0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.
The McLaren F1 is arguably the greatest car ever built. Many would disagree – Jeremy Clarkson being one – but many see the F1 as the pinnacle of motoring perfection. Light, nimble, surprisingly low-tech in some ways and yet hugely able, it has become a motoring icon since it launched in 1994.But the McLaren F1 isn’t just desirable, it’s enormously collectable. Just 64 road cars were made. Plus 5 McLaren LMs, a chunk of race-spec GTRs (some of which have been converted to road cars) and the prototypes. A smidge over 100 cars in total.Which makes the McLaren F1 probably the mostly expensive modern car there is. We’ll talk in USD, as most F1s are sold in USD. Average price is around $2.5 million now. A good one would cost you $1 million more. A very good one – the old Park Lane car – went for $4.5 million in 2008.And if you move up to that rarity within – the McLaren F1 LM – there are only 5 in existence. Three are with the Sultan of Brunei. One is in the ZAZ museum in Japan and one belongs to Ralph Lauren. It’s almost certain none of these owners would sell. But if they did they would want in excess of $10 million.Not only are McLaren F1s rare and collectable, they have proved to be one of the best investments in the world of modern car classics. Which explains why they are (sadly) cosseted and kept in collections – on the whole. There are exceptions. Rowan Atkinson drives his regularly as do a number of other owners, but the F1 is a rare sight. Two together even more so.So the sight of 21 McLaren F1s gathered last month at McLaren’s HQ in Woking is a sight to behold. The owners had been invited to McLaren to cast their eyes over McLaren’s newest baby – the McLaren MP4-12C - and were invited to bring along their F1s for a get together. One of the owners is a friend of Cars UK and took these pictures. They’re not great quality, but they are great pictures.And they’re probably the only pictures you’re ever likely to see of 21 McLaren F1s together in one place.
One more thing, wasn't Lewis Hamilton promised an F1 LM if he became world champion in his first season (and after failing that, if he manages to become world champion 3 times), by ron dennis? I wonder whose car that'd be...
It seems unlikely that 4 of the 5 F1 LM's in existence, made it to this meeting. There were probably a few owners who specced their car in Papaya Orange with the high downforce pack, but I'm sure McLaren won't put all of the genuine LM details on those cars (like the engraving on the rear wing endplates commemorating the achievements of the F1 GTR at Le Mans, or the engine upgrade to 680 hp)...By the way, there also appears to be an even rarer F1 GT in the group; it's to the left of the orange F1 in the upper picture. Only 3 of these F1 GT's were made, they were a homologation special for the 1997 F1 GTR "longtail". I have no idea how much an F1 GT would cost, but it's decidedly less well known and less popular than the F1 LM...One more thing, wasn't Lewis Hamilton promised an F1 LM if he became world champion in his first season (and after failing that, if he manages to become world champion 3 times), by ron dennis? I wonder whose car that'd be...
^it belongs to a real enthusiast, who has told about his ownership experiences online and posted pics and stories and probably vids... I don't remember his name but it's something with an F and an I, something slightly germanic sounding, IIRC...(I just looked it up, his name is Flemke, and it looks like he posted a vid of a Nürburgring lap in his car )
Yups... it's Flemke's McLaren... on Piston Heads. This is the 151+ pages topic...http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?p=1&f=&t=226933&h=0
The Motorway