Formula One book for the fan in your life

December 18, 2013 by Alastair Sloane

Bernie

Only days to go until Christmas and you’re struggling to find that special present for the Formula One fan in your life?

Fret not, the sport’s supremo Bernie Ecclestone has the answer – and it will only set you back NZ$1.25 million big ones.

No, it’s not a Formula One race car. It’s a book called The Bernie, a one-off opus immortalising the sport.

It’s 850 pages long and filled with 1200 photographs, most of which have never been published before.

But don’t expect Santa to deliver it – at 45cm square and 20cm thick, The Bernie is too big to carry down the chimney.

There’s another catch, too – it weighs 36kg, meaning you will have to factor in the cost of building a new bookshelf.

The Bernie is on sale in London’s Selfridges store, where the picture above was taken. It carries Ecclestone’s signature and those of every living drivers’ championship winner.

Whoever buys it doesn’t just get a book, however exclusive. The winning bidder will get a table in the Paddock Club for each Formula One race weekend in 2014, along with passes for three guests.

Says 83-year-old Ecclestone: “A book like this probably won’t happen again, and the signatures of the drivers being included with The Bernie and the Champions’ Edition make it very special indeed.”

PS: The Champions’ Edition is smaller than The Bernie. It comes in a carbon-fibre box and is a snip at $NZ40,000.

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