Bernie Ecclestone's unseen £500m Formula 1 collection is going up for sale

Once or twice a year, auction houses will take on the sale of car collections of a magnitude you might not have thought was possible. While some fine collections are open for all to see, there are plenty kept under lock and key, and this is one of them. Revealing some iconic cars that haven’t been seen publicly for decades, the sale of Bernie Ecclestone’s Formula 1 collection is one to top them all.

Expansive to say the least, the collection features a total of 69 models spanning 70 years of the sport, from Stirling Moss’s Vanwall VW10 to a number of iconic World Championship-winning Ferraris and each and every one of Ecclestone’s Brabhams. Not only is this collection likely one of the most valuable of its kind, but it’s also one that would be near-impossible to repeat.

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The likes of the controversial Gordon Murray-designed Brabham-Alfa Romeo BT46B ‘fan car’ feature as part of the collection, alongside models responsible for the introduction of technology we still use in racing today. Tom Hartley Junior, responsible for the sale, said: ‘...There is the famous Thin Wall Special, which was the first Ferrari to ever beat Alfa Romeo, the Alberto Ascari Italian Grand Prix-winning 375 F1, the Mike Hawthorn World Championship-winning Dino which Ferrari campaigned over three seasons before it was donated to the Henry Ford Museum, plus historically significant World Championship-winning Niki Lauda and Michael Schumacher cars.’

Having amassed the collection during his time at the helm of Formula 1, it’s no surprise that it means a lot to him, but there’s good reason for the sale. Ecclestone, 94, 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.’

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Given the rarity of these models and how infrequently cars of this magnitude are sold, putting a value on it all won’t be an easy task. Tom Hartley Jnr, a Leicestershire-based specialist with ties to Ecclestone, has been entrusted with the difficult task – given they are one of the most significant players in the sale of ultra high-end vehicles, though, it’s easy to see why.

Ecclestone said: ‘Tom [Hartley Jnr] is handling the sale for me because he knows the cars better than anyone else, his business is best placed to sell them, and I am guaranteed transparency which is important to me. Having collected what are the best and most original Formula 1 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.’