Ecclestone offers F1 car collection for sale

For decades, the exact contents of former Formula 1 ringmaster Bernie Ecclestone’s private car collection were known only to the man himself and those he entrusted to look after them.

Some of them may have even dared to tell him that he, like other manifestations of worldly wealth, could not be taken with them.

Now the 94-year-old is selling at least part of it through UK-based performance car specialist Tom Hartley Jr. in a private sale rather than auction. Therefore, the final transaction values ​​remain outside the public domain.

Ecclestone, originally a motorcycle salesman, has been building his collection since the 1950s. Last year he reached a settlement with the British tax authorities to avoid a 17-month prison sentence for fraud by pleading guilty and paying £652 million plus £74,000 in prosecution costs.

The 69 racing cars on offer include a number of historically significant examples with racing history, some interesting “replicas” (including a pre-war Auto Union and a Lancia D50) and some unusual one-offs. One of these is the Brabham BT46 “Fan Car” with which Niki Lauda won the Swedish Grand Prix in 1978.

An ingenious circumvention of the laws of physics – the shape of the Alfa Romeo twelve-cylinder boxer engine argued against the use of “ground effect” venturi nozzles like the competitor Lotus 79, so designer Gordon Murray installed a huge fan to force the car towards the ground instead suck – the car sparked outrage when it was unveiled.

To avoid angering his allies when he sought to annex Formula One’s commercial revenues, Ecclestone withdrew the car. After a screening at the Ronnie Peterson memorial in Donington Park in 1978, it was not shown to the public again until the Goodwood Festival of Speed ​​in 2001.

Brabham BT46B

Photo by: David Phipps

Ecclestone owned the Brabham team between 1971 and 1988 and his cars make up the majority of the collection, but there are many other chassis with a track record.

“I have been collecting these cars for more than 50 years and have only ever bought the best example,” said Ecclestone. “I love all my cars, 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 collecting and owning them for so long, I would like to know where they are and not leave them for my wife to take care of if I am not there.”

The collection includes the Vanwall VW10 that Stirling Moss drove in the first year of the constructors’ championship. But there’s a huge stripe of Rosso Corsa front and center, as Ecclestone is a well-known collector of racing Ferraris.

Alberto Ascari’s 375, which won the 1951 Italian Grand Prix, Mike Hawthorn’s Dino, which won the championship in 1958, and an ex-Michael Schumacher F2002 are likely to receive the highest ratings. But there is also a Ferrari in British Racing Green – the Thinwall Special and the historically interesting 312B3.

This was Ferrari’s first true monocoque chassis, manufactured at a time of internal political unrest when engineer Mauro Forghieri fell from grace and was relegated to “special projects”. His successor, Sandro Colombo, outsourced construction and much of the design details to TC Prototypes in the UK. Further turbulence ensued as the car fell short of expectations, and after being put back behind the drawing board, Forghieri made many revisions to the existing chassis, resorting to a semi-monocoque concept in later examples.

The collection also includes the 312T2 with which Carlos Reutemann won the Brazilian Grand Prix in 1977.

This is not the first time that Ecclestone has parted with parts of his collection. In 2007, he put 50 cars up for sale through RM Sotheby’s, including a 1928 Mercedes SSK Roadster and a 1939 Lancia Astura Cabriolet, said to have belonged to Benito Mussolini.