How an F1 world champion’s sale of his collection fits a career driven by pragmatism

For a world champion who showed scant sentiment when he was racing, it was no surprise when Jody Scheckter walked away from the sport and completely disappeared 12 months after winning the title in 1979. That seemed in keeping with the surly South African. Jody went racing to do a job – and do it in spectacular fashion. But he had little time for the peripheries. And even less for the motorsport media.

In 1975, Scheckter was in his second full F1 season. The mood at Barcelona’s Montjuïc Park that year was edgy following the discovery that barriers on the scarily fast street circuit had
been put together in a haphazard fashion. Many bolts had not been tightened; some pieces of Armco had no bolts at all.

Having refused to take part in the first practice session, most drivers had gathered in the Texaco trailer to discuss their next move. Naturally, the world’s media was very keen to discover what that might be when Graham Hill, Niki Lauda, Emerson Fittipaldi and Scheckter gathered on the trailer’s steps to address the crowd.

Once he had outlined the drivers’ thoughts, Hill faced a hail of shouted questions from below. I happened to be standing to one side, near the front, and distinctly heard Scheckter, after a couple of stroppy enquiries, mutter to the double world champion: “Just tell them to f*** off.” At which point Jody did exactly that and disappeared back inside.

He mellowed considerably with the passing seasons, particularly – and surprisingly – during the pressure of his championship year and a happy partnership with Gilles Villeneuve.
When Scheckter then moved to the United States to establish a highly successful firearms training company with an eventual 280 employees, F1 quickly became a distant memory.

That continued to be the case when he later returned to the UK and ploughed the profits from the sale of his firearms operation into Laverstoke Park, a massive undertaking in Hampshire. Refusing, as ever, to do things by half, Jody became a world leader in organic, biodynamic farming. It was
as far removed from motorsport as you could wish to be. And yet…

Scheckter was never a driver to do things by halves, a view apparent to Hamilton at the 1975 Spanish GP

Photo by: Motorsport Images

Stored wheel-to-wheel in an immaculate shed on the farm, Scheckter had gone to great lengths to gather the very cars that had been milestones in his racing career. There were 12 in total, ranging from the humble Formula Ford Merlyn (#74) used to announce himself in a memorably sideways style during a support event for the
Race of Champions at Brands Hatch in 1971
to the boat-like shape of the championship-winning Ferrari 312 T4. 

In between, there was a fascinating collection of diverse machinery: the McLaren M21 (with which he had won the F2 race on the equally lovely Crystal Palace circuit in 1972); the Trojan T101 Formula A/F5000 car from the days when wannabe F1 drivers would sample other forms of racing rather than being tied to a mind-numbing 24-race F1 calendar; the Tyrrell P34 (#3) six-wheeler from the period when freedom of F1 design choice was not limited to drivers’ tribute crash helmets; and the gorgeous Wolf WR1 (#20) which won first time out in the 1977 Argentine GP (something that wouldn’t be allowed to happen today because of the avaricious attitude shown towards newcomers by the current F1 teams, some of whom are incapable of producing
enough cars for their own drivers to race).

It wouldn’t be surprising for the pragmatic Scheckter to see the value in having such unique machinery put to good use rather than being crammed into a barn

The entire Scheckter collection of cars went
up for auction at last month's Monaco Historic. Having gone to enormous trouble to track down his racing hierarchy – and even allowing for the tidy total of bids conservatively estimated to reach £12m – it’s quite some decision to have this moving museum of memorabilia split asunder. Equally, it wouldn’t be surprising for the pragmatic Scheckter to see the value in having such unique machinery put to good use rather than being crammed into a barn and away from the gaze of an appreciative public.

The front row of the auctioneer’s delicious publicity photo is dominated by McLaren,
but with the 312 T4 (#11) centre stage. Back in the day, the McLaren M23 was about to start a long and distinguished career, netting two world championships. The distinctive 312 T4, however, was coming to the end of an almost fleeting presence at the forefront
of F1. Scheckter had made mixed
use of both cars.

His GP debut had been in the bulbous McLaren M19 at Watkins Glen in 1972. The M23 (#8) was introduced in 1973, Peter Revson finishing fourth in Spain and Denny Hulme winning the M23’s fifth race in Sweden before Scheckter stood in for Revson in France (the American driver having a McLaren Indycar commitment). Scheckter collided with Fittipaldi’s Lotus while fighting for the lead. But that was a mere skirmish compared to what was about to unfold at Silverstone.

Powering through Woodcote (in its fast and former guise) at the end of the first lap, Scheckter lost control and triggered a massive pile-up. The M23 was surprisingly undamaged. The same could not be said for others, the carnage having wiped out all three cars belonging to the Surtees team.

Scheckter amassed an impressive car collection that he put up for sale in Monaco

Photo by: RM Sotheby's

Scheckter had calmed down considerably by the time he joined Ferrari in 1979. There was hardly a mark on the 312 T4 through 13 championship GPs, Jody winning three of them.

In 2019, he was reunited with the 312 T4 for demonstration laps at Monza, scene of his championship crowning 40 years before. His former mechanics had come out of retirement, specially to prepare the car. Their grins were broad as Jody urgently revved the glorious flat-12 and accelerated hard towards the Rettifilo chicane. Just as he had always done.

It’s tempting to wonder if the same will happen to the Ferrari SF-24 in 40 years’ time. And whether it will be considered worth listening to.

Scheckter's demo of his Ferrari 312T4 at Monza in 2019 attracted no shortage of interest

Photo by: Mark Sutton