Bernie Ecclestone is selling an unrivaled collection worth over £100m: 69 of the ‘best’ F1 and GP cars

It seems that Bernie Ecclestone, the father of modern Formula 1, is coming to terms with his own mortality after 94 years. Tonight he announced the sale of his entire collection of Grand Prix and F1 cars; 69 unparalleled examples of this art, ranging from a 1931 Bugatti Type 54S to Michael Schumacher’s 2002 championship-winning Ferrari. They are to be sold individually by Ecclestone’s close business partner Tom Hartley Jr., one of the world’s most successful dealers in high-end sports and competition cars.

Bernie’s daughters and his wife, FIA Sports Vice President for South America Fabiana Flosi, have little desire to become the guardians of these historic machines, the total value of which must amount to a nine-figure sum. “I love all my cars,” says Ecclestone, “but it’s time for me to think about what will happen to them when I’m no longer here, and that’s why I’ve decided to sell them.” After I get them Collected and owned for so long, I would like to know where they have gone and not leave them for my wife to deal with in case I’m not there.

“A Grand Prix race, and especially a Formula 1 car, is far more important than any road car or other racing car as it is the pinnacle of the sport and all the cars I have bought over the years race fantastically.” stories. Having collected the best F1 cars from the early days of the sport, I have now decided to take them to a new home where I will treat them in the same way and look after them as valuable works of art.”

Certainly the most original and valuable of its kind, the Ecclestone Grand Prix collection includes 18 Ferraris, the oldest of which is the 1949 British racing green Thin Wall Special, previously owned and designed by Vanwall founder Tony Vandervell; 28 Brabhams owned from birth and never before offered for sale, including Nelson Piquet’s championship-winning chassis in 1981 and 1983; also a Vanwall from 1957, a BRM from 1954, a Lancia D50A, a Delahaye Monoplace “Chaboud Speciale”, a Connaught Type-B, two Talbot-Lago T26C Grand Prix and four Maseratis, including a 250F.

Some have been owned by Mr E for more than 50 years, others were bought in the 90s and 2000s and stored in his private hangar at Biggin Hill Airport in south London. In all this time, only a few have seen the light of day.

Here are six of the best…

1951 Ferrari 375 F1

Chassis No. 5

With this car, Alberto Ascari won the Italian Grand Prix at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza in 1951 and the German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring in the same year. Powered by the Scuderia’s famous 4.5 liter V12, this was the model with which Ferrari took its first ever Formula 1 victory and Bernie’s model is one of only two surviving examples. It recently underwent a two-year restoration at its birthplace in Maranello. This car was demonstrated in front of the British Grand Prix audience at Silverstone in 2021 by current Ferrari star Charles Leclerc.

Read more: Fangio vs. Ascari

1957 Ferrari Dino 246 F1

Chassis number 0003

Used by Ferrari in three F1 seasons, this chassis won several Grands Prix and seven pole positions. It was driven by Phil Hill, Wolfgang von Trips, Tony Brooks and Richie Ginther and took Mike Hawthorn to the 1958 Drivers’ World Championship. This car was donated to the Henry Ford Museum by Ferrari and has since been owned by Luigi Chinetti, Sir Anthony Bamford and Albert Obrist before finding its way into the Ecclestone collection.

Read more: Ferrari Dino 246