8:03 am, December 2, 2024
High-end car dealer Tom Hartley Jnr has been chosen by Bernie Ecclestone to sell his 69-strong collection of Grand Prix and Formula 1 cars.
Regarded as the probably the greatest collection of Formula 1 history, the line-up covers 70 years of Grand Prix racing.
It consists of Ferraris driven by the likes of Hawthorn, Lauda and Schumacher, a pair of pre-war Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union cars, a Vanwall VW10 driven by Sir Stirling Moss, and a string of Brabhams – including the one-off 1978 Brabham-Alfa Romeo BT46B ‘fan car’ – from the time when Ecclestone owned the team.
The 69 cars have been stored away from the public for decades, with many of them never having been seen since Ecclestone purchased them.
Ecclestone, 94, said he chose Hartley Jnr as he trusted his knowledge of the cars, and was guaranteed ‘transparency’ with the sales, which ‘is important’.
‘I have been collecting these cars for more than 50 years, and I have only ever bought the best of any example,’ the former F1 tycoon said.
‘Whilst many other collectors over the years have opted for sports cars, my passion has always been for Grand Prix and Formula 1 cars.
‘A Grand Prix and in particular a Formula 1 car is far more important than any road car or other form of race car, as it is the pinnacle of the sport, and all the cars I have bought over the years have fantastic race histories and are rare works of art.
‘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. 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.
‘Tom [Hartley Jnr] is handling the sale for me because he knows the cars better than anyone else, his business is best placed to sell them, and I am guaranteed transparency which is important to me.’
The Brabham selection includes the one-off ‘fan car’
Ecclestone added: ‘Having collected what are the best and most original Formula 1 cars dating back to the start of the sport, I have now decided to move them on to new homes that will treat them as I have and look after them as precious works of art.’
Tom Hartley Jnr has branded the 69-strong set the ‘most important race car collection in the world’.
The Ferrari selection ranges from the famous Thin Wall Special (which was the first Ferrari to ever beat Alfa Romeo), the Alberto Ascari Italian Grand Prix-winning 375 F1, the Mike Hawthorn World Championship-winning Dino which Ferrari campaigned over three seasons before it was donated to the Henry Ford Museum, plus historically significant World Championship-winning Niki Lauda and Michael Schumacher cars.
The collection also includes a whole of host of Brabham Formula 1 cars from the time when Ecclestone was team owner.
Hartley Jnr said: ‘Because Bernie has retained ownership of the Brabhams since they were new, and many of those cars have not been seen for decades, people can forget quite how special a team Brabham was.
‘Brabham scored 22 Formula 1 Grand Prix wins, 24 Formula 1 Grand Prix pole positions, 25 Formula 1 Grand Prix fastest laps, and two Formula 1 World Championships under Bernie’s tenure. The team was also very innovative, fitting carbon brakes to its cars in the 1970s, and was the first to introduce in-race refuelling.
‘Bernie was also the person who gave a young South African engineer named Gordon Murray a job – and other big names in motorsport such as Charlie Whiting and Herbie Blash were part of the Brabham boys.’
Commenting on being chosen by Ecclestone to sell his collection, Hartley Jnr said: ‘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, but we at Tom Hartley Jnr actively buy and sell them, too. However, 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.
‘This a great opportunity for a discerning collector to acquire cars that have never before been offered for sale, and it would be great to see them back on the track again.’
He added: ‘This collection is the history of Formula 1.’
Earlier this year Car Dealer visited Tom Hartley Jnr’s business – you can watch the full interview and walk-around tour above.
