The McLaren F1 supercar continues to surprise, even sixteen years after the last car left the assembly line. It appears that the F1 is getting more expensive with each day, with one red example being sold recently for a rumored £6.2 million ($10.5 million).
With only 106 units built in Woking between 1992 and 1998, of which only 64 were road cars, it is not surprising that the McLaren F1s are rarely for sale. However, the most recent car that traded hands has an interesting story. Chassis number 28 was built by McLaren for Michael Andretti in exchange for terminating his contract early – at the time was driving for McLaren’s Formula One team.
The car is one of only two red McLaren F1s and has Andretti’s signature on the back of the sun visor. However, Andretti sold it a year later to a Japanese collector as the car was not legal to drive in the U.S. The McLaren returned to the U.S. in 2002 and changed a couple of owners until it was sold to a UK collector, basically returning to its homeland.
DK Engineering sourced the vehicle for the British collector but completing the sale wasn’t easy at all: it took six months to find and secure the car. The reported $10.5 million price tag makes it the most expensive McLaren F1 ever sold, surpassing last year’s $8.47 million (£5.42 million) fetched by another McLaren F1 at Pebble Beach.
The McLaren F1 is powered by a 6.1-liter V12 engine producing 627hp, allowing it to reach 0-60 mph (96 km/h) in 3.2 seconds. In 1998 it set the record for the world’s fastest production car by hitting 243 mph (391 km/h).
By Dan Mihalascu
Story References: Dkeng via Jalopnik
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