The Bernie Ecclestone Grand Prix Collection, 69 cars for sale

Unveiling a Legacy: The Bernie Ecclestone Grand Prix Collection | The Greatest Formula 1 Collection

Marcel Massini

 

Wow! What a score for Tom Hartley Jr.!

 

Am i amazed but sad it will be broken apart.

 

This is unbelievable.

 

Why?
I counted 44 Brabhams in the collection.
And BE has many more cars and motorbikes not in the THJR sale.

Marcel Massini

 

I'd take a 1968-77 Ferrari, or a Brabham BT-49C, but aside from that, no, nothing
newer than about a 1982, because most anything newer you need multiple computer
consultants just to start it, let alone drive it.

 

Are the Auto Union and W125 part of the sale? Surely those are the most valuable?

 

"the biggest announcement EVER in the car world"

This must be a joke right to come up with the sale of a collection of (mostly) F1 cars as the biggest announcement EVER in the car world.
Listen to this music: Cypress Hill - Insane in the Membrane

If Toyota took over Ferrari or Geely took over Porsche/VW group or BMW Mercedes that would be the biggest announcement in the car world.

 

What a great collection. The Brabham collection is the most complete. Too bad no real Ferrari D50's survived Enzo's scrapyard!!

I love the restoration on the 1951 375 Monza winner, and the BT46B fancar.

 

Phil Hill visited Enzo Ferrari in 1970 and inquired about the scrapyard. Bad idea as Enzo didn't want to talk about it and the reception got chilly...

 

Unfortunately I believe both are replicas. Mr. Ecclestone had a real W125 but sold it some years ago to Martin Viessmann.

As for the most valuable, I'd say either the 375 F1 or the 246 F1 are at the top of the list.

 

Considering Bernie owned Brabham for, what, 15 years?, it's no surprise.

 

Incorrect information.
The W125 did not go to the German collector you mentioned. It sold to a Ferrari man, a client of mine in Switzerland. He bought it on the spot from BE, then sent it to Daimler Benz Stuttgart and only afterwards re-sold it to MV. This was on Monday 8 April 2013, I was personally involved in Biggin Hill at BE's place.

Marcel Massini

 

Two Lancia D50s did escape the scrapyard. One (#0001) was kept by Lancia and is today in the FCA Historic Collection, the other (#0005) was Villoresis race car before being donated by Ferrari to the Biscaretti Collection on the understanding it would never be raced. How complete either car was is open to conjecture

 

Still, one assumes neither Auto-Union or Mercedes currently in BCEs collection is original. I know he received the fifth and final Crosthwaite & Gardner Auto-Union C-Type Rep and I assume that he also got one of their W125 replicas..... Otherwise they should be front and foremost of Hartleys media campaign......

 

Again, the genuine W125 was sold 8 April 2013.

Marcel Massini

 

Thank you for the correction.

 

That's going to add up to a nice little chunk of commission for Hartley Jnr. I'm surprised they aren't going to one of the big auction houses, notwithstanding that I believe Ecclestone has a financial involvement in Tom Hartley Jnr.

I did find it amusing to note that this story popped up on numerous news sites yesterday and they all had different headline numbers for how much the cars are worth.

 

As a used car dealer before anything he bacame later, I think Bernie is a "game recognize game" sort of man. I'd say he's pretty confident THJ will bring the most money.

 

Hartley has come from nowhere to be arguably the most prominent car dealer of our time, stealing much of the business that used to go to Talacrest and Symbolic although others like Werner and Huni eschew the publicity and are probably doing similar deals out of the limelight. Perhaps he has been lucky to have found a couple of whales he could sell a lot of expensive cars to and for and some of his self publicity and politics are a bit meh but you can't argue with his success.

 

I disagree he's come out of nowhere. Clearly he's been doing the work since very young, and had a good example in dad. I do agree though that his sudden rise into big boy territory $ wise probably means he had some heavy hitter or heavy hitters backing him - maybe Bernie himself as has bee said here.

Nevertheless, his success IMO comes because either he's adapted to the times, or was lucky enough that today's market converged with his style, meaning that today's buyers don't mind a bit of exposure, social media etc... Whatever it is, he's been making the big sales.

 

I was at the Monaco Bonhams auction at la Vigie a few years ago when Ecclestone bought the Senna McLaren (a much hyped car as Ayrton had won Monaco in it), it was Hartley jr, seated nest to Bernie, who bid for him.

 

This thread needs more than just text

 

You must have missed post #1.......

Marcel Massini

 

My bad, I assumed it linked to a (paywall) article like the other thread, since YT vids can be embedded like I did.

Anyway, interesting comment on YouTube by a r.p.3192:

Have seen them back in 1997 when they belonged to Mr. Obrist of Switzerland… they (the Ferraris) were tucked away in a mountain tunnel near Gstaad… spectacular… what happened between Bernie and Mr. Obrist shortly after was not so spectacular…