What a Drama! Someone Bought This McLaren F1, Drove It for 14 Miles, and Decided To Sell It

This 1995 McLaren F1 is just one of the 106 produced over the eight years it remained in production. However, only 64 of them were road-legal, which makes the one that we are dealing with an extremely rare and precious vehicle.

Collectors are dying to have one of the 64 planted in their garage. Unless, unlike the current owner of the McLaren, wants to keep it as low mileage as possible.

The F1 was the brainchild of none other than F1 guru Gordon Murray, who had one ace up his sleeve. He had convinced Ron Dennis to invest in the project. It was this extreme three-seater that Murray had been dreaming of since he was a teenager.

It was March 31, 1998, when the prototype codenamed XP5, sporting a modified rev limiter, set the Guinness World Record for the world's fastest production car. It hit 240.1 mph (386.4 kph). The previous record holder, the Jaguar XJ220, had reached 217.1 mph (349 kph) in 1993.

The McLaren F1 came with a fiber monocoque chassis

The F1 was the first production model to use a carbon fiber monocoque chassis, it came with Formula 1-infused tech, and it was the ultimate sports car.

Over the years, it has been outperformed by several models, as technology advanced and carmakers have been rolling out cars that are more potent, faster, and lighter. But after 26 years, it still remains among the fastest out there.

The prototype, which was a very close-to-production version, just like the actual production version, was powered by a BMW-sourced naturally aspirated 6.1-liter V12 engine. It pumped out 618 horsepower (627 metric horsepower) and 479 pound-feet (600 Newton meters) of torque in a mid-engine, rear-wheel drive layout.

The F1 does the run from 0 to 60 mph in 3.2 seconds and runs the quarter mile in 10.8 seconds at 142.3 mph on its way to a top speed of 243 mph (391 kph).

With all these figures playing the part of aces up its sleeve, the McLaren has been exchanging hands quite a few times. It must have been irreconcilable differences or an incompatibility of some sort.

Sold for a fortune but almost never driven

The last time it did it was in August 2021. Back then, the F1 sold for $20,465,000 when it was auctioned off during the Pebble Beach event. That was approximately $5 million more than originally estimated.

Three years ago, it came with 387 kilometers (240.5 miles) on the clock, being one of the lowest-mileage McLaren F1 in the world. Things haven't changed much these past three years, because that is a title that it held on to.

The one who is selling it now has only driven the car for 14 miles. Just 14 miles in three whole years of ownership, going as far as a total of 254.8 miles (410 kilometers). That's less than five miles per year. It is obvious that it was the queen of the garage queens.

And it does make sense that the owner wanted to keep its low mileage to prevent its value from dropping. However, owning a McLaren F1 and enjoying it as an exhibit in a museum is the real drama of this story.

The "exhibit" is the only example in Creighton Brown over a light Tan/Brazilian Brown interior.

We will never know the final price

This time, the McLaren F1 is going under the hammer on May 13 through Sotheby's Sealed. This means that the final price will remain undisclosed. But it will include all the factory-provided accessories: a luggage, a FACOM toolbox, and a TAG Heuer 6000 Chronometer.

McLaren claims that this F1, which is chassis number 029, was number 25 out of the 64 produced by the British automaker. It was ordered new by a customer in Japan, where it arrived in 1995. At a later date, it set wheels on American soil, residing for a while in Pensylvannia before moving to North Carolina with its new owner.

RM Sotheby's estimates that every single year, every single McLaren F1 has appreciated in value by approximately $1 million. But adding miles on the odometer would surely decrease its value. This May in New York, the model is expected to sell for over $20 million. But we all know that it might blow up the estimation like it did the last time.

Jay Leno also owns a McLaren F1 estimated at $20 million. He is not planning to sell his. Not yet, anyway, since the only way for the price is up. And he drives it!