Niki Lauda’s crash helmet at the Nürburgring is up for auction: it’s worth 60 thousand dollars

The burnt plastics, the visor opaque from the fire. It still gives shivers the helmet worn by Niki Lauda at the Nürburgring in 1976, when he risked dying first from the poisonous fumes of the fire and then from burns. That helmet – an icon of motoring – will be auctioned by Bonhams at next week’s Miami Grand Prix. It is expected to reach $60,000writes the Telegraph.

Lauda, ​​who died in 2019, was a legend of Formula 1: three-time world champion, then an entrepreneur in the aviation sector. He won two world championships out of three after surviving that terrifying accident at the German Grand Prix which left him disfigured: at 27 years old, as reigning world champion, Lauda arrived at that corner as championship leader, hit the wall and his Ferrari 312T2 caught fire. As the English newspaper also recalls, his condition was so serious that in hospital in Ludwigshaven, extreme unction was given to him. He would later say that it shocked him so much that it made him more determined to survive.

Instead he returned. He ultimately ended up losing the 1976 world championship to Britain’s James Hunt, by a single point, after retiring in the final race of the season in Japan in terrible weather conditions. Lauda’s vision had been affected by the accident, which left him with horrific burns to his head and face.

Lauda won his second world title in his final season to Ferrari in 1977and after a short period of paisa he returned and won a third in 1984, with McLaren.

The helmet – originally painted red with the writing “Niki Lauda” in white on both sides, along with the logos of Agv, Goodyear and Romerquelle – has until now been preserved by private collectors. A portion of the proceeds from the sale will be donated by the seller and Bonhams Cars to the Lauda family’s chosen charity, Unicef.

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