F1 star Gerhard Berger’s £350,000 Ferrari that was stolen at San Marino Grand Prix 28 years ago is FOUND after police investigation

A Ferrari stolen from former Formula One driver Gerhard Berger 28 years ago has been recovered by the Metropolitan Police.

The valuable red F512M nineties supercar is one of two Ferraris taken while their F1-driving owners were at the San Marino Grand Prix in Imola, Italy in April 1995.

The Met said officers received a report from the car maker in January this year after the firm had carried out checks on a car being bought by a US buyer through a UK broker last year suspecting it could be the one pinched from the 10-time race winner.

A Ferrari stolen from F1 star Gerhard Berger (pictured) in Italy during the San Marino Grand Prix 28 years ago has been found by police in London 

During the race in April 1995  two Ferraris were stolen – one being Berger’s £350,000 red Ferrari F512M

The Organised Vehicle Crime Unit of the Met discovered the car had been shipped to Japan shortly after being stolen until it was brought to the UK in late 2023, and they swooped to take possession and prevent it from being exported.

The second car remains missing and no arrests have yet been made, the force added.

Officers, who worked alongside the National Crime Agency and the car manufacturer,  found out the vehicles history in four days before quickly tracking it down. 

Despite being reported as stolen for decades, the Austrian star driver’s vehicle remained missing until last year

The red Ferrari F512M was one of two of the Italian sports cars taken while their drivers were at the San Marino Grand Prix held at Imola in Italy in April 1995

No arrests have been made while enquiries continue. The second car remains missing

PC Mike Pilbeam, who led the investigation, said: ‘The stolen Ferrari – close to the value of £350,000 – was missing for more than 28 years before we managed to track it down in just four days.

‘Our enquiries were painstaking and included contacting authorities from around the world. 

‘We worked quickly with partners including the National Crime Agency, as well as Ferrari and international car dealerships, and this collaboration was instrumental in understanding the vehicle’s background and stopping it from leaving the country.’

In 2023 the Met’s Organised Vehicle Crime Unit recovered 418 vehicles with a combined value of £31million. 

Of these, 326 have been linked to organised criminal gangs, making up £21million of the total value of vehicles seized. 

While the Met values the F512M at’ close to’ £350,000, classic car experts believe it’s worth quite a bit more.

The F512M was the last of the iconic Ferrari Testarossa breed – which today remains one of the Italian marque’s longest-running nameplates. The 512M is the rarest, most special and most valuable of them all

Just 501 cars were ever built, and demand from Ferrari enthusiasts at the time far outstripped supply. It is the final Ferrari produced with a flat-12-cylinder engine, in this case 4.9-litres in capacity

The last one sold via public auction changed hands at a Gooding & Company sale at Pebble Beach in the summer of 2022 . A very low-mileage and cherished example (pictured), it sold for $720,000 two years ago, which was $120,000 over its higher estimate

Hagerty, which specialises in tracking the value of collectible motors, says this an ‘excellent’ condition example of this Ferrari supercar is worth £389,000. A ‘concours’ (meaning it’s one of the best remaining examples that’s good enough to be showcased in a museum) would typically cost a collector an average of £540,000 in today’s market.

The last one sold via public auction changed hands at a Gooding & Company sale at Pebble Beach in the summer of 2022.

A very low-mileage and cherished example, it sold for $720,000 two years ago, which was $120,000 over its higher estimate. 

The F512M was the last of the iconic Ferrari Testarossa breed – which today remains one of the Italian marque’s longest-running nameplates.

The 512M is the rarest, most special and most valuable of them all.

Just 501 cars were ever built, and demand from Ferrari enthusiasts at the time far outstripped supply. 

It is the final Ferrari produced with a flat-12-cylinder engine, in this case 4.9-litres in capacity.

It generated 446bhp, meaning this two-door supercar could reach 60mph from a standstill in 4.7 seconds and a top speed of 196mph – which is no mean feat for a mid-nineties model.

This post first appeared on Dailymail.co.uk