Niki Lauda 1976 German GP Helmet to be sold

Miami's the perfect venue for exploring new frontiers in tastelessness!

 

This is grim beyond words, hopefully the proceeds will benefit a charity. Whoever buys it should destroy it.

 

+1000.

 

Grotesque, even if it is for charity...

 

From the auction listing. "Niki Lauda's son, Lukas Lauda, speaking on behalf of the Lauda family said, "We are delighted that our father's legacy continues to provide help and assistance to those in most need. The challenges faced by UNICEF in providing humanitarian aid to children worldwide are enormous, if we can make a small contribution towards improving opportunities for others; we are delighted to do so."

Still pretty grim and in a best possible world someone buys it and has it crushed.

I wonder what Niki would think. He understood his fame and used it to improve the work environment for Formula 1 so I suspect he would support the proceeds of this sale going to his favorite charity. Although I noted the listing says, "A portion of the proceeds." without any specificity as to how much.

 

Lauda was ultimately a pragmatist--that is he would not give a whit to what happened to a piece of his "gear" after his death.

 

If it’s the right piece, you could probably rebuild the car around it and earn yourself a rabid following of supporters!

 

IIRC:

A lady journalist from a major newspaper or tv channel once asked Lauda and Ecclestone to go to the site of the crash years later for a big article or show about Niki. She took her work a bit too seriously.

Bernie had secretly bought a pig's ear and once they got there he started looking in the grass and pulled out the ear: Niki I found it!

Lady not amused;-)

More seriously just because Niki wouldn't care does not make this auction honorable, even for charity.

 

That helmet is a piece of history and I hope it is acquired by someone who can display it in a setting where many people can experience it. The Galleria in Maranello comes to mind as a good spot. There is no point trying to ignore the past and Lauda's accident brought a lot of attention to safety that helped a lot of drivers in the future.

 

If you had the helmet he wore when he skied into the tree, that would be pretty damn tacky.

A piece of a car where he broke his leg, not so much.

Tackiness has degrees. Owning a helmet a guy nearly cooked to death in, that looks like it's been in a major fire is pretty damn tacky.

D

 

A friend of mine has Gilles' helmet, the real thing , this was a time when they only had ONE helmet for the season ...... I wasn't game to put it on as it felt like I would be putting my head where a man died so a little creepy

 

Exactly, very tacky because the poster stating it was acceptable may be too young to have experienced how we were all hung onto the radio back then for several days, not minutes, to know if Niki would survive. We lived in Germany then and I still remember, I was 12...

Very few people thought he would and in fact he even got the last rites from a priest in hospital. That is actually what boosted his will to live and his heroic survival process.

This cannot at all be compared with Romain's Bahrain fire moment because the mass anxiety, the trauma only lasted moments and then....he waltzed out minus one shoe like a Phoenix, like in a Hollywood movie with just minor hand scarring.

The Lauda trauma was infinitely worse and he did get disfigured for life.

NOT an acceptable auction...and I am friendly with a number of people at Bonhams.

 

Geez...i won;t even pay 19 bucks for that. No thank you.

 

Lewis or Toto should step up to the plate.

 

What's next, Felipe Massa's helmet or the spring that hit it?

 

wasn't this helmet once stolen on a special exhibit in Monaco ?

 

Now that's a special item!! Your head probably wouldn't fit anyway...we ll know you are too bigheaded!

 

I have a counter view to the majority opinion. First, Lauda wasn't killed in this incident, he went on to have a successful career. Second, this could be seen as an visible example of the dangers of racing and shown in a respectful way. At Kennedy Space Center, remnants of the Columbia Space Shuttle are on display, shown in a dark room and the guests are asked to view in silence. It's a haunting, sad, powerful, and steeling exhibit of the dangers of space exploration and the courage and fortitude of those who take on that task.

Showing this in someone's home display might be a bit much but again, this accident didn't result in death or even the end of a career. Playing the devil's advocate but I could be convinced otherwise.

 

Fully agree, in the 1990's I did a test drive biography article for Cavallino of pontoon fendered Testa Rossa #0748. I had it all day during a touring rally in southern California with great hill roads...I loved it, a true *****cat, hugely enjoyed my day....yet I felt I had a ghost with me all along, that of Erwin Bauer who died in it at the Nurburgring in 1958. Just a small but uneasy feeling.

One thing that really appalled me was when they recreated the E Type lightweight that Peter Lindner crashed at Monthlery in 1964, he lost control in the rain and hit the Abarth of Franco Patria who was waiting to exit the pits, both lost their lives as did THREE marshals hit by the cars. An absolute tragedy. The E Type was totally wrecked...yet despite the fatalities it was rebuilt decades later; totally unacceptable and disrespectful in my view.

 

Lot 8, Niki Lauda's 1976 German GP helmet has been withdrawn from the Bonham's auction this evening. No explanation given.

 

I will get an explanation as to the withdrawal from Bonham's in Monaco at their auction Friday.

I am 99% sure they ended up being uncomfortable offering it.

 

I had a lot of love for Niki.
Would I want this on a plinth in my garage?
No.
Would Niki give a damn?
No.
#RtR !