Gerhard Berger’s missing Prancing Horse has finally reared up.
The Ferrari F512 M, which was stolen from the former Formula One racer in Italy some 29 years ago, has been recovered by the Metropolitan Police following a four-day investigation.
Berger and fellow F1 driver Jean Alesi both had their Italian sports cars stolen while they were racing in the Marino Grand Prix in April 1995, according to the Met. Alesi’s silver-gray Ferrari F355 is still missing, but Berger’s Prancing Horse recently reemerged in perfect condition.
Under the hood.
The Metropolitan Police
The Met said it received a report from Ferrari in January after the marque discovered a car being purchased by a U.S. buyer via a U.K. broker in 2023 was a stolen vehicle. The Met’s Organised Vehicle Crime Unit subsequently carried out an extensive global investigation, establishing the movements of the Ferrari in just four days. Officers found that the red ride had been shipped to Japan shortly after being stolen. It was then brought to the U.K. in late 2023. The car was tracked down and seized by the Met to prevent it from being exported from the U.K.
The interior of the Ferrari.
The Metropolitan Police
“The stolen Ferrari—close to the value of £350,000—was missing for more than 28 years before we managed to track it down in just four days,” constable Mike Pilbeam, who led the investigation, said in a statement. “Our enquiries were painstaking and included contacting authorities from around the world.”
The engine.
The Metropolitan Police
Berger raced for Ferrari for 14 seasons, winning no less than 10 Grand Prixs and achieving 48 podiums. (He finished third the weekend his car was stolen.) The Austrian driver clearly had good taste in cars, too. Released in the fall of 1994, the F512 M was the slightly more powerful successor to the original 512 with the M standing for “modificata” or modified. Only 501 models were produced between 1994 and ‘96. The rides were the last to feature Ferrari’s legendary rear-engined flat-twelve. As such, the F512 M is coveted by collectors, with examples fetching as much as $681,500 at auction.
Although Berger’s F512 M has been found, the Met says no arrests have been made at this stage. Fingers crossed officers can find Alesi’s stolen F355, too.
