A Ferrari stolen from former Formula One driver Gerhard Berger in 1995 has been found nearly three decades later.
The red Ferrari F512M Testarossa that was stolen from Berger’s hotel in Italy following the San Marino Grand Prix was recovered by London’s Metropolitan Police Monday.
The police force was tipped off by the Italian car manufacturer in January that a Ferrari undergoing a sale between a US buyer and a UK broker had been flagged as stolen.
The Met’s Organized Vehicle Crime Unit soon discovered that the sportscar was none other than Berger’s missing Ferrari that disappeared 28 years ago.
The car, which can reach a top speed of 196 miles per hour, had been in Japan until it was brought into the UK at the end of last year.
Cops seized the long-lost vehicle, valued at $444,000, before it could be sold and transferred to the American buyer.
The Ferrari was stolen from Berger’s hotel in Imola but not without a fight.
The Formula One driver — who ultimately finished in third place at the San Marino Grand Prix — stood in front of the car as the thieves were behind the wheel, according to Road & Track.
When that didn’t stop them, he chased after them in his friend’s Volkswagen Golf to no avail.
Around the same time, Berger’s teammate Jean Alesi had his gray Ferrari 355 stolen from the parking garage of his hotel.
That car has never been found.
There have been no arrests in either carjacking.
With Post wires
