The Ferrari 512M stolen from former Formula 1 driver Gerhard Berger was found almost three decades later in London, according to the British police.
In April 1995, the luxury cars of the Austrian driver and his French teammate at the time, Jean Alesi, were stolen in the Italian city of Imola, where the San Marino Grand Prix was being held.
According to stories from the time, Berger himself had to throw himself to the side when one of the thieves aboard his vehicle tried to leave the parking lot of the hotel where they were staying for the competition.
The then driver of the team attempted a chase aboard a friend’s Volkswagen Golf in vain.
Since then, there was no trace of the red Ferrari, which has a value of approximately 350,000 pounds (about $442,000).
Almost in a cinematic twist, the vehicle appeared after decisive information accessed by Ferrari itself.
Last January, the Italian brand contacted the London police after discovering that a Ferrari sold in 2023 was actually a stolen car.
British investigators from a unit specializing in vehicle theft attempted to trace the path the car took since the theft.
As far as they can tell, the car arrived in the UK at the end of last year and was recently purchased by an American customer.
After working closely with investigators and car dealers abroad, British police concluded that it was the car that was stolen from Gerhard Berger almost 29 years ago and sent to Japan shortly afterwards.
THE red Ferrari 512M is still on British soil and the police managed to intercept it before its departure to the United States. At the moment, the investigation continues without any arrests having been made.
The 512M was the final evolution of the famous Testarossa of the 80s. Compared to previous versions, it featured fixed headlights instead of retractable lights. The upgraded 4.9-liter boxer engine produced 434 horsepower. Only 501 examples were manufactured.
For its part, the car of Frenchman Jean Alesi, a gray Ferrari 355, remains with an unknown location.
In 2023, investigators from this specialized British police vehicle theft unit recovered 418 cars, with a total value of 31 million pounds ($39.2 million).
Gerhard Berger, who is currently 64 years old, was a Formula 1 driver for fourteen seasons, between 1984 and 1997. The Austrian raced in 210 grands prix, of which he won ten, twice finishing third in the drivers’ World Championship with the Ferrari team.
The robbery occurred in Imola, in 1995, in the run-up to the San Marino Grand Prix of that year, and was recorded in the story of Grand Prix magazine.
With the title of Italian-style robbery, the prestigious media detailed what happened before the race. “The Imola tourist office will not have appreciated the publicity the region received last weekend when car thieves stole the street Ferraris of Gerhard Berger and Jean Alesi while they were in town for the San Marino GP.”
He continued: “Alesi’s silver-grey 355 disappeared from his hotel parking lot, while Berger’s bright red 512M (the pair valued at around US$400,000) provided a much more exciting story when Berger arrived at the time when “The thief took the vehicle.”
According to the story, “the Austrian ran into the fleeing bandit, realized that the thief had no intention of stopping, and jumped out just in time. The thief then drove the car at high speed through a small gap to escape. Berger chased him in a friend’s Volkswagen Golf, but even his prodigious talent couldn’t keep up with the supercar!”
Already in that chronicle there was speculation about the fate of the two units: “The Imola police seem to think that the thefts were professional jobs and that the two Ferraris are probably already on their way to the Middle East, to be sold.”
The fact, which is now finally partially resolved, did not alter the performance of the drivers, since both Berger (third) and Alesi (second) ended up accompanying the winner, the British Damon Hill, on the podium.
