Thirty years after one of the most dominant seasons in Formula 1 history, Williams has brought a genuine piece of that glory back to life. The team's dedicated Heritage department has painstakingly restored Chassis 4 from its pool of remaining FW18s - the very car in which Damon Hill claimed four Grand Prix victories on his way to the 1996 World Championship - and reunited it with its former driver at last month's Goodwood Festival of Speed.

A season for the ages

Back in 1996, Frank Williams' squad wrote one of the most successful chapters in their storied story - claiming 12 pole positions and 12 victories out of 16 Grands Prix, racking up 21 podium finishes, and winning both the Drivers' and Teams' titles. The FW18, overseen by Patrick Head and Adrian Newey, blew the competition away despite reigning World Champion Michael Schumacher's best efforts with the Ferrari outfit he had just joined.

Hill was central to the tale, overcoming the challenge of younger team-mate Jacques Villeneuve, sealing the deal at the Japanese Grand Prix finale, avenging his controversial 1994 defeat to Schumacher, and joining his late father Graham as an F1 title winner.

Restoring the 'Crown Jewels'

The latest milestone project for the ever-growing Heritage team, run by Director Jonathan Kennard - a self-described "massive Damon fan growing up" - saw Chassis 4 stripped right back and rebuilt over around five months of hard graft. Speaking between Hill's Goodwood outings, Kennard explained the emotional significance of the machine.

"It's an incredibly special car and chassis for us, winning four Grand Prix with Damon in the middle part of the year. Naturally, we've got a real soft spot for it. It hadn't run for a few years, so it was a case of getting it into the workshop, understanding what we've got around us, what condition the whole car was in, stripping it back to the bare chassis - so much so that we actually took the paint off and repainted it again."

He praised the unique archive at the team's disposal: "We've got the archive of the design, so if we had a question on that side of things - not just the design, but the engineering side - like, 'Why did we do something the way we did it in 1996?', we could look up the engineers' notes and find the answer quite quickly. To have that resource in Heritage, literally in the office next door, is wonderful."

An emotional return

For Hill, now 65, the weekend proved a deeply moving experience - from seeing the restoration for the first time, to climbing back aboard the Renault V10-powered machine and sending it up Goodwood's famous hill.

"It's very personal to me, that car. Although I don't own one, I definitely regard it as my car. It's a bespoke car for my dimensions, and I really appreciated that when I was racing, because everything was in the perfect spot. I really feel at home in it."

Recalling his first reunion with the car when Frank was still around, roughly a decade ago, he added: "That was extremely emotional - getting back in the car for the first time since getting out of it at Suzuka. Even now it has that power to bring [out] all the emotions. Going up the hill, when you open it up, you realise it was a pretty frisky little thing! It was just beautifully proportioned, the weight of it and the power of it. It really goes and it really works. It's fantastic."

Five months of painstaking work

Trusted crew member Ian Mellor, who worked with Hill through that championship year, humorously recalled the moment the driver first laid eyes on the refreshed car: "Damon was about to put his phone on the car and went, 'Ah, I guess it has been repainted?' I said, 'Yes, Damon!'"

On a more serious note, Mellor ran through the exhaustive programme of work: "It was brought into the workshop in February time. The chassis went off for NDT (Non-Destructive Testing). While that was away, the hydraulics were all serviced over at the main factory, the [suspension] wishbones NDTd, brake lines pressure checked, the [suspension] upright stripped, NDTd and rebuilt, the gearbox stripped, NDTd and rebuilt... It also had a brand-new fuel cell, all the pumps in the fuel tank were checked and serviced, the radiators were sent away to be cleaned and flushed, the same with the hydraulics, and then when all the components came back, we reassembled the car!"

Looking over his shoulder at the finished article, he smiled: "It's a pretty iconic car, and it's our most successful car, so it's quite a privilege to put it back on the track. Even in the paddock today, I heard a mechanic [from another team] say, 'Wow, look at the prep on the Williams cars'. We take a lot pride in it, because obviously we still carry Frank's legacy, and we worked for him."

Colin Watts, also part of Hill's 1996 crew, admitted the reunion brought a tear to the eye: "To see Damon today, and to say hello again... We do see him now and again, but it's a fantastic thing that he still remembers us and comes up to say hello. It brings a tear to your eye! It was a great season. It was the most successful season we've had: 12 wins out of 16 races, with Damon getting eight of those, and winning the Constructors' by over 100 points. It doesn't get a lot better than that, does it?"

Passing the torch

Mellor and Watts point towards their younger colleague, Ollie Goodenough - in his mid-20s, he represents the next generation of mechanics who will keep Williams' legacy alive for years to come.

"It's a massive privilege to be a part of it, to be surrounded by such knowledgeable people, to share some of the memories, and to be passed down some of the antics and the great success that went on at the time. I can tap into that time capsule."

A dream come true for Vowles

Team boss James Vowles joined Hill in sampling the rebuilt FW18 across the Goodwood weekend, describing it as more than just a pretty face: "It's not just the outside that's immaculate. It's an incredible racing car. From the gear shifts to the clutch, to the control, to the directness of feedback, to the balance. It responded beautifully. I'm so impressed with our team - they've done an incredible job."

"The other thing is that it's a dream come true. There are elements of this job that are breathtaking, that you can't believe you have an opportunity to do, and today's one of those. I remember watching Damon fight for his championship on TV as a young boy, and to have the opportunity to drive it, I just would never have imagined it."

Pointing to the team's 50th anniversary in 2027, Kennard outlined the ambition ahead: "Our goal is to celebrate all of Heritage, and all of Williams' history, really. There's a lot of love for Williams, for Frank and Patrick, and for everything that we've done. We need to do a lot between now and then, but it's definitely worth celebrating."

This report is based on an exclusive interview with the Williams Heritage department conducted by F1.com at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.