WHEN Formula One tycoon Bernie Ecclestone decided to sell his collection of some of the rarest cars on the planet, he went to an unlikely location.
It was a showroom on an unassuming industrial estate next to a Screwfix depot in Leicestershire.
This is the humble headquarters of Tom Hartley Junior— one of the world’s top dealers of rare supercars.
The 41-year-old, who counts billionaires and royalty in his exclusive book of contacts, was able to flog the whole fleet in the biggest single car sale ever — reputed to be worth an astonishing half a billion pounds.
After months of planning and intense negotiations, Tom sealed a deal to sell all 69 of Bernie’s Formula One and Grand Prix cars to Mark Mateschitz, the billionaire co-owner of the Red Bull energy drink firm.
Tom refuses to reveal the final price they settled on, but reports claim it was in excess of £500million.
The discreet dealer has known 94-year-old Bernie for more than two decades. They met when Tom, then just 20, bought a Bentley from the billionaire and they became friends.
Tom remembers once flying with Bernie in his private jet to the US Grand Prix in Texas. They spent the entire flight playing backgammon for an undisclosed bet.
The record-breaking Ecclestone deal is the latest success in the incredible life of Tom, who has been obsessed with cars since he was a toddler.
It all started in his father Tom Senior’s car showroom, which quickly became his classroom.
Teenage millionaire
While other parents tested their children on spelling and sums, Tom was grilled on car prices. He left school with no qualifications after selling his first car, a Porsche 911, at the age of 11.
His fierce determination to be the best car salesman in the business meant that by 14 he was turning over £4million a year.
Back then he was working for his dad and had his own chauffeur, as he was too young to drive.
At 15 he became Britain’s youngest self-made millionaire and at 17 he passed his driving test after just one lesson — in a Ferrari.
Speaking exclusively to The Sun, Tom said: “I never imagined doing anything else but selling cars.
“Working with cars is my hobby and it’s my business. I’m self- educated but I have never felt inferior to anyone.”
His ability and self-confidence has created a business empire that last year sold more than £400million-worth of ultra-rare supercars and classics — at an average price of just over £3million.
His showroom in Ashby-de-la-Zouch is an A to Z of the ultimate in supercars, F1 racing cars and ultra-rare classics.
Worth more than £150 million, the cars for sale include a McLaren F1 worth £20million.
There is also a row of Ferrari’s greatest supercars, including two of only three 288 GTO Evo models ever made. Together the pair are valued at more than £10million.
Also for sale is the McLaren that Lewis Hamilton drove to win his first Grand Prix in 2007 in Montreal.
And the showroom also boasts the car driven by Niki Lauda in 1975 that put Ferrari back on the winners’ podium, plus cars raced by Flying Finn Timo Makinen.
Tom said: “The thrill is in the chase, trying to acquire the best cars in the world, and the risk you take when you write a cheque for the car.
“Then it’s the satisfaction when you sell the car. I am backing my own judgment — I gamble on my ability and knowledge.”
Tom happily admits he was given an early chance by his dad to learn about buying and selling.
He said: “I used to sit in different cars and pretend to drive them when I came home from school.
Working with cars is my hobby and it’s my business. I’m self- educated but I have never felt inferior to anyone
Tom
“I learned all about them, which gave me an early understanding.”
But he added: “I’ve worked hard for everything and learnt the business inside and out, including learning from my own mistakes.
“I served a long apprenticeship from when I was 11, buying and selling cars.
“I learned something every day. It was my decision to leave school. I wasn’t enjoying it.”
The money that Tom earned as a teenager was put into a trust fund until he was 18, when he invested it into becoming a partner in the family business.
Then in 2014 he quit the family firm and set up on his own — which he acknowledges was a big gamble.
He said: “I’d invested so much of my life in the family business from being a boy.
“But I wanted to go more into buying ultra-rare classic and supercars, the best cars in the world.
“Now my firm buys more rare supercars than any other dealer in the world. It’s a privilege to deal in these cars.
“I believe you should be the expert in your field. I’ve always had a good eye for detail and attention. I learned how to negotiate from my father.
“Deals are all about timing and having the courage to pull the trigger at the right price.”
Tom’s success has led to his own collection of 30 rare classic and supercars, worth around £50million, which he says he will never sell.
‘We don’t do bulls**t’
What sets him apart is an encyclopaedic knowledge of cars and a contacts book that is envied by his rivals.
After our interview he checked his missed calls, and although he won’t name any of his high-profile customers, he did reveal that he had received a message to call a royal in the Middle East.
Those customers appreciate that Tom is not just a car salesman, but a man with an all-consuming passion for cars — and that includes driving them. He said: “I only buy cars that I would like for myself, because that means I sell them easier.
“I like cars that are unique or rare, and I research everything about the car. I believe in every car I sell.
“Every one comes with its own detailed history file in its own case.
“I like to add value to every car — they have to be right on the button, cosmetically and mechanically, without a blemish.
“The collectors who buy these cars have a passion for them and expect to be dealing with an expert.”
Tom’s meticulous attention to detail is why Bernie chose him to sell his precious collection.
It took 22 months of work to prepare the cars and sell them, with three researchers working alongside Tom, cataloguing every snippet of information about the incredible Ecclestone collection.
Tom said: “It was the most important high-profile sale of cars ever, and I micro-managed every detail.
I was honoured that Bernie chose me to get the best deal
Tom
“I was honoured that Bernie chose me to get the best deal.”
Tom’s daughter Olivia has already joined the business at the age of 17 and he hopes his sons, 12-year-old Tom, and William, seven, will also join later.
He smiled and said: “I really enjoy driving my children to school in a very special pre-war Bentley.”
Now he has set himself the ultimate challenge — to build the most exclusive car showroom on the planet.
The facility on a five-and-a-half acre site in the heart of the Cotswolds opens next January. It will have three showrooms — for supercars, racing cars and classic models, as well as a members’ lounge for customers, a library on cars and a photo studio.
He said: “I want it to be the destination where the world’s greatest cars are bought and sold.
“Relationships are everything — our customers want to deal with us because of the reputation we have built up.
“We don’t do bulls**t, we deliver what we promise.”
Tom — who has met Donald Trump twice but is yet to sell him a car — was not happy when the President announced a 25 per cent tariff on cars imported into the US last month.
He said: “l was upset with him, then pleased when I later found out that cars over 25 years old, which we deal in, were exempt.”
While selling Bernie Ecclestone’s collection is the highlight of his career, Tom was also proud to receive a Queen’s Award for Enterprise for International Trade in 2018 from Prince Charles at Buckingham Palace.
He said: “At the end of our chat I asked Prince Charles if he wanted to sell his classic Aston Martin DB6. I said I’d give him £10million.
“He laughed and said he was not selling — but was surprised at how much it was worth.”
