Bernie Ecclestone has one of the world’s most valuable car collections worth £300million (Image: Getty)
has made the heart-wrenching decision to sell off his mega car collection worth an eye-watering £300million.
The former Formula One chief, now 94, plans to sell 69 cars in total including a number of rare, one-of-a-kind edition vehicles. They include the Ferraris of Niki Lauda and Mike Hawthorn, Britain’s first world champion in 1958.
One of the prized models for sale is the F2002 car, which Schumacher drove to the title 22 years ago and is now estimated to be worth more than £10m.
Ecclestone has been gradually adding to his collection over time since the 1950s. Last year, he agreed a settlement with the UK tax authorities to avoid a 17-month custodial sentence for fraud, pleading guilty and paying a huge £652m fine plus prosecution costs of £74,000.
A number of history-making cars are up for grabs, including the Brabham BT46 ‘fan car’ in which Lauda won the 1978 Swedish Grand Prix.
Sir Stirling Moss’s Vanwall VW10, which he drove to the team’s first Constructors’ Championship 66 years ago, is also up for sale.
Ecclestone, whose reign over F1 lasted four decades before Liberty Media’s purchase of Formula One for £6.4bn from its parent company Delta Topco, is believed to have the most valuable car collection in the world.
The British billionaire is now based in the Swiss haven of Gstaad, having left London before the pandemic.
Michael Schumacher’s iconic Ferrari F2002 car is worth an estimated £10m (Image: Getty)
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However, he revealed plans to sell off his beloved possessions to avoid his wife Fabiana, 47, being left to make arrangements to offload them when he dies.
The report also cites a source close to the family claiming that Ecclestone’s daughters Tamara and Petra are not keen on being left to sell the cars either.
“I am 94 and with luck I might have a few years longer – who knows? But I didn’t want to leave Fabi wondering what to do with them if I was no longer around,” he told the Daily Mail.
The sale will be conducted by Tom Hartley Jnr Ltd, one of the world’s leading historic racing car dealers. Instead of auctioning the cars, buyers are welcomed to arrange a private sale.
Ecclestone also owns Stirling Moss’ Vanwall VW10, which won the Dutch GP (Image: Getty)
The 1978 Brabham BT46 was driven by the late Niki Lauda (Image: Getty)
“After collecting and owning them for so long, I would like to know where they have gone,” he added.
“I have been collecting these cars for more than 50 years, and I have only ever bought the best of any example. Other collectors have opted for sports cars, but my passion has always been grand prix cars.
“They are more important than any road car or other form of race car. They are pinnacle of the sport. All mine have fantastic race histories and are rare works of art.
“I have decided to move them on to new homes that will treat them as I have and look after them as precious works of art.”