Police in London has discovered and confiscated a rare Ferrari F512 M stolen from its original owner over 28 years ago. The red coupe, which used to belong to Formula 1 driver Gerhard Berger, was tracked down thanks to direct assistance from Ferrari. The investigation is still ongoing and no one has been arrested so far, the police announcement says.
The car was stolen from a hotel parking lot during the San Marino Grand Prix in Imola in April 1995. Berger’s teammate, Jean Alesi, had his silver F355 stolen at the same time. Its whereabouts remain unknown to this day.
A customer from the United States who wanted to buy an F512 M through a British broker company requested an authenticity check from Ferrari this January. The Italian company identified the car as stolen and contacted police. The London police department for organized crime prevention in the automotive segment determined that the supercar ended up in Japan shortly after it was stolen, and was only brought to the UK in late 2023.
The F512 M (see video) was the most recent evolutionary development of the Ferrari Testarossa. It was produced in 1994–1996 with stationary headlamps instead of pop-up ones and featured a 4.9-liter V12 engine boosted to 441 PS (435 hp / 324 kW) and 500 Nm (369 lb-ft) of torque. Only 501 units were made in total. The police estimated that Berger’s car could cost around £350,000 in modern money, which translates into $444,000.