The godfather of Formula One Bernie Ecclestone is selling his extraordinary collection of historic Grand Prix and Formula 1 cars that are estimated to be worth £300million.

Ecclestone said he is parting with his collection because, at the age of 94, 'the time has come' to 'start thinking about what will happen to them should I know longer be here'.

He said: 'I don't want to leave them for my wife to deal with should I not be around'.

One car collector's morbidity is another car collector's hallelujah, and Ecclestone getting his very shiny, very rare and very expensive ducks in order means the racing world will finally get access to what has been described as 'the most important race car collection in the world'.

The sale – which follows a year on from the 'F1 Supremo' being ordered to pay a record 18-year £652m tax bill - represents '70 years of Grand Prix and Formula 1 racing'.

But out of unique and legendary vehicles driven by Mike Hawthorn to Niki Lauda and Michael Schumacher, which World Championship-winning cars are the most covetable? Here are our picks:

1. 1957 Ferrari Dino 246 F1 

This car is not only a multi Grand Prix winner that also secured seven pole positions, but most famously won the 1958 F1 World Championship in the hands of Mike Hawthorn.

The British driver clinched the '58 Championship – despite only winning one race - before tragically dying in January 1959 just three months after announcing his retirement when his Jaguar lost control on the A3 Guildford by-pass.

The first F1 car to use a V6 engine, it was also the last front-engined car to win a F1 Grand Prix.

Also raced by Phil Hill, Wolfgang Von Trips, Tony Brooks and Richie Ginther, the car is in incredible original condition with Ferrari 'Red Book' classiche certification which confirms it retains the original chassis, body, engine and gearbox.

It's been in the Ecclestone Grand Prix collection for nearly three decades.

2. 1949 Ferrari Thin Wall Special

The first Ferrari to beat Alfa Romeo the 'Thin Wall Special' is a historically important car that played an integral part in the development and creation of racing enthusiast Tony Vandervell's own F1 team, Vanwall.

Vandervell - of the Vandervell Thin Wall bearing company that created three Thinwall Specials (as the Ferraris were called) - purchased the Ferrari 'works' car from Alberto Ascari and Luigi Villoresi from the factory in 1950.

It was then campaigned in its Vandervell 'Thin Wall Special' spec in 1951 and 1952, driven by the likes of Reg Parnell, Peter Whitehead and José Froilán González.

As well as its defeat of Alfa at Silverstone, piloted by Reg Parnell it achieved numerous other victories and podium finishes.

It was retained by Tony Vandervell post racing and has since been owned by Tom Wheatcroft's Donington Collection before joining Ecclestone's collection in 1996.

3. 1975 Ferrari 312 T

Niki Lauda's 1975 winning World Championship car also won him the 1975 French Grand Prix.

It was also the first Ferrari to win the world championship since 1964 and is one of only three Niki Lauda championship winning Ferraris in existence – a golden egg for racing car collectors.

An iconic piece of racing history, it's been impeccably and accurately restored by marque specialists. Following the restoration competition, it won its class at the 2017 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance.

Ecclestone purchased the car recently - in 2019 - after many years of searching for the right Grand Prix winning Lauda-Ferrari.

4. 1978 Brabham BT46B 'Fan Car'

Away from Ferraris and onto Brabhams.

Ecclestone purchased Brabham in 1972 and spent 15 years at the helm.

Tom Hartley Jnr –who's high-end dealership is handling the Ecclestone sale - said: 'Because Bernie has retained ownership of the Brabhams since they were new, and many of those cars have not been seen for decades, people can forget quite how special a team Brabham was.

'Brabham scored 22 Formula 1 Grand Prix wins, 24 Formula 1 Grand Prix pole positions, 25 Formula 1 Grand Prix fastest laps, and two Formula 1 World Championships under Bernie's tenure.'

The most standout Brabham though is the 1978 BT46B 'Fan Car'.

Driven by Niki Lauda to victory in the 1978 Swedish Grand Prix where he won the race by over half a minute.

Brabham's most iconic and famous car, the BT46B featured a revolutionary design by Gordon Murray – who was given his first job by Ecclestone – and would have changed the direction of F1 had it not been withdrawn from racing had F1 politics not got in the way.

It retired with a 100 per cent win record, the only car to achieve this in the history of F1. 

Never before been offered for sale, the complete car has been preserved in running condition ever since and is something of a unicorn.

5. 1949 Maserati 4CLT/48

One of only 19 examples ever produced, this Maserati was delivered new to Louis Chiron – the man regarded as one of the greatest racing drivers of the pre-war era and Monaco's first F1 driver.

Winning 21 Grand Prix before taking the World Championship in 1950, Chiron raced the 4CLT/48 in in the very first F1 World Championship race – the 1950 British Grand Prix – and achieved a podium at the Monaco Grand Prix in the same year. This was the only points scoring finish of Chiron's F1 career.

Entered in six F1 World Championship Grand Prix, with two top 10 finishes, it has resided in the Ecclestone Grand Prix collection for almost 30 years.