The 1962 Formula One World Championship was hugely significant for it marked the first time a British driver won while piloting a British built car. The 1962 championship would also be the only constructors’ title for the legendary BRM team, a firm that much of Britain’s world-leading motorsport industry can trace its roots back to.

The championship began with four teams at the sharp end of the grid—BRM, Cooper, Ferrari and Lotus. BRM, under Tony Rudd’s technical brilliance, had proven that its engineering abilities were second to none by developing their 1.5-litre V-8 engine for the 1962 season—this engine would go on to be a major force in Formula 1 until the 3-litre regulations were introduced. With defending champions Ferrari imploding from poisonous internal politics, Hill and BRM’s main challenge came from Jim Clark driving the radical Lotus 25.

By the mid-point of the season, it looked as if the championship was Clark’s to win. Hill then drove one of his greatest races at the sodden German GP at the Nürburgring, and then took another two victories and a 2nd place.

This trophy marks a major point of Hill’s extraordinary career. It is believed that this is the first time an FIA Formula 1 World Championship trophy has been offered publicly, so it represents a unique and perhaps unrepeatable opportunity to acquire a truly important and seminal piece of motor racing history.