Jody Scheckter’s championship-winning Ferrari fetches R151m at auction

Of all of Ferrari’s legendary Formula 1 race cars, the 1979 Ferrari 312 T4 should be hung on the walls of SA homes. This is the Ferrari that gave SA its first and only Formula One champion yet — Jody Scheckter. The car was auctioned at an RM Sotheby's auction in Monaco for the princely sum of €7,655,000 (R151.1m) over the weekend.

The most expensive F1 car sold on auction was Juan Manuel Fangio’s 1954 Mercedes-Benz W196R, which commanded a cool R550.9m while the Lewis Hamilton 2013 Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 W04-04 is second at R330m.

After Ferrari’s departure from the World Sportscar Championship in 1973, the Scuderia returned to Formula 1 with enhanced 3l engines in the 312-series of Grand Prix cars, with the late Niki Lauda as lead driver.

Six years later with four Constructors’ World Championships and three Drivers’ World Championships under its belt, Lauda left and the team went in search of a new lead driver. Enzo Ferrari poured his team’s hopes in SA-born Jody Scheckter, who at the time had driven for McLaren and Tyrrell, and finished second in the 1977 World Championship for team Wolf.

Part of the 312 T4 charms is its being one of Ferrari’s first full ground-effect car, an aerodynamic device that has dominated the sport ever since. After five rounds of the 1979 Formula 1 World Championship, Scheckter lay fourth in the championship behind joint-point-leaders Gilles Villeneuve and Patrick Depailler, with Jacques Laffite closely behind.

Scheckter had poor luck with Michelin’s new radial tyres, resulting in a collapsed side wall that cost him an almost certain victory at his home Grand Prix, Kyalami.

For the Belgian Grand Prix of that year, Scheckter was allocated a new 312 T4, chassis number 040. He qualified seventh, then hunted his way through the pack. Scheckter made his overtake for the lead and had created a 15-second gap when he took the chequered flag, granting himself and Ferrari a championship.

Scheckter continued to race at Ferrari into 1980 with the newer but lacklustre 312 T5 but soon after he opted to retire from the demanding and dangerous sport. Out of his whole career, Scheckter wished to own one car, 040, and it was earmarked by Ferrari for him.

As shown by the original purchase invoice, which is on file, Scheckter took ownership on November 8 1982 and had 040 shipped by Maranello Concessionaires back to the UK.

Since 1982, this extraordinary F1 car has remained in the stable of its champion. It returned to Maranello for an engine rebuild before a demonstration at the 2010 Bahrain Grand Prix and through his ownership it was ever only driven by him.