Bernie Ecclestone, owner of Formula One racing and a £3 billion ($6bn) fortune, is to sell 50 of his collection of exotic cars.

Mercedes-Benz 540K Special Roadster

He will he still own 100 old Grand Prix cars, however.

The cars include a Mercedes Roadster valued at £3.25 million and a £5,000 Ford Anglia that cost £660 in 1964. He has been collecting them since he started selling motorcycles and second-hand cars from a small business in Bexleyheath, Kent, in the 1950s.

The Mercedes-Benz 540K Special Roadster is one of the most important Mercedes-Benz of all time and the pinnacle of classic cars. It is expected to break all records for a Mercedes sold at a public auction.

The 76-year-old Ecclestone started out as a gas board worker before becoming a motorcycle salesman. He then setting up his own motorcycle and car sales business.

He even set up his own racing team at Brands Hatch, eventually negotiating the rights to show Formula One on television.

Experts say his collection is one of the most important in the world because of the rarity value of some of them.

A spokesman for RM Auctions, which is handling the sale of the cars at Battersea Park, London, in October, said, “The collection, built up over decades of careful acquisition, is composed of a variety of automobiles that represent many marques and eras. This auction marks what will be the first and only public exhibition of the Ecclestone Collection.”