‘I marvelled at what I had been trusted to look after’

I worked for Bernie Ecclestone at the Brabham Formula 1 team back in the 1980s and then in 1995 he asked me to look after his cars. The collection was quite different back then. There were cars all over the place, some of them at Donington, some were lent to other people, and my job was to bring them all together under one roof.

He collected organically, his tastes would change, and over the years I looked after the cars he not only made some changes but also took on another collection which included wonderful front-engined Ferraris.

My job as curator was to look after all the cars. We had 120 when I started, and it was always just me. I did everything apart from prepping a race car for an event which went to a specialist. It was up to me to take care of the MOTs for the road cars, the shipping and transport for events, the restorations and even the buildings. Mr E would phone me, ask for something to be done, and put the phone down assuming it would now be done. So it was down to me to ensure that all the cars were in good condition, clean, and ready to run. As far as he was concerned nothing was impossible. At Brabham, for example, when I told him that fitting some special spotlights in his aeroplane just wasn’t going to be possible he came to see me, asked to borrow my dictionary, and crossed out the word ‘impossible’.

Originally we kept them on the old industrial estate at Biggin Hill where he kept his aeroplanes in the hangar. Then, when he bought the old RAF base, we converted buildings there for them. He’d come and have a look at them when he was flying somewhere and he loved to bring his friends to have a look, racing drivers and celebrities, and if he’d bought a new car I’d have it ready for them front and centre.

He would let some of the cars go to events but he was very picky about who would drive them and where they were going. It was a real honour for me to drive the Brabham ‘fan car’ at Goodwood. He told me, “If you crash it don’t bother coming into work on Monday.” He always said that if I damaged a car, or any equipment, I would have to pay to fix it.

When Fernando Alonso drove the Ferrari 375 at the British Grand Prix I had to show him how to drive it, and again when Michael Schumacher drove the car, so that was a real privilege. I know Mr Ecclestone really enjoyed seeing Alonso do those laps in the Ferrari at Silverstone. He wouldn’t let anyone drive any of the cars unless there was a very good reason and he’d want to know exactly what was involved.

It took me a long time to persuade him to go to Goodwood. He’d say, “I spend every weekend at a race circuit, why would I want to go to another one?” At Biggin a lot of the cars were kept in their ‘working clothes’, not all of them in immaculate concourse condition like so many collections. He preferred them like that.

Every day I marvelled at what I had been trusted to look after. Some days at Biggin I would just enjoy sitting in the cars, like the Mercedes W125 which I’d driven round Brands Hatch, or one of Fangio’s cars, sitting behind the wheel where the great man had sat and raced the car.

My favourite cars? That’s a tough one but I’d have to include the BT46, the Mercedes W125 and the Ferrari 375. I’ve driven them all and they are such special cars for any collector.