Bernie Ecclestone to sell unrivalled £100m+ collection: 69 of 'the best' F1 & GP cars

It would appear that after 94 years Bernie Ecclestone, the father of modern Formula 1, is coming to terms with his own mortality. This evening he has announced the sale of his entire collection of grand prix and F1 cars; 69 peerless examples of the art, stretching 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 associate Tom Hartley Jnr, one of the world’s most successful dealers in high-end sports and competition cars.

Bernie’s daughters and his wife, FIA sporting vice-president for South America Fabiana Flosi, have little desire to become the custodians of these historic machines, the combined worth of which must be nine figures. “I love all my cars,” says Ecclestone, “but the time has come for me to start thinking about what will happen to them should I no longer be here, and that’s why I have decided to sell them. After collecting and owning them for so long, I would like to know where they’ve gone and not leave them for my wife to deal with should I not be around.

“A grand prix and, in particular, a Formula 1 car is far more important than any road car or other form of race car, as it is the pinnacle of the sport, and all the cars I have bought over the years have fantastic race histories. Having collected what are the best F1 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.”

The Ecclestone Grand Prix Collection, which is surely the most original and valuable of its kind, includes 18 Ferraris, the eldest of which is the British racing green 1949 Thin Wall Special that was previously owned and engineered by Vanwall founder Tony Vandervell; 28 Brabhams owned from birth and never before offered for sale, including Nelson Piquet’s 1981 and 1983 championship-winning chassis; plus a 1957 Vanwall, a 1954 BRM, 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, while others were purchased in the ‘90s and noughties, and they’ve been kept in his private hangar at Biggin Hill airport in south London. Few have seen the light of day in all that time.

Here are six of the best…

1951 Ferrari 375 F1

Chassis No. 5

This was the very car in which Alberto Ascari won the Italian Grand Prix at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza in 1951 as well as that year’s German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring. Powered by the Scuderia’s celebrated 4.5-litre V12, this was the model with which Ferrari took its first ever Formula 1 victory, and Bernie’s is one of just two surviving examples. It’s recently been treated to a two-year restoration at its Maranello birthplace. This car was demonstrated in front of the British Grand Prix crowd at Silverstone in 2021 by current Ferrari star Charles Leclerc.

Read more: Fangio vs Ascari

1957 Ferrari Dino 246 F1

Chassis No. 0003

Campaigned by Ferrari over three F1 seasons, this chassis won multiple grands prix and seven pole positions. It was raced by Phil Hill, Wolfgang von Trips, Tony Brooks and Richie Ginther, and took Mike Hawthorn to the 1958 world drivers’ championship. This car was donated by Ferrari to the Henry Ford Museum 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

1975 Ferrari 312T

Chassis No. 022

The first Ferrari to win the constructors’ championship since 1962, this car was driven by Niki Lauda and Clay Regazzoni in the 1975 and ’76 seasons and brought the Austrian the first of his three world titles. It is one of only three Lauda championship-winning Ferraris in existence. The winner of its class at the 2017 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, it was purchased by Bernie in 2019 for nearly £5 million after many years of searching for the right Lauda Ferrari.

Read more: Ferrari 312 T

2002 Ferrari F2002

Chassis No. 220

Considered one of the most important F1 cars of the 21st century, and certainly among the quickest and most dominant, this F2002 was driven by both Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello and logged three grand prix wins, including its debut race in Brazil at the hands of Schumacher, and the European GP at the Nürburgring and the Hungarian GP courtesy of Barrichello. It would have won in Austria, too, were it not for a very unpopular team order. It also scored six podiums and three fastest laps in seven races. It was the first Ferrari chassis since 1977 to win with two factory drivers.

Read more: Ferrari’s ‘perfect’ 2002

1978 Brabham BT46B ‘Fan Car’

Chassis No. 6

One of the most notorious and innovative F1 cars of all time, this Alfa-engined Brabham fan car was driven by Niki Lauda to victory in the 1978 Swedish Grand Prix. He won it from Riccardo Patrese by 34 seconds. Subsequently, it was immediately withdrawn from racing but reappeared as a non-fan BT46 to achieve second place at the British GP. This revolutionary track-sucking Gordon Murray design could have changed the subsequent direction of Formula 1.

Read more: Brabham BT46B

1957 Vanwall F1

Chassis No. VW10

The last ‘teardrop’ Vanwall built, this chassis took Stirling Moss to the closest he ever got to being world champion – missing out to Mike Hawthorn by a single point – and also helped claim the first ever constructors’ title in Vanwall’s favour. Moss drove it to victory at the 1958 Dutch, Portuguese and Moroccan Grand Prix, setting three fastest lap records, and also to second place in France, while team-mate Tony Brooks stuck it on pole position at that year’s Monaco GP.

Read more: 1958 season