Pure passion against taxes and the uncontrolled greed of European governments. Bardinon, one of the last heroes to defend his assets against expropriation. States, instead of helping with tax cuts such collectors who represent the pride of the places where they live by creating museums and houses of worship for fans, simply destroy them. And these wonderful cars are being sold in Asia, where free market and meritocracy still exist. We are with you Pierre and we value you unconditionally for your dream come true. You have done something unique that will remain.
Pierre Bardinon, a collector admired by Enzo Ferrari himself. In recent years, Ferraris have regularly been going for record-breaking prices at auctions and currently hold nine places in the top 10 most expensive. Let's remember the man who fell blindly in love with these amazing cars decades ago and was the first to begin collecting them.
Throughout his lifetime, the Frenchman touched upon the majority of this brand's most famous and valuable cars and had assembled an impressive Ferrari collection that was considered to be one of the largest and most important in the entire world.
Pierre was an heir to the Chapal family, a French leather and fur dynasty famed for making pilot bomber jackets. Even as a child he became fascinated by cars. He enjoyed moments behind the wheel of a Bugatti 35B – it was with this car that he set off on his honeymoon with his wife Yanne in 1952.
But it was his closer acquaintance with racing that turned his life upside down. He became a passionate Le Mans fan and, in 1954, he was seduced by the magical sound emanating from the V12-powered Ferrari 375 Plus which won the prestigious competition that year. In the late 1960s, he began buying competition Ferraris – it was a time when these models were not yet particularly valued and few other collectors were interested in them. "In the 1960s, once the races were over, competition cars were worth almost nothing, Bardinon once said. I liked Bugattis, then I started to buy Jaguars. But, at some point, I thought that nothing was comparable to Ferraris. I understood that they were works of art and that one day their value would necessarily increase. I sold all Jaguars and started buying Ferraris”. He began searching the world for the most beautiful Ferrari models and his collection was quickly filled with the most important cars produced in the first 25 years of this brand's existence. He was particularly interested in Le Mans winners.
He turned the family 14th Century château and the adjacent fields in Mas du Clos, near Aubusson in France, into his very own playground by founding a car museum.
However, his philosophy was that beauties like these cannot just stand parked – they have to be used for their intended purpose; for this reason, he opened an impressive two-mile private racetrack next to his castle in 1963. The layout was designed to allow a racing line without frequent strong braking, so that the old drum brakes did not suffer too much. The owner wasn't the only one who did laps at Mas du Clos circuit – he also made it available for various car clubs and race teams. In addition, he had a group of his own mechanics who looked after his collection. He loved and cared for his cars that much.
"Like many men, I work during the week at my profession and spend my money on my sport. For some it is tennis, for others polo, perhaps, or yachting. My sport is motor racing. Therefore, it was logical that I should build this track to practice, just as others might build tennis courts or a swimming pool. Each year I drive seriously here for 40 or 50 hours,” explained Bardinon in one interview.
Enzo Ferrari was once asked if he would like to create a Ferrari museum. He replied that such a museum already exists – «Pierre Bardinon already did it in France». This was the greatest possible compliment for the notable collector.
How many cars did Pierre Bardinon own over the course of his life? The collector himself didn't like to brag publicly but, according to various sources, this number could be around 500. How many of them were Ferraris? Unofficially, it is said to be about 300. These figures may be exagerated but nobody would argue and it is recorded in documents that among his collection at one time or another there were more than 70 extremely rare models, including four Le Mans winners and a dozen of single-seater racing cars. Among the most famous names it is worth mentioning a 166 MM, a 335 S, four 250 GTOs, a 330 P4, a 312 P(B), a 250 LM, a 250 SWB, a 250 TR 58, a 290 MM, a 375 Plus, a 275 P, as well as a later 512 BBi, a 550 Maranello, an F50, an Enzo and many, many others.
Ferrari 250 GTO'64
Ferrari 312 P(B)
Ferrari 512 S
Ferrari 166 MM
Ferrari 250 SWB
Ferrari 550 Maranello
Bardinon had also collected thousands of scale models, as well as photographs, books, paintings, wine and sculptures.
After a serious illness, Pierre died in August 2012. A year later, his wife also passed away. The two successive losses left more than just pain for their sons – the French tax authorities began to seek clarification regarding the couple's estate. It turned out that their children have to pay millions in taxes for their inheritance.
The family members had no choice but to start selling off the remaining Ferraris. Towards the end of his life, Bardinon had diminished his collection and there were approximately 20 cars left in 2012. It is not publicly available what models they are but Marcel Massini, a Geneva-based Ferrari historian who was close to Bardinon, claimed in 2016 that at least three of the models left in his collection could go for more than USD 30 million and the entire collection could be worth more than USD 200 million. “These are like the Mona Lisas of the Ferrari world. They are the best of the best”, he said.
However, Bardinon's family thinks differently – based on inheritance tax documents submitted to the court, they valued the collection at USD 70 million. There is no doubt that this figure was given in order to avoid higher taxes.
Pierre had three children. One daughter, Anne, the eldest and two boys, Patrick, who took care of the circuit and was an excellent single-seater driver in the late 1970s and Jean François, who runs the Chapal leather company. Anne e Jean-François have been living in Paris for some time, Patrick has remained in the Massif Central and has maintained a closer bond with his parents, the circuit and the cars.
Patrick Bardinon
A French appeals court has ordered Patrick Bardinon to pay his siblings millions of euros over the disputed sale of a coveted racer considered the storied Italian automaker's "Mona Lisa". He was sued for breach of trust after auctioning off a rare 1964 Ferrari 250 GTO to a Taiwanese buyer in 2014 for 38 million euros ($42 million at current rates) -- a record at the time.
Patrick, a former F3 driver, said it was a gift from his father after he was in an horrendous racing accident in 1978 at Nürburgring. "My father thought I had died that day," he said when the lawsuit first came to court.
«Pierre Bardinon perhaps felt guilty for passing on his passion for racing cars to his son - Patrick Bardinon's lawyer Vincent Jamoteau told “Parisien”. And when he saw that he had miraculously survived, he gave him the 250 GTO: bought in 1978 for $ 700 and put back together for 1,500, that Ferrari was destined for a new life, like him».
But Anne and Jean-Francois Bardinon claim their brother secretly removed the car from their father's collection and unlawfully sold the crown jewel of their shared inheritance. Patrick was acquitted in criminal proceedings but the appeals civil court in Limoges (the pair lost their initial challenge) ruled in the siblings' favour, helding that the only evidence, the registration certificate actually in Patrick’s name, was not sufficient. Therefore it ordered him to return the sale proceeds plus interest as well as the auction commission - a total of 52.3 million euros - to the common inheritance fund.
"Anne Bardinon welcomes a decision that conforms with the truth, the law and the fairness that her father always sought to maintain with regard to his three children," her lawyer Julien Dami Le Coz said.
It is a story of complicated relationships between brothers and of love for the most expensive car in the world today. The Ferrari 250 (the cubic centimeters of each of the 12 cylinders) GTO (Gran Turismo Omologata) was the most valuable piece of the collection. On June 1, 2018 the American billionaire David McNeil bought a 1963 one for 80 million dollars - absolute record - and there are those who made the calculation: a Ferrari 250 GTO (average value around 40-50 million) is worth more than its weight in gold, considering that it weighs 880 kilos and that one gram of gold costs 50 dollars. Pierre Bardinon came to own four of them and the one sold - unduly - by his son had been offered him for little money by a friend who was letting it rust in the garage. Only 39 GTOs were built from 1962 to 1964 and they have since become some of the most fabled Ferraris in the world, deemed the "hottest car of all time" by the magazine Popular Mechanics in 2017. "A stunning shape and incredible 3.0-litre V-12 makes this the definitive exotic. And it couldn't be more gorgeous," the magazine gushed.
Pierre Bardinon had amassed an unrivalled collection of plenty of Ferraris. Most of them were bought in rough shape, cheaply and were painstakingly restored.
In early 2016 a 1957 Ferrari 335 Sport Scaglietti from the Bardinon collection was put on auction in Paris and purchased for EUR 32 million.
Ferrari 335 Sport Scaglietti
The Ferrari 335 S Spider Scaglietti leaves the workshops at the beginning of 1957, dressed in a Scaglietti body. In the hands of the most famous drivers, it took part in the most legendary races of 1957: 12 Hours of Sebring (6th, Peter Collins / Maurice Trintignant), Mille Miglia (2nd, Wolfgang von Trips), 24 Hours of Le Mans (Mike Hawthorn / Luigi Musso), Swedish GP (Hawthorn / Musso), Venezuelan GP (Hawthorn / Musso). His career continued in 1958: Cuban GP (winner, Masten Gregory / Stirling Moss) and various American events (Gaston Andrey / Lance Reventlow). Both a work of art and queen of speed, it represents the exceptional nectar: beauty, rarity, palmarès, history, authenticity and origin!
The greatest Ferrari collection: Mas du Clos, 1978. Exactly 42 years ago a celebration was held at the house and racing circuit owned by the late Pierre Bardinon to mark the anniversary of his then already famous “collection Mas du Clos”, an unique assemblage of rare racing Ferraris. At that time the collection had some 70 Ferrari racing cars, including examples of sports-racing cars, GT cars, F1 and F2 treasures as well. The lineup included a 375 Plus (the 1954 Le Mans winner), a 121LM (found abandoned in a chicken coop in New Jersey some years before by an American friend), an 860 Monza (the Sebring 12 Hour race winner in 1956) and a former Scuderia Ferrari 410 Sport. The prototype cars included a 268SP, a 275P (the 1963 and 1964 Le Mans winner) and three later ones: a 350 CanAm (actually a revised 330P4), one of the two existing 312Ps and a 312PB. The collection's GT cars included a competition 250 SWB, two 250GTOs (a 1962 and a 1964), a special 375MM berlinetta and a one-off 410 Sport berlinetta (the first Ferrari GT car bodied by Scaglietti).
The extraordinary and phenomenal life of Pierre Bardinon and his family is a story of rabbits…, more precisely of rabbit skins…
Jean Bardinon disappeared in October 1962. Pierre Bardinon, his son, found himself director of the Crocq factory, with 10,000 m² of workshops intended for the production of rabbit skins and 250 people employed in a town of 700 inhabitants.
In 1968, at the Grenoble Olympic Games, all the hostesses were dressed in blue, white and red scalloped rabbit jackets made by Chapal. The year 1970 saw the launch of the “Lapin de France” brand with the application of the varnishing process for “Bombardier” jackets with rabbit skin called “Chapalac”.
But “Pierre Bardinon is an extraordinary man and not only the heir of a skin tanning business”, says Matthieu Lamoure, a friend of Jean-François Bardinon. “We must hire men like Pierre Bardinon, who spent part of their fortune to satisfy their passion, it’s people like him who make the greatness of a country like ours: our France. Without them, many exceptional cars wouldn’t have been preserved. It takes wealthy people for a country to grow… We must hire great figures like Mr Pierre Bardinon and make a distinction between Chapal and Bardinon and Mas du Clos and the Ferrari collection, mainly the 335 S Spider Scaglietti '57 which is a pure wonder.”
Pierre left us at 81, being born on January 25, 1931 in Paris. He was the man who created the superb and magnificent circuit of Mas du Clos, in the Creuse.
Mas du Clos is most probably like the Paul Ricard circuit, one of the most beautiful car tracks in the world! Pierre Bardinon, at the end of the fifties, created an exceptional site which he had installed in the heart of his sublime property. An extraordinary museum, with an impressive automobile library. It was this mad passion for beautiful cars that prompted him in 1963 to create the circuit which is located in the town of Puids, near Aubusson, in the heart of the foothills of the Massif Central.
And then to install this sublime museum, which houses most likely the finest collection of racing cars from Maranello having triumphed in the very prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans.
It was therefore in 1963 that Mas du Clos was born, with a first 400 meters route. Two years later, in 1965, there were the creation of the ASA Mas-du-Clos, affiliation to the FFSA (French Federation of Motor Sports) and homologation of the circuit for any competition or training.
From the modest first 400 meters route from the start, after an intermediate 1 kilometer version, the final 3070 meters long track was completed in the course of 1967.
Very quickly the new of the birth of this jewel which was at the time spreaded in the small world of the French motor sport. The opening of a new circuit, resembling the famous British layout of Brands Hatch, in the heart of the Creuse. Matra Sports team will then be the very first professional team to come and run on the track. With its ’stars‘ Jean Pierre Beltoise, François Cevert, Robby Weber, Johnny Servoz Gavin, Jean Pierre Jausaud. Not forgetting a certain Henri Pescarolo. It was also at Mas du Clos that “Pesca”, after his accident during the preliminary tests in April 1968 in view of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, resumed contact with a racing car to make his first laps. Then, the equally renowned Alpine and Ligier teams will in turn be fans of the Mas du Clos! Later, the manufacturer Dunlop will come to test there. Quite quickly all the most famous and prestigious teams like Lotus, Ferrari, Bugatti and Bentleys came to it. The circuit was launched. Porsche arrived in 1971. Then the Mas du Clos welcomed Facel-Vega, Gordini, Aston-Martin, Peugeot, Mercedes, Alfa-Romeo, Toyota and Bmw. The private circuit of Pierre Bardinon had become the place where it was good to make laps and meet. All teams met there. Later, it was the manufacturers' turn to choose the track to present and unveil their latest models. One day, when asked about his creation, Pierre Bardinon said: "nothing for me is bigger than loving friends who share your passion. Friends who come to have fun, to make us happy, to share together the same passion without greed, without jealousy”. The circuit of the Creuse lived its happy years.
Anne Bardinon with Reid et Lemarie
All of our test drivers (Anthony Reid- Patrick Lemarié - Bertrand Balas) were enthusiastic about the beauty of the site and the quality of the welcome. The great British Champion that was Anthony said at the time about the Mas du Clos: “I am delighted to join the team which is already, despite its youth, very professional. Huge work has been done in two weeks since the Dijon tests. I get along very well with my teammate Gilles Duqueine very fast. I found the Mas du Clos and its owners - the Bardinon family - fabulously welcoming. And what a frame, simply magical. Not to mention the museum, incredible and unforgettable. I hope we’ll do some tests again. Now I can't wait to be at Silverstone.”
Unfortunately a year later the circuit must close, the FFM and the FFSA considering that it was no longer up to standard! Yet the Mas du Clos was just a training circuit ... For two good years, the circuit remained closed. And then, in spring 2009, it was authorized to reopen. But the battle between the owner of the circuit and the public authorities will get worse. Indeed a decision of the Council of State finally forced the circuit to cease all its activities, thus condemning one of the most beautiful French tracks to a permanent closure. Difficult to understand and admit. Mas du Clos was required to comply with safety standards, which represented a cost impossible to bear for the Bardinon family. Especially since the owners considered that the work required was frankly unnecessary for a circuit that never hosted races. This jewel, unanimously appreciated by all those who had frequented it in recent decades, is now doomed to become only a ... memory! What a pity. Such a waste. The Mas du Clos should have been part of the heritage of French Motor Sport because it is a monument. Many scenes from the movie "Michel Vaillant", directed by Louis-Pascal Couvelaire and produced in 2003 by Luc Besson, were shot at the Mas du Clos.
Aged, tired and worn out by a health that has been declining in recent years, Pierre has in turn left us.
With him disappeared the most important collector of racing cars and Ferrari.
His friend Jean Berchon from Moet reminded us that Pierre notably owned more than 100 racing Ferraris, including 6 of the 9 winners of the very prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans!!! Not forgetting an extraordinary collection of miniature cars. Before joining the Kingdom of the Angels the hearse which transported the coffin of the deceased completed a tour of the Mas du Clos circuit. A symbolic last lap to see Bardinon off on his final journey. Pierre, closing the loop and thus being the ultimate competitor to run across his circuit ... One of his friends wanted to thank him: “goodbye friend. And thank you for the wonderful welcome you offered us regularly, when we came to Creuse. And for fascinating talks at the heart of your library.”
Pierre Bardinon's funeral took place in private at Saint-Avit de Tardes, in his dear Creuse which he loved so much.
Videos
Comments
Authorize to comment