Former Formula 1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone is selling 69 of his racing cars from what is believed to be the most valuable Grand Prix and F1 collection in the world.
Ecclestone, 94, ran F1 for 30 years after selling his Brabham team to form the Formula One Group, although his involvement as an executive in the sport spans over four decades. His first involvement in the sport came in the 1950s with the Connaught team.
Ecclestone is using UK-based performance car specialist Tom Hartley Jnr to sell his cars, which cover 70 years of Grand Prix racing, via private treaty sale rather than auction.
The sale includes a raft of historically significant Ferraris, including the Alberto Ascari 1951 Italian Grand Prix winning 375, the Ferrari Thin Wall Special, the 1958 championship-winning Dino, and the very first 312. Championship-winning cars driven by the likes of Michael Schumacher and Niki Lauda are also included in the sale.
Ecclestone retained ownership of a raft of Brabham cars, which have barely ever been seen since their final races. Included within the collection are championship-winners driven by Nelson Piquet, and one used in testing by Ayrton Senna at the end of the 1983 Formula 1 season. It also includes the famous BT46B ‘fan car’– in which Niki Lauda won the Swedish Grand Prix by over half a minute – was subsequently withdrawn from racing following the conclusion of the race.
“I love all of my cars but the time has come for me to start thinking about what will happen to them should I no longer be here, and that is why I have decided to sell them,” said Ecclestone. “After collecting and owning them for so long, I would like to know where they have gone and not leave them for my wife to deal with should I not be around.
“Tom [Hartley Jnr] is handling the sale for me because he knows the cars better than anyone else, his business is best placed to sell them, and I am guaranteed transparency which is important to me.
“Having collected what are the best and most original Formula 1 cars dating back to the start of the sport, I have now decided to move them on to new homes that will treat them as I have and look after them as precious works of art.”
Other highlights include an ex-works Maserati 250F, the monstrous 16-cylinder Mark II BRM and the famed Vanwall VW10, which in the hands of Stirling Moss achieved multiple Grand Prix victories in the 1958 season, and clinched the first ever Constructors’ Championship for Vanwall.
Operating from a private showroom in Leicestershire, UK, Hartley has a truly global reach and is the most active operator in significant private treaty sales. His company operates at the highest end of the market, supplying only the finest cars.
“I feel very privileged that Bernie has entrusted the sale of his cars to my Tom Hartley Jnr business,” said Hartley. “There has never been a collection like this one offered for sale, and no one in the world has a race car collection that comes close to Bernie’s.
“This a great opportunity for a discerning collector to acquire cars that have never before been offered for sale, and it would be great to see them back on the track again.
“This collection is the history of Formula 1.”
Source: Tom Hartley Jnr
