It’s only been driven 12 miles since 2021.
Somewhere in England, Gordon Murray is clenching his fists and gritting his teeth at this 1995 McLaren F1 that’s heading to auction with RM Sotheby’s. He won’t be mad because the owner is selling it, nor will he be bothered by the projected $20 million price tag. No, instead, Murray will be mad because, with only 254 miles on the odometer, no one’s been driving it!
I sort of get why some collectors don’t drive their ultra-special, unbelievably valuable cars and this McLaren F1 is about as special as it gets. Only 106 McLaren F1s were ever made and this one is lone example to be painted Creighton Brown (it looks more purple to me but maybe my eyes are failing me). So whoever the original customer is who took delivery of this F1 in Japan back in 1995 likely didn’t want to risk damaging such a special, valuable car.
That original owner sold the F1 in 2012. Then, it was sold yet again in 2013 and once again in 2021. That means this F1 has had four different owners but averaged less than nine miles per year. That should be a crime. When it was sold in 2021, it had 242 miles on it, which means the current owner only drove it 12 miles in three years. Of course, it can be nerve-wracking to drive a $20 million collectible. However, it wasn’t always worth that much money, so the original owner bought it intending to preserve it as a collectible, which is lame.
Gordon Murray and his team at McLaren didn’t spend countless hours and long nights perfecting the greatest driving machine the world had ever known at the time, just for it to be a V12-powered museum piece. Murray intended for the F1 to be driven by people who love driving. That’s why it has a central driving position, a BMW-built naturally aspirated V12, a manual transmission, and a gold foil-lined engine bay. But to make sure those people drove the F1 often, it was also given a shocking amount of cargo space, air conditioning, a custom-designed Kenwood stereo and speaker system, and a surprisingly tall ride for a supercar.
Unfortunately, I don’t see the next owner particularly fond of taking this F1 for a long drive, either. Considering you can buy some decently sized islands for the cost of this McLaren F1, the next owner will likely want to hold onto their investment’s value. And that’s what hurts me the most. One of the greatest driving cars of all time is just going to sit in a vacuum-sealed garage somewhere, begging to be driven. Hopefully one day a rich enthusiast with a devil-may-care attitude will snag this F1 and save it from a life of confinement.
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