Former Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone has announced he will sell his entire racing car collection, reportedly worth about $400 million, which includes the first Ferrari to win an F1 race.
The collection, consisting of 69 cars, is expected to fetch close to $400 million. Many of the cars have never been sold before, according to Car and Driver.
“I have been collecting these cars for more than 50 years, and I have only ever bought the best of any example,” Ecclestone said in a statement reported by Forbes. “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,” the 94-year-old continued.
“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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Former F1 Boss Bernie Ecclestone and sports and race car dealer Tom Hartley Jr pictured with the race car collection. Photo from Facebook |
Ecclestone will sell the collection through sports and race car dealer Tom Hartley Jr, who described it as “the history of Formula One.”
The announcement follows Ecclestone’s guilty plea to fraud last year, after he failed to declare more than £400 million (about $509 million) of assets held in a trust in Singaporea. To avoid a 17-month prison sentence, Ecclestone agreed to repay nearly £653 million (approximately $830 million) to the UK’s HM Revenue and Customs.
Ecclestone, who began his career in racing in the 1950s, later became a driver manager for Stuart Lewis-Evans and Jochen Rindt, both of whom tragically died while competing. In 1971, he purchased the Brabham F1 team, and in 1987, he became CEO of the Formula One Group. He later founded the Formula One Promoters Association, which became Formula One Management, to manage the sport’s commercial rights, according to CNN.
Ecclestone stepped down from Formula One in 2017 after Liberty Media acquired it for $4.6 billion.
