The Goodwood Festival of Speed will be graced by a car with a special place in motorsport history: the 1954 Mercedes-Benz W196, driven by that year’s Formula One champion Juan Manuel Fangio. The car will be up for auction, where it is expected to raise some pretty spectacular bids, and possibly even the auction record.

That year, Fangio was actually on the Maserati team right before the Silver Arrows team joined the fray mid-season. He raced in rounds 4 through 9 of the season with Mercedes then claimed number 2 of his 5 F1 titles. The particular car up for auction, chassis 00006, was the one in which Fangio won the German and Swiss GPs that year.

Bonhams is billing the car as ‘the most important grand prix racing car’; while that point is certainly arguable, there could be few F1 cars that can match the kind of winning history and historical significance of the W196.

The Goodwood Festival of Speed is set for July 12 through 14, and special things are in store because 2013  marks the Festival’s 20th year celebration.