F1’s Former Owner is Unloading Decades of Rare Race Cars

Bernie Ecclestone is having a sale. The former Formula 1 head honcho is getting rid of 69 Grand Prix and Formula 1 cars from his collection that he spent the last 50 years building. The public has never seen many of the cars he’s bought over the last half-century since he acquired them, meaning this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the right collector.

Ecclestone is selling off championship-winning Ferraris from Niki Lauda and Michael Schumacher. His collection also contains the famous Brabham BT46B fan car designed by Gordon Murray. It raced only once at the 1978 Swedish Grand Prix, where it won first by more than 30 seconds.

Other cars for sale include the Vanwall VW10 piloted by Sir Stirling Moss, the first Ferrari ever to beat Alfa Romeo—the Thin Wall Special, and Mike Hawthorn’s championship-winning Ferrari Dino. And don’t forget Alberto Ascari’s Italian Grand Prix-winning Ferrari 375 F1, the very first Ferrari 312 F1, and the Maserati 250F.

Ecclestone, now 94 years old, became involved in F1 in the 1950s. He’s decided to sell his collection now because “the time has come for me to start thinking about what will happen to them should I no longer be here.”  And he didn’t want to leave them for his wife to deal with “should I not be around.” He certainly can’t take them with him.