Bernie Ecclestone’s Grand Prix Collection of F1 cars goes on sale
Tom Hartley Jnr Ltd, a British car dealer specializing in the finest luxury vehicles, supercars, and former race cars, recently announced that Bernie Ecclestone, the godfather of F1, has entrusted the company with the ‘Ecclestone Grand Prix Collection.’
Why the Ecclestone Grand Prix Collection is so important
The collection of 69 cars, which does not include all of Ecclestone’s valuable collectible race cars, spans 70 years of Grand Prix racing. Many cars were driven by FIA F1 World Driver Champions, including all-time greats such as Nik Lauda, Michael Schumacher, Nelson Piquet, and Ayrton Senna.
‘I feel very privileged that Bernie has entrusted the sale of his cars to my Tom Hartley Jnr business. Formula 1 cars are cars that I know particularly well, they are not just cars that I have a great personal interest in,” said Tom Hartley Jr. “There has never been a collection like this one offered for sale, and no one in the world has a race car collection that comes close to Bernie’s.”
Who is Bernie Ecclestone and how did he acquire so many F1 race cars?
Ecclestone was a highly successful used car dealer who purchased the Brabham Formula 1 team for £100,000 in 1972. Ecclestone ran the team for 15 years, but his greater impact on F1 came from his business, organizational, and negotiation skills. He organized the Formula One Constructors Association (FOCA) and is widely credited with making F1 profitable for drivers, teams, the organization, and himself.
One key to his success was negotiating television broadcast rights for Formula One races. He also formed Formula One Promotions and Administration (FOPA) to support Formula One financially. In essence, Ecclestone owned Formula 1, which was and is a highly profitable enterprise.
Ecclestone is 94 years old and, as he explains to Tom Harley Jr. in the longer of the two YouTube videos in this article, he is selling his collection to avoid causing difficulty for his family members selling such special and expensive cars at a later date.
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