It was in April 1995, while the Austrian Gerhard Berger was competing in the San Marino Grand Prix at the Imola circuit in Italy, when his new Ferrari F512 M was stolen.
Now, a full 28 years later, The Metropolitan Police in London have found the car after an investigation of just 4 days. This is revealed in a press release.
It is still possible to get an environmental bonus — but not for much longer
Reported by Ferrari
It was in January this year that the police were contacted by Ferrari themselves, after the carmaker carried out checks in 2023 on a car sold by a UK dealer to an American buyer.
The checks revealed that the car had been reported stolen, and The Metropolitan Police immediately put their stolen vehicle team to work.
Despite 28 years on the run, the car looks well preserved – Photo: Metropolitan Police
They managed to reveal the entire history of the car, and that it had been shipped to Japan shortly after it was stolen. During the end of 2023, the car was imported to Great Britain.
Following the investigation, the F1 star’s Ferrari was moved to the police’s stolen car storage facility, to prevent it from being exported from the country.
Chinese cars collect ‘sensitive data’: could be a security risk
Ferrari worth over 4.5 million
The F1 star’s Ferrari is estimated by the police to be worth more than SEK 4.5 million today.
Police constable Mike Pilbeam is proud that they managed to find such an expensive car that had been missing for 28 years in just 4 days of work.
According to Pilbeam, the work included contacting authorities from around the world, Ferrari and international car dealers. The critical thing was to be able to document the car’s history, to prevent it from being exported from the country.
The investigation into Gerhard Berger’s stolen Ferrari F512 M is still ongoing, and no one has been arrested for the theft.
Another F1 driver’s car that was stolen on the same occasion is still missing.
Petrol prices are too low – according to the Swedish Transport Administration
The most environmentally friendly car is not an electric car — according to a new study