Bernie Ecclestone has achieved a record-breaking sale with the disposal of his renowned fleet of historic grand prix and Formula One cars, believed to be worth around half a billion pounds.
The 94-year-old former Formula One supremo, who amassed these vehicles over five decades, sold the entire 69-car collection to Mark Mateschitz, son of the late Red Bull founder Dietrich Mateschitz.
Mateschitz, 32, inherited 49 per cent of the global energy drink empire last October and confirmed that he plans to open the collection for public viewing in the near future. Although financial details remain confidential, the deal is said to represent the most valuable transaction ever to occur in the collectors’ car market.
Among the highly prized exhibits are Ferraris once raced by world champions Mike Hawthorn, Niki Lauda and Michael Schumacher, as well as a number of Brabham cars piloted by Nelson Piquet, Carlos Pace and Lauda himself. The line-up also includes the iconic one-off Brabham-Alfa Romeo BT46B “fan car”, which famously competed only once, triumphing at the 1978 Swedish Grand Prix.
According to broker Tom Hartley Jnr, who managed the sale, there has never been a classic car transaction “that even comes close” to this one in terms of scale and value. He revealed that there was interest from potential buyers across the globe, including two sovereign wealth funds, but noted that Ecclestone had a particular preference for Mateschitz.
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