I actually peeped this fine specimen over on Speedhunters.com a couple weeks back, but I didn't bother re-posting it, well, because I just wasn't in the mood. I've been occupying my scant free time with mad DSLR research, yo, cause a man has to step up his game at some point. So while I was reading reviews over at DP Review, searching various online sites and comparing notes, I just let these awesome pics sit on my desktop. I'm cleaning up said desktop now, so here are the pictures.
The site these were snagged from is also the site selling this fine machine, Bingo Sports. Check out the dream car list here. The price is only on asking, and if ever there is car that proves the old "if you have to ask you can't afford it" adage, this is it. Regular old McLaren F1's go for well over a million to two million buckaroos. The ultra-rare GTR LM (only five sold!) is the street version of this car, which has racing provenance, and is the last of the total run of 28 cars. These were actual real-world GT's and probably what the FIA / ACO had in mind with the GT1 regulations of the mid-90's that lead to the not-at-all real world GT's starting with the Porsche GT1 and culminating with the Toyota GT One.
My buddy Robert used to work for Turner Motorsport, and there was a guy he knew through that who owned not one, not two, but three McLaren F1's, including a GTR. Damn that's awesome. What's more is this guy actually drove his cars. Apparently one was his daily driver, the other was the investment / garage queen, and the GTR was the track toy, which was eventually sold.
I don't know what I would have to do to make that much money, seeing as the whole "being born into it" thing didn't happen, and I hate the whole Wall Street B.S. and the people that work there. Chances are I won't ever own one, but a man can dream. I won't bother getting into the ins and outs of the McLaren F1 and it's derivative, that's what Wikipedia is for, but I figured I'd share these pics. They're not exactly common, and I don't know that many people that go trolling through Japanese websites on a regular basis looking for F1 GTR's.Anyways, there are some slightly larger versions of these pics over at the Wolfsburg RS Flickr....
_WRS
The friend of Turner Motorsports who owned three McLaren F1s actually had one of the ultra-rare F1 LMs (LM3) and not a GTR. He sold that car to Ralph Lauren in December 2004 who still has it today. He sold the investment/garage queen you mentioned in the summer of 2005 - it was chassis #068 and had just 170 miles on the odometer. His other F1 is chassis #007.
ReplyDeleteBingoSports still have this Gulf GTR for sale which is the final one produced - #28R. Their asking price is somewhere in the neighborhood of $4M USD. While the car is in perfectly restored condition, it doesn't come with any spares which makes using it practically impossible should anything go wrong.
Still wish I had the funds... :)
>8^)
Erik
Hey Erik,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the info! These cars certainly are amazing, but at $4 million I think I might go for a few 962s and a 935 or two, plus some extras =)
-Nate