A £50,000 appeal fund has been set up to erect a statue in memory of Tom Pryce, the only Welshman to have won a Formula 1 race.

The official launch coincided with the Denbigh hero’s 70th birthday on Tuesday, just weeks following the death of his racing rival Nicki Lauda, aged 70, who was on the grid for the 1977 South African Grand Prix in which Tom was tragically killed.

Tom’s friends and fans are convinced that he would have become the Lewis Hamilton of his day had he lived.

Appeal organisers say they want to create a permanent memorial in Denbigh town to inspire future generations to follow their dreams.

The talented sculptor Nick Elphick is on board and is keen to make an “interactive piece of public art” which people can use to take selfies.

Tom was raised in the village of Nantglyn, near Denbigh, and attended the former Ysgol Frongoch primary school in the town where he spent much of his childhood. He became an apprentice tractor mechanic in St Asaph while improving his racing at driving school, with a burning ambition to turn professional, but even he could not anticipate the sky-rocketing success that would follow.

There is already a Tom Pryce mural celebrating his achievements in Ruthin, and a stretch of track at the Anglesey Circuit is named the Tom Pryce Straight in his honour.

On July 13 and 14, Tom’s life will be celebrated at the Historic Sports Car Club race meeting at the Anglesey track. The programme includes stand-alone races for Formula Atlantic, the North American race series in which Tom’s rise to fame started. He moved swiftly up the ranks and became a star of the circuit.

But Tom’s breakthrough came after he won the Formula 1 Race of Champions at Brands Hatch, Kent in 1975, and started in pole position at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone later that year, leading the field for two laps. As part of the Shadow team, he enhanced his burgeoning reputation as a supremely skilled driver by coming third in the 1975 Austrian Grand Prix and repeating the feat a year later in Brazil. Friends and fans say that Tom was set to become world champion and a Formula 1 great.

However, sadly, he perished in a freak accident when his car collided with a teenage race marshal, and Tom was struck on the head with a fire extinguisher, killing both men upon impact. Tom left behind his distraught widow Fenella, parents Jack and Gwyneth and a racing world in shock.

The Formula Atlantic race in Anglesey will be run for the Tom Pryce Trophy in his memory.

Among those supporting the statue appeal is the mayor of Denbigh, Cllr Gaynor Wood-Tickle, who said the idea is “absolutely wonderful”, adding: “Young people need things to inspire them and this can only be good for Denbigh.”

One of Tom’s old friends, Dave Jones, from St Asaph, who was given Tom’s beloved blue MGB GT car by his parents, said: “I first met Tom when he was a tractor mechanic and I was a spotty 14-year-old,” he said. “I knew he was going to a racing drivers’ school which impressed me immensely but as a person he was a lovely chap, very quiet but very funny too. The racing school had seen James Hunt before, but they quickly realised that Tom was something special. I followed his career closely. His death was a terrible tragedy and a great loss.”

Mario Keft, appeal organiser and care home owner from Denbigh, said that the statue was inspired by the Tom Pryce exhibition at Denbigh Museum set up by Ronwy Rodgers, who promised Tom’s dad that he would ensure his sporting legacy is not forgotten.

“Tom went from being an apprentice tractor mechanic to Formula 1 racing in a very short space of time,” Mr Kreft said. “It’s a wonderful story and Tom has clearly not been forgotten but I think he’s probably not had the recognition he deserves.”

Sculptor Nick Elphick, from Llandudno, has already been sketched and made maquettes to capture Tom’s “film star looks”. He added: “I feel extremely proud to have been asked to be involved in this project, knowing about Tom’s history, talking to his friends and realising what an amazing person he was.”

“It’s important to me that we make Tom’s history real so that he can never be forgotten.”

The strap line of the appeal is #whatsyourdream. For details visit www.tompryce.co.uk or the TomPryceF1 Facebook page. To donate search Tom Pryce Appeal on GoFundMe.