Currently reading: McLaren F1 sells for £2.5m
Iconic supercar fetches record price at exclusive auction

An immaculate McLaren F1 sold for £2.5 million last night at RM Auction’s flagship sale in Battersea, London.

The 1997 example of the iconic McLaren – an ex-Park Lane showroom car with just 270 miles on the clock - fetched £1.1 million more than its estimated value. Money experts described it as a sound investment in times when even the banks seem unsafe.

But other rare cars couldn’t defy the credit crunch. The highlight of the show, a short wheel base Ferrari 250 GT California Spyder, driven by Cameron Diaz in the Charlie’s Angels film, failed to meet its reserve, let alone its £3 million estimate.

30 per cent of the 129 lots went unsold. It also emerged that the auctioneers contacted vendors in advance to ask them to lower their reserve prices.

“It's definitely been more cautious,” admitted Max Girardo, RM Auction’s car specialist, “some buyers have been cut out of the market. A year ago, they would've thought about buying a car for £50,000, now they're not being paid a bonus or are worried about losing their job.”

 

 

 

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samoht 30 October 2008

Re: McLaren F1 sells for £2.5m

I remember a chassis guy who worked on the F1 told me that he thought they were selling them too cheap, that they should have been £2m new - I guess because they would have sold nearly as many, but made far more money. This would tend to support his view.

TegTypeR 30 October 2008

Re: McLaren F1 sells for £2.5m

Greg1 wrote:

Looks like Uncle Ron has found the perfect present for his little darling, Lewis, when he lifts the F1 title this weekend.

I thought uncle Ron already had one to give him! Allegedly he's supposed to be getting the one that is sat at the McLaren factory.

May be this one's the replacement!

stopitjon 30 October 2008

Re: McLaren F1 sells for £2.5m

Funny that they were struggling to sell the F1's at the time and only ever made something like a hundred of them. Six hundred-odd thousand pounds seems like a bargain now.