A uncommon Ferrari stolen from one of many well-known marque’s System One drivers in 1995 has lastly been recovered, placing an finish to a close to 30-year thriller.
The London Metropolitan Police’s Organised Car Crime Unit recovered this Ferrari F512 M – considered one of 501 remaining variations of the Testarossa – after a four-day investigation.
On the weekend of the 1995 San Marino Grand Prix – held at Imola in Italy’s north-east – two Ferraris have been stolen. This purple F512 M, belonging to Ferrari racing driver Gerhard Berger was considered one of them, in addition to a gray F355 which was pushed on the time by his teammate Jean Alesi.
Regardless of the theft, the drivers went on to complete the System One race in second and third place respectively, coming a yr on from the tragic deaths of Roland Ratzenberger and Mr Berger’s long-time pal Ayrton Senna on the identical circuit.
In accordance with the London Met, the F512 M was shipped to Japan shortly after it was stolen from Italy, finally ending up within the US.
It was there that the thriller started to unravel, after Ferrari was commissioned to test over the automotive within the US on behalf of a UK dealer in 2023, subsequently contacting the Met in January 2024 having established it was the stolen automobile which belonged to Mr Berger.
The Met has valued the Ferrari F512 M at roughly £350,000 (A$683,000), being one of many final manufacturing autos to be powered by a flat-12 engine.
The 4.9-litre unit produces as much as 324kW of energy and 500Nm of torque, despatched to the rear wheels by way of a five-speed handbook transmission.
No arrests have been made concerning the theft of the Ferrari F512 M. The gray F355 stolen from Jean Alesi is but to be recovered.
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