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| © Andrei Diomidov/RM Sotheby's McLaren F1 chassis 018 is one of two equipped with the rare Extra-High Downforce Kit and a 680-HP LM-spec V-12. It won't be cheap. |
By Chris Perkins, Road & Track
Any time one of the 106 McLaren F1s in existence come up for sale,
it's an event, but this one is even more special. Auction house RM Sotheby's announced today
that McLaren F1 chassis 018 will be up for bidding at its Pebble Beach
event next month. It's one of just two F1s modified by McLaren into "LM
specifications."
The LM specification included what McLaren called an "Extra-High
Downforce Kit," and a hotter version of the F1's BMW-designed 6.1-liter
V-12. Basically, it's an unrestricted race engine, making around 680
horsepower verses the standard F1's 627. The car was also upgraded with
18-inch OZ Racing center-lock five-spoke wheels like those used on the
F1 GTR race car.
Originally, this F1 was painted dark blue, but when its second
owner sent the car back to McLaren for the LM-specification upgrades, he
had it repainted in the current shade of Platinum Silver Metallic. The
interior was re-trimmed, too, with lots of cream leather and Alcantara—a
nice contrast to the racy spec of the car. Interestingly, that second
owner had the car fit with a Kenwood radio. Famously, the F1's designer,
Gordon Murray, didn't listen to the radio, so the cars were originally
equipped only with a custom-designed Kenwood CD changer.
Since it
originally left the McLaren factory in 1994, F1 018 has only been
driven 13,352 miles. In its 25 years of existence, it's been back to
McLaren Special Operations for maintenance work many times, which is
typical of an F1. Since 2007, the car has lived in New Zealand under the
care of Andrew Bagnall, who was featured in a video produced by McLaren back in 2017.
It's hard to put an exact price on this car. Last year, RM Sotheby's listed a high-downforce kit-equipped F1
for sale with an asking price of $22 million, though the final sale
price was never reported. The last public auction of a McLaren F1 was at
Pebble Beach in 2017, where chassis 044 sold for $15.6 million.
F1s have climbed in value significantly since then, and the rare specs
on chassis 018 could push it towards the $25 million mark. We've reached
out to an RM Sotheby's representative for an estimated sale price, and
we'll be watching closely when it crosses the block in a month.
