While racing at the track in 1995, F1 driver Gerhard Berger’s red Ferrari was stolen. Now, almost thirty years later, the police have recovered the car.
Only 500 of the Ferrari F512M were produced between 1994 and 1996. The Austrian F1 pilot Gerhard Berger had one. But while racing at the Imola circuit in Italy in 1995, the car was stolen.
The police suspect that the exclusive Ferrari – worth around 400,000 euros today – was stolen to order and shipped to Japan. Over the years it was reportedly resold several times. During one of those international transactions he came back on the police radar. The British Metropolitan Police were tipped off last year by Italian colleagues that the car had been reported as stolen. Even after all these years.
“The stolen Ferrari was missing for more than 28 years,” said Mike Pilbeam, who led the investigation. “Now it only took four days before we could track him down. We worked closely with the National Crime Agency, but Ferrari and international car dealers were also involved in the investigation.”
No arrests have been made so far, but the car has been found. It is not clear whether Berger will get him back. He was paid out by insurance almost thirty years ago.