Bernie Ecclestone has sold his vast collection of Formula 1 cars, thought to be worth around £500 million, to the co-owner of Red Bull GmbH.
According to the MailOnline, Mark Mateschitz, the son of the late Red Bull founder Dietrich, who inherited his father’s 49 percent share in the business, has snapped-up the collection of 69 cars from Mr Ecclestone.
Mateschitz, who is said to be a family friend of the Ecclestones, has hinted the cars could be available for people to view, saying: “in the near future it will be made accessible to the public at an appropriate location,” and also said he may “expand” it.
It has not been disclosed how much the Austrian actually paid for the collection, described by auctioneers Tom Hartley Jnr Ltd as “quite simply the most important race car collection in the world.”
Ecclestone appeared happy with the sale, commenting: “These are unique vehicles. They have written sport history and marked technical milestones. They embody 70 years of F1 history.
“It means a great deal to me to know that this collection is now in the very best of hands.
“Mark is the best and most worthy owner we could ever imagine.”
Ferraris and ‘fan car’ – a collection full of F1 heritage
Ecclestone, 94, decided to sell the collection in order to save his family from being burdened with the collection in the event of his passing.
The collection comprises of a plethora of cars from various era, and features a strong presence of Ferraris, including the F2002, which helped Michael Schumacher to his fifth World Championship with 11 wins from 17 races.
Another notable car in the collection is the Brabham BT46, commonly known as the ‘fan car’, from 1978, when Ecclestone was owner of the team.
Designed by Gordon Murray, the car utilised a fan which extracted air from underneath, creating a huge amount of downforce.
It raced just once, at the Swedish Grand Prix, and took Niki Lauda to victory, but was pulled by the team thereafter due to concerns raised by other teams.
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