Ecclestone to make millions in F1 car sale

Dec.2 (GMM) Bernie Ecclestone is facing a massive financial windfall by selling his entire Formula 1 car collection.

The former F1 supremo, 94, has been amassing one of the world’s most impressive and valuable collections of grand prix cars throughout his life – with the tally standing at 69 single seaters, housed in a huge hangar.

“I love all my cars,” said the diminutive Briton. “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.”

Ecclestone’s range of cars is impressive – from the 1931 Bugatti Type 54S to the infamous Brabham ‘fan car’ to Michael Schumacher’s dominant 2002 Ferrari and beyond. If all the cars sell, it would raise literally hundreds of millions of dollars for the retiree, who is already worth a rumoured $2.5 billion.

“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,” said Ecclestone.

“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 cars are being sold via Tom Hartley Jr, a British dealer of high-value cars who says some of Ecclestone’s single seaters are “effectively priceless”.