Rich00p

doubt it, they'd do pretty much anything for a free beer..

you've got to wonder what sort of $ you have to part with get a working example of one of these


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## baptistsan

Don't know what to say.

Deeply disappointed.

There are no pics of the Audi ;-)

Cracking job, stunning cars.

Note to self: Must work harder.


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## ArcticVXR

Absolutely stunning work......you must have been over the moon to get to work on the F1 car...nice work mate :thumb:


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## Bristle Hound

The best write up and car porn I have seen on here yet!

WOW!

Bloody brilliant mate , well done that man! :thumb:


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## Petrol-head

OMG! I want to live there.! That place is amazing!


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## daves2rs

Must buy lottery ticket this weekend.


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## Trig

Thanks to the owner for letting you make us all stop in awe of his collection.


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## GAFFA

Awesome :thumb:


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## mattjonescardiff

Absolutely gob smacking. My jaw hit the floor on that final gallardo shot before I even looked at the f1 cars. 

Outstanding photography to capture it all so well too. Wow. Wow. Wow...


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## Mark M

Incredible! 

Superb work, and something truely special to add to your portfolio.

Well done


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## cosmo

kin el.................:doublesho


awesome :thumb:


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## alxg

Truly stunning collection, and well done on the result; you must have such a smile on your face when you look in your job book and see:

"Detail Lambo and a couple of F1 classics" 

Funny, when anyone comes round to mine to see a Williams it's only Kenneth in "Carry on...." films!!


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## detailersdomain

amazing is all I have to say.


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## Ebbe J

Interesting thread, indeed. Must be great to work on such fine machinery. 

Seing that you have tried the Swissvax polishing pads, I have to ask you how they were? You were using the spot pads, right? I also think they come in a 145mm version - have you tried those yet? 


Kind regards,

Ebbe


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## ahaydock

Just fantastic - thanks for sharing :thumb:


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## Nick_S

Unreal! What an unusual but stunning collection! The house looks incredible to. Nice work, thanks for sharing :thumb:


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## tdekany

*Fantastic work!!!!!!!!!!!!*:thumb::thumb::thumb:


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## cosmos

I found this thread by accident while searching for something else.

It gave me goosebumps seeing Hill and Villenueve's 1996 cars. It's very likely the same two cars I saw jostling around the track in Estoril in 1996. If I remember correctly Hill had pole but Villeneuve led most of the race and eventually won it. I do remember one of them had a lot of oil mist over the car from the leading car but can't remember which?

Wow! Great photo's and great write up. A credit to your skill matey.

Brilliant! Made my day (or what's left of it) :thumb:


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## Elliott19864

Wow, I could sit on that sofa all day and just stare.


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## Omnic

Obviously the money isn't the issue!


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## Kevin Brown

A life changing detail, to be sure. What a high! :thumb:

*GREAT JOB, SUPERB PICTURES, WONDERFUL WRITE-UP!*


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## Leemack

Top day had by you then Paul 

Bloody amazing


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## Ducky

Holy cow, that guy is certainly 'living the dream', amazing cars and location! :thumbs:


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## Yoghurtman

Wow, how did I miss this write up over the last few days...incredible :wave:


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## Planet Man

^^ I missed it too ^^

Great stuff :thumb:


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## lee74

so what happened to the audi im disapointed:lol:
Im well jealous although not sure if its you the owner or both!


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## ben3486

Wow.....


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## 123quackers

Audi please!! we all want to see the Audi :thumb:

Fantastic to see them thanks for that

he must be the English version of Jack Setton a famous french collector of racing cars... drop this in next time your there... :thumb:


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## Jessop

Fantastic post - thanks for sharing!

Some epic collectors cars there!

While im here - has there been any ex LeMans cars detailed on here yet?


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## billybob9351

not to be picky but did you forget to do the tts


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## ryanuk

No way that's crazy! Great work mate


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## Mr Gurn

OMG..... thats got to be one of your job high lights for the year going to that place!!

Must be a great honour aswell!!!


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## amchardy

Did I just see this car in Bahrain? :thumb:


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## Select Detailing

Wow,

Fantastic work on the vehicles, Enjoyed the pics, and the image with the sofa and audio and the car, how lucky is the customer.

Gareth


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## gb270

Thats what a days work should be. Great cars


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## Mike_182

I think I've just soiled myself. What a collection!


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## pdv40

What's happened to Paul after that GTR thing blew up? I see he's on twitter and still active but he doesn't seem to come here anymore.


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## FALCONGTHO

Wow,you are one lucky duck!To be doing your work in that environment made me envious indeed...nice work...Lovin those F1 cars...awesome!


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## DLC

OMG! What a brilliant opportunity. Being amongst those amazing cars, I'm not sure I could have concentrated.
Great post and great pics! Thanks!
:thumb:


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## 20vKarlos

thats immense.

my son has been reading through with me and really likes this


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## mos

WOW! this make my day. Carry on with what you are doing, it will give me an excuse to "waste time" looking at detailingworld.


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