Police in London confiscated a vehicle stolen in Italy in 1995 valued at £350,000 as it was about to be sold to an American buyer.
The wheels of justice might be painfully slow compared to the speed of Formula 1, however, Scotland Yard has recovered a special edition Ferrari belonging to racing driver Gerhard Berger, 28 years after his disappearance.
The red F512M Testarossa, valued at £350,000, was stolen in Imola, Italy, in 1995, as the crowd gathered for a grand prize.
The Metropolitan Police said the car was on an adventure in Japan before it was discovered in London.
Ferrari alerted police that the car was in the UK and was about to be sold to an American buyer.
The Austrian driver at Imola for the San Marino Grand Prix when the photo was taken.
The Met said: “In January this year, the Met obtained a report from Ferrari, which had carried out checks on a car purchased through an American customer through a UK broker in 2023, which revealed that it was a stolen vehicle. “
The police’s organized crime unit alerted and carried out checks around the world.
The car arrived in the UK at the end of 2023 and, convinced it was Berger’s vehicle, the Met confiscated it so it could not be exported.
The F512M is a sturdier version of the Testarossa, for those who think the older model is a bit slow. It has a top speed of 196 mph (315 km/h), reaching a speed of one hundred mph from one state. It started in about 11 seconds, according to Ferrari. Only about 500 were made.
The Met, faced with accusations about its involvement in more mundane crimes, was careful to point out that officers had not worked more than four days on this specific case.
PC Mike Pilbeam, who led the investigation, said: “The stolen Ferrari, valued at close to £350,000, had been missing for over 28 years before we recovered it in just 4 days.
“Our investigations have been thorough and focused on reaching out to governments around the world. We worked temporarily with partners, adding the National Crime Agency, as well as Ferrari and foreign car dealers, and this collaboration was instrumental in understanding the vehicle’s background and preventing it from leaving. the country.
The Met’s Organised Crime Unit recovered 418 cars worth £31 million in 2023, the force said, adding 326 connected to organised crime gangs.