For decades the exact contents of former Formula 1 ‘ringmaster’ Bernie Ecclestone’s private car collection has been known only to the man himself and those he entrusts with its care.
Some of them may even have dared to suggest to him that, as with other manifestations of worldly wealth, you can’t take it with you.
Now the 94-year-old is disposing of at least part of it through UK-based performance car specialist Tom Hartley Jr, via private treaty sale rather than auction. As such, the final transaction values will remain out of the public domain.
Ecclestone, originally a motorcycle salesman, has been accumulating his collection since the 1950s. Last year he agreed a settlement with British tax authorities to avoid a 17-month custodial sentence for fraud, pleading guilty and paying £652m plus prosecution costs of £74,000.
The 69 racing cars on offer include a number of historically significant examples with racing history, some interesting ‘recreations’ (including a pre-war Auto Union and a Lancia D50), plus some unusual one-offs. One such is the Brabham BT46 ‘fan car’ in which Niki Lauda won the 1978 Swedish Grand Prix.
An ingenious circumvention of the laws of physics – the Alfa Romeo flat-12 engine’s shape militated against running ‘ground effect’ venturi like the rival Lotus 79, so designer Gordon Murray fitted a huge fan to suck the car towards the ground instead – the car provoked outrage when it was unveiled.
To avoid alienating allies as he moved towards annexing F1’s commercial revenues, Ecclestone withdrew the car. After a demonstration run at the 1978 Ronnie Peterson memorial at Donington Park, it wasn’t seen in public again until the 2001 Goodwood Festival of Speed.
Ecclestone owned the Brabham team between 1971 and 1988 and its cars form the bulk of the collection, but there are many other chassis with winning history.
“I have been collecting these cars for more than 50 years, and I have only ever bought the best of any example,” Ecclestone said. “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. 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.”
The collection includes the Vanwall VW10 raced by Stirling Moss in the first year of the constructors’ championship. But front and centre is a vast swathe of rosso corsa, since Ecclestone is a renowned collector of racing Ferraris.
Alberto Ascari’s 1951 Italian Grand Prix-winning 375, a recreation of Mike Hawthorn’s 1958 championship-winning Dino, and an ex-Michael Schumacher F2002 are likely to attract the highest valuations. But there’s also a Ferrari in British Racing Green – the Thinwall Special – and the historically interesting 312B3.
This was Ferrari’s first true monocoque chassis, produced during a time of internal political ferment when engineer Mauro Forghieri was out of favour and banished to ‘special projects’. His replacement, Sandro Colombo, outsourced the build and much of the design detailing to TC Prototypes in the UK. When the car fell short of expectations further tumult followed and, once Forghieri was reinstalled behind the drawing board, he made many revisions to the existing chassis and reverted to a semi-monocoque concept in later examples.
The collection also includes the 312T2 in which Carlos Reutemann won the 1977 Brazilian Grand Prix.
This is not the first time Ecclestone has parted company with some of his collection. In 2007 he offered 50 cars for sale by auction via RM Sotheby’s, including a 1928 Mercedes SSK roadster and a 1939 Lancia Astura cabriolet reputed to have been owned by Benito Mussolini.
