'Hundreds of millions' - Ecclestone to sell car collection

Bernie Ecclestone's collection includes the 1976 Ferrari 312 T2 driven by Carlos Reutemann and Clay Regazzoni

Former Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone is to sell his collection of race cars driven by motorsport legends including Michael Schumacher, Niki Lauda and Nelson Piquet.

Ecclestone, who was in charge of the sport for nearly 40 years until 2017, assembled the collection of 69 iconic F1 and Grand Prix cars over a span of more than five decades.

The collection includes Ferraris driven by world champions Schumacher, Lauda and Mike Hawthorn, as well as Brabham cars raced by Piquet and Carlos Pace, among others.

"All the cars I have bought over the years have fantastic race histories and are rare works of art," said 94-year-old Ecclestone.

Among the cars up for sale is also Stirling Moss' Vanwall VW10, that became the first British car to win an F1 race and the Constructors' Championship in 1958.

"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," added Ecclestone.

"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."

The former Brabham team boss has appointed specialist sports and race cars sellers Tom Hartley Jnr Ltd to manage the sale.

"There are many eight-figure cars within the collection, and the value of the collection combined is well into the hundreds of millions," said Tom Hartley Jnr.

"The collection spans 70 years of racing, but for me the highlight has to be the Ferraris.

"There is the famous 'Thin Wall Special', which was the first Ferrari to ever beat Alfa Romeo, Alberto Ascari's Italian GP-winning 375 F1 and historically significant championship-winning Lauda and Schumacher cars."

Also included are the Brabham BT46B, dubbed the 'fan car' and designed by Gordon Murray, which Lauda drew to victory at the 1978 Swedish GP and the BT45C in which the Austrian made his debut for Ecclestone's team the same year.

Billionaire Ecclestone took over the ownership of the commercial rights of F1 in the mid-1990s and played a key role in turning the sport into one of the most watched in the world.