Tamara Ecclestone tells The Official Ferrari Magazine she's a petrolhead

On the eve of her father’s 82nd birthday, socialite Tamara Ecclestone is attempting to reinvent herself – as a model, charity fundraiser and if we’re to believe The Official Ferrari Magazine – a bit of a petrolhead.

In an interview with fellow GTO owner and Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason, Tamara speaks about her 599 GTO, which she absolutely loves, but there’s also mention of her Overfinch Range Rover, which features an uprated engine rather than the more superficial bling that most owners seem to opt for.

Mason begins the interview by teasing 28-year old Ecclestone about the ‘turntable’ outside her £45 million mews home in London’s fashionable Kensington Palace Gardens:

Ferrari Magazine

On Her Interest in Cars – Interview with Tamara Ecclestone by Nick Mason

NM: The famous turntable is just the other side of this window. What’s the story, Tamara?

TE: Tamara Ecclestone [rolls eyes] The press have a go at me about everything. Trying to reverse a Ferrari, or any car that’s not a Mini, down that drive is a stress, so why not avoid it? Besides, it was here when I bought the house. In fact, I’d like to take this opportunity now, via The Official Ferrari Magazine, to establish that the turntable at my house was actually already here when I moved in.. I thought it was a great idea, and I’m certainly not planning to move it.

NM: So Ferrari. A long relationship?

TE: Well I had a 599. I loved it. I was offered the GTO, it’s an amazing car, a collector’s piece, and obviously my dad collects cars and has an amazing collection. I wanted to buy a car that wouldn’t be a fad, something I really want to keep. An Enzo is probably the ultimate Ferrari for me. I love Ferrari but I wouldn’t say I was a great authority.

NM: The GTO’s great. You can do so much with it. You can see out of it, take it to the shops. It does everything really well.

TE: I like my cars. It’s in my blood. My dad used to drive me to school and he drives like a lunatic. I guess I’m a real girly girl now but when I was little I was a real tomboy, I used to cry when mum tried to put me in dresses, I wanted to wear dungarees. I was obsessed with horse riding, tennis and F1. [giggles] I don’t know what’s happened to me.. I’ve obviously changed.

Of course Ecclestone grew up in the world of F1, surrounded by the likes of Ayrton Senna and Niki Lauda, and is a regular at the Italian GP where her parents first met, and she was born (in Milan).

But the F1 heiress doesn’t only sashay with exotica – in her support of BBC Children in Need, Ecclestone recently donned a race suit to launch Pudsey’s Dream Wheels, creating her very own ‘Greased Lightning’ Peugeot 208.

The competition, designed to raise over £150,000 for the BBC’s annual children’s charity, was launched on 19th October, inviting entrants to style their own cars from a wide range of fun options.

Whether this makes Ecclestone a ‘true’ petrolhead (to be fair, she’s never claimed to be), she’s certainly continuing to associate the Ecclestone name with motorsport and cars.

In the interview in The Official Ferrari Magazine, Ecclestone shares her views on some of the characters in F1:

Ferrari Magazine

On Formula One – Interview with Tamara Ecclestone by Nick Mason

NM: You obviously have lots of good friends in the F1 community.

TE: Well I also presented a programme for Sky Sports in Italy.

NM: Have you interviewed Luca di Montezemolo?

TE: Yes, I have. I thought he was charming, very charismatic and very easy to interview.

NM: Who was the trickiest person to interview?

TE: Jenson Button. A lot of the British public turned on me when I said that, but all I pointed out was that he took a 15-minute phone call in the middle of an interview. That’s just rude. I would never do that… It wasn’t just me, it was the director, the cameraman, the sound man.. all these people kept waiting.

NM: I expected it to be someone a bit terse, maybe like Kimi..

TE: He’s always sooo nice to me! He’s a character. I’d say my dad’s difficult to interview. He’s not the most talkative man in the world [giggles]. I had to interview him, and he was, well, monosyllabic. That’s what he’s like in real life. He likes to get his point across in as few words as possible.

I never like to judge people without meeting them for myself, but I remember seeing Tamara as a teenager – at the British GP – and she certainly seemed more interested in the cars than the celebs strutting around in the paddock.

While she may be a little unpopular here in the UK, there’s no doubting her taste in cars – and as joint-heir to Bernie’s £2.5 billion fortune, she has the means to choose any car she likes. Perhaps that makes her even less likeable than other billionaire’s daughters.

Written By

Steve Davies

Steve is an investor, private equity advisor and former Partner at KPMG, PwC and Bain. Most importantly he's a life-long car enthusiast, mountain biker and active sports enthusiast. He designs and builds technology platforms and is the architect behind Transmission.