Bernie's garage clear-out
Updated on 31 October 2007
It's Britain's biggest sale of vintage cars - half of them belonging to Formula One's Bernie Ecclestone
They're only second hand cars - but it's quite a collection - freshly polished, and buffed and gleaming. Toys for boys and men. Some of these cars were owned by Bernie Ecclestone - the diminutive power behind Formula One. He's just turned 77.
There've been classic car auctions here before - but none - it's said of such value. In Battersea Park in South London, 85 cars were going under the hammer this evening.
They were expected to generate a total of some £25 million - some vehicles so desirable they will seldom if ever be driven - except into a garage or museum.
Some people collect classic cars - like others collect contemporary art., although it can be a punitively expensive addiction.
The star lot this evening - and warranting a centrefold in the latest edition of Classic Cars Magazine - was the Mercedes Benz - a 540K Special Roadster from 1937.
Enthusiasts can get quite lyrical about such things. This magazine described it as 'a silver vixen - a shimmering goddess of a car '. The boys gathered round transfixed - just thrilled to be so close.
One German enthusiast contented himself with taking snaps. He couldn't afford a beast like this - he told us he collects classic car brochures instead. An altogether more affordable hobby.
Within the last hour or so, it became the most expensive Mercedes road car ever sold at auction, fetching £3.5 million pounds. It was one of Bernie's Mercs , but he apparently never drove it.
He was selling off about 40 cars tonight. At home, he still apparently has a collection of about 300, mostly racing cars.
